The UAE railway will connect with the sources of raw materials, industrial areas, ports and major population centres, says Etihad Rail , and will be built in three phases, the first of which will be a 266km-long western stretch between Al Ruwais and Shah. The Shah-Habshan-Ruwais freight line is being built in collaboration with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).

The 2,177-km-long GCC rail network, which will link all six Gulf states by rail for the first time — providing an alternative to air or sea travel for both goods and passengers in the region — will be fully operational in 2018, said Dr Ramiz Al Assar, World Bank resident adviser of the GCC Secretariat General in Riyadh, in October.

“The designs of the nearly $200 billion (Dh734 billion) network, which will run down the Gulf coast from Kuwait, through Saudi Arabia, to the UAE and Oman, with branches linking Bahrain and Qatar, will be completed by the end of this year or in the first quarter of next year. Construction on the network is to start in 2014-15 and it will be fully operational in 2018,” Dr Al Assar told the Mena Rail and Metro Summit, being held in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi is leading the GCC rail network with its Dh40 billion Etihad Rail project. The 1,200-km line, planned to be completed in 2018, will link major industrial zones, cities and ports in the UAE, and will eventually connect with the GCC railway.

In October 2011, Etihad Rail signed an agreement with Adnoc to transport about seven million tonnes of granulated sulphur a year from Habshan and Shah to Al Ruwais in Abu Dhabi for export.

The second phase will connect Abu Dhabi with Dubai. It will also provide links to Jebel Ali port, Mussaffah and Khalifa port. The third phase will be the extension to link the northern emirates. The second phase is expected to be completed by 2016 and the third phase by 2017.

The Etihad Rail network will also connect with the GCC network and this — once fully established — will cover Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Earlier report:

Eid Al Adha holidays: 3 days for private sector? 
The UAE private sector staff can look forward to a three-day paid leave.
Eid Al Adha holidays in October are to begin, according to Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai (Iacad), on Monday, October 14 – the Waqfat Arafat day.
They will, thus, be off from October 14, Monday until Wednesday, the 16th.
Private sector employees will return to work on Thursday, the 17th.

Government Holidays
The government and federal institutions in the UAE are likely to enjoy a six-day holiday for Eid Al Adha in October.
Eid holidays will begin from October 14, Monday until Saturday the 19th, according to a calendar prepared by Iacad.
The holiday includes the day of Waqfat Arafat – the day before Eid Al Adha which will fall on (Monday) – followed by three days of Eid and a Friday-Saturday weekend.
Thus, government and federal institution staff can look forward to a six-day holiday in October. They will return to work on October 20.

Despite a new wave of transport infrastructure schemes, Oman still lags behind neighbouring GCC states

Oman has taken significant steps towards developing its transport network, which will include a national railway and the country’s first dual four-lane motorway. But Muscat still has some catching up to do compared with the more advanced transport projects in the rest of the GCC.

The UAE is close to finishing its first phase of a national railway, while Saudi Arabia and Qatar have awarded billions of dollars-worth of construction contracts in recent months.

In contrast, Oman’s plans to build a national railway stalled midway through last year after it was decided the project would be retendered. The scheme is now gathering pace again. Consultants submitted bids for the project management contract on 26 August and earlier in the month Italy’s Italferr won the $37.3m contract for the preliminary design work.

There has also been a spate of road contracts awarded in recent weeks. In August, packages five and six of the $2.6bn, 260-kilometre Batinah Expressway scheme were both awarded. The four-lane road will connect Sohar, Muscat and the UAE and help speed up the transportation of goods from Oman’s expanding ports and airports around the region.

The Muscat government also announced plans to build a new logistics centre in the Batinah South region, designed to help support the growing traffic at Sohar Port.

The new impetus driving Oman’s transport projects will help the country realise its ambitions of becoming a major trade and transport hub for both interregional and Asia-Africa trade. However, Muscat will need to maintain, if not increase, this level of momentum to compete with the rest of the GCC effectively.

