Holland Gulf Chamber of Commerce » rail

UAE rail to link to GCC network

jochemgeheniau — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 10:10:26 +0000

Abu Dhabi: Completion of the UAE railway by 2018 can only bring more prosperity not only to the UAE but also the country’s five GCC neighbours as rail lines are constructed across the region, said Etihad Rail .

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.

GCC railway fully operational in 2018

jochemgeheniau — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 08:32:36 +0000

Abu Dhabi: 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, yesterday.

“The designs of the nearly $200 billion (Dh734.490 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.

GCC transport ministers approved the feasibility study for the railway in October 2008, although a number of other key decisions have yet to be taken, including the precise route of the line.

Dr Al Assar said talks were under way between Saudi Arabia and Jordan, on the one hand, and between Kuwait and Iraq, on the other, on connecting the Arabian Mashreq (Eastern) to Maghreb (Western) networks.

“Designs of a causeway to link Bahrain to the GCC railway is expected to be approved in the third quarter of next year and there are plans to link Muscat with Yemen,” Dr Al Assar said.

Dr Al Assar said a tender for a study to set up GCC railway authority was to be issued by the first quarter of next year.

“This year has seen a turning point in the regional rail market,” says MEED editorial director Richard Thompson. “Over the past 10 months, we have seen the region’s ambitions to build Metro systems and main line rail networks start to become a reality, with more than $30 billion worth of rail construction contracts awarded so far this year And there is a lot more to come.”

More than $30 billion worth of rail construction contracts have been awarded across the region in the first three quarters of 2013, compared with just $3.9 billion worth of contracts signed in the first three quarters of 2012. The single biggest investments this year saw $22 billion worth of construction contracts awarded in June on Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Metro.

“The success of this project so far is likely to act as a catalyst for further Metro schemes in the kingdom,” Thompson said.

The Riyadh Metro project is one of the key projects being discussed at the MENA Rail and Metro Summit 2013. Other projects under discussion include the Etihad Rail, Doha Metro and plans for an integrated GCC rail network.

The rail boom also raises challenges for the region, particularly around skills shortage and supply chain bottlenecks.

“Everybody will be competing for the same resources,” Thompson said. “And there is a real risk of unnecessary delays and cost escalation unless people manage the situation effectively. A coordinated approach is required. That is what we are aiming to achieve with this summit meeting of regional rail industry leaders.”

Railway construction boom kicks off in GCC

jochemgeheniau — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 09:05:42 +0000

$194 bn of main line and metro projects planned
MUSCAT — A railway construction boom started this year in the GCC that is set to transform life and work in the region in the coming decade, says business intelligence service MEED.
Launching the MENA Rail and Metro Summit 2013 in Abu Dhabi, MEED said that about $194 billion worth of rail projects are currently planned or underway in the GCC.
MEED said that about $30 billion of major rail project contracts had been awarded in the region so far in 2013 out of total project contract awards of about $108 billion across all sectors making rail the biggest segment of the regions capital projects market in 2013.
“This year has seen a turning point in the regional rail market,” says MEED editorial director Richard Thompson.
“Over the past 10 months, we have seen the region’s ambitions to build metro systems and main line rail networks start to become a reality, with more than $30 billion worth of rail construction contracts awarded so far this year And there is a lot more to come.”
More than $30 billion worth of rail construction contracts have been awarded across the region in the first three quarters of 2013, compared with just $3.9 billion-worth of contracts signed in the first three-quarters of 2012. The single biggest investments this year saw $ 22 billion-worth of construction contracts awarded in June on Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Metro. “The success of this project so far is likely to act as a catalyst for further metro schemes in the kingdom,” says Thompson.
The Riyadh Metro project is one of the key projects to be discussed at MENA Rail and Metro Summit 2013. Other projects under discussion include the Etihad Rail, Doha Metro and plans for an integrated GCC rail network. The rail boom also raises challenges for the region, particularly around skills shortages and supply chain bottlenecks.
“Everybody will be competing for the same resources,” says Thompson. “And there is a real risk of unnecessary delays and cost escalation unless people manage the situation effectively. A co-ordinated approach is required. That is what we are aiming to achieve with this summit meeting of regional rail industry leaders.”
Driving this growth is the eagerness of the GCC member countries to diversify their economy away from oil and gas earnings, as well as the anticipation of urban mobility challenges that usually accompany growth of domestic markets. Many projects involving the establishment of new ports, airports and surrounding logistics zones will also require an integrated rail network to support growth aspirations among GCC states.
Thompson further says that several new projects were launched or re-launched in 2013, with major rail schemes announced in Oman and Qatar. The UAE’s Etihad Rail is leading the way in terms of overland rail projects, with the first phase of its railway network nearing completion while phase 2 construction contracts should be awarded before the end of the year, further boosting the total value of contract awards this year.
The next 12 months could see a massive boost in the region’s rail market. Oman is gearing up for its own national railway, with Oman Rail looking to prequalify contractors for rail projects before the end of the year.
Saudi Arabia is expecting a boom in metro contract awards, with Mecca, Medina and Dammam all looking to develop metro and light rail networks in the coming years. Metro Jeddah Company has already announced at the summit that the Jeddah Metro will likely be awarded in the first half of 2015.
Outside the GCC, Iraq is keen to build up its rail network, with plans afoot for an elevated metro in Baghdad. Depending on the political situation in North Africa, there should be further opportunities to win rail deals across the region.
In North Africa, tram systems are being built, expanded and integrated into the public transport networks of major cities. The plan to build a high-speed railway between Tangier and Casablanca is also progressing.

Kingdom implements mega projects worth SAR288bn

jochemgeheniau — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 13:39:47 +0000

Saudi Arabia is implementing mega infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges and rail projects worth $77 billion (SR288.75 billion), local media said quoting a report.
The projects currently implemented to develop roads and bridges in the GCC countries are estimated at $109 billion (SR408.75 billion), the report released by Ventures Middle East said.
Saudi Arabia captured the five biggest construction projects (contracts) in the Middle East region during August 2013.
The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) recently awarded a $3.3 billion contract to South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries to build Shaqiq power plant at the capacity of 2,640 megawatt (MW), located 580 km south of Jeddah, the report added.
Last month, the Ministry of Housing approved eight contracts worth $1 billion (SR375 billion) for the construction of housing projects in a number of cities, including Madinah, Jeddah, