07 Feb 2013
(MENAFN) Etihad Rail’s business development director, Graeme Overall, stated that by 2030, the UAE’s national railway will add USD952 million to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), reported Gulf News.
Overall said that the USD10.887 billion project has an economic return rate of 15.5 percent, and savings of its first stage are projected to exceed USD544 million.
He added that the company has already inked memoranda of understanding with 14 firms, including Sharjah Cement, Center of Waste Management in Abu Dhabi, DHL and Emirates Steel, to transfer their materials around the UAE via rail when stage two, which will link Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is ready.
He said that the stage is in the tendering process at the current time, whereas stage one, which will connect Habshan to Ruwais, is expected to complete by year-end.
As for the third stage that will connect the rail from Jebel Ali through the E611 highway to the northern emirates, Overall said that the company is working with each of the emirates involved to identify and preserve the route.
The rail will serve the industrial areas in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, in addition to quarries in the Hajjar mountains.
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