Economics has been cited as the driving force behind this decision with a bid to promote tourism within the six-member nations by simplifying visa procedures for tourists.
Meanwhile, Al-Shobaily was also quoted as saying that unified GCC laws against commercial fraud and consumer protection are also in the final stages, to protect the rights of consumers, manufacturers, distributors, importers and exporters, as well as the economies of the six countries.
The Gulf Customs Union, set for a tentative schedule of 2015, will combat the sale of counterfeit goods within the GCC.
“The GCC Ministries of Commerce strive to heighten awareness of consumers about their rights besides providing them with goods and services of high quality at reasonable prices. The rights of traders and investors to make a reasonable profit will also be protected,” he said.

The new project consultant will look into this proposal,” said H E Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Salim al Futaisi, Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) while addressing a gathering at an Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry event recently.

“As per the new proposal, the Salalah port will be linked to Buraimi via Duqm port, Ibri in Dhahirah governorate and Sinaw in the wilayat of Mudhaibi and the rail line will bypass Muscat and Batinah governorates,” he said. “This is expected to reduce project cost as the path does not traverse through mountainous areas.”

The other proposal is to go ahead with the original plan of connecting Buraimi and Salalah port via Sohar port, Muscat and Duqm port. “Now, the consultant’s job is to find out the commercial viability of each plan,” H E Dr Futaisi said.

He said that studies have found that trucks and trailers are the best means of transporting goods within a distance of 200km, while freight rail network is economically viable for transporting over longer distances.

“If we go ahead with the original plan, we might start a passenger train service between Muscat and Sohar due to the area’s high population density and the distance of more than 200km separating the two cities,” he said. “The project will complement road transportation network by linking Sohar, Duqm and Salalah ports as well as important mining areas.”

He said that studies have found that including Salalah port in the freight rail network will boost revenues due to the port’s strategic location. The project will be a catalyst for the country’s all-round economic development. “It will create alternative means to transport goods to several parts of the country. We have started studying the business value of the project.”

He said that the focus is on freight rather than passenger traffic due to the country’s low population density. “For the project to be commercially viable, we need a certain number of passengers using the network daily.

“Citizens across the GCC use personal vehicles for daily use, which might make a passenger rail network commercially unviable. The rail project will boost revenue by transporting cargo and goods.”

According to news reports reaching here, the Minister Responsible for Financial Affairs, Darwish bin Ismail Al Balushi, yesterday said that the government is looking at reconsidering local fuel sale, in view of the fact that government support has reached OMR1 billion in the 2012 annual budget.
The minister was quoted as saying that current prices have been determined since the 1980s, when global oil prices did not cross $25 per barrel. He also indicated that since then no changes have been made on local fuel prices, except for prices of diesel in 2006. Since the 1980s, global oil prices have jumped at least four-times.
Oman sells petrol super grade for 120 baisas per litre, 114 baisas a litre for regular and 146 per litre for diesel in the capital area. However, it slightly varies beyond 100 kilometres from capital area.
Al Balushi added that the diesel smuggling issue has become a real concern for the Omani government, especially due to financial burden, time, and effort to watch and detain violators, which causes an additional burden on institutions concerned.
It was earlier reported that a panel is looking into revamping subsidy in such a way to get the benefits to the deserving income group, like other countries in the world. This follows a recommendation from the Majlis Al Shura.
The comprehensive study will suggest implications of the present subsidy system and alternatives for directly channelising it to the deserving groups. The present subsidy benefits are enjoyed by all sections of the society and the idea is to confine it to eligible groups. The total subsidies on all these are expected to touch an alarming level of OMR1.3 billion this year. This fund can be used by the government for other purposes, including youth training or investment projects that could generate new employment.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been calling on Oman, along with other GCC countries, to reduce subsidy in a move to prudently manage state resources. Countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region are spending $200 billion on general subsidies and there is a need to curb this spending.
According to IMF, these subsidies are not an efficient way of helping the poor, because the bulk of the spending is going to people who consume more energy, who are generally better off.

© Times of Oman 2013