GCC to invest USD200b on rail projects

12 Jan 2015

(MENAFN) Oman’s Ministry of Transport and Communications said that the GCC countries are expected to invest USD200 billion to develop about 40,000 kilometers of rail network across the region, Gulf Business reported.

“Our challenge will not just be in how to ensure the success of executing these projects from a technical and operational point of view, but on how to exploit the socio-economic potential of these massive investments so to ensure the multiplier effect into our economies,” The Omani Minister of of Transport and Communications said at a recent event.

The main project where these investments will be centered is the GCC Rail, the project currently developed by the countries that will connect the six GCC members in order to accommodate growing intra-region trade and to reduce fuel consumption, which is expected to be worth USD15.5 billion and is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

Aside from the mega rail project, many GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE are also developing rail links for commercial purposes, with Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) building a massive 5.000km long rail network for transporting freight, while the UAE is investing USD25 billion in its railway infrastructure, accounting for 10 percent of the entire MENA region’s investment in the sector.

Meanwhile, Oman is planning to build a 2.244 kilometer rail network that will link the town of Buraimi, bordering the UAE, to six major cities in the Sultanate including the industrial city of Sohar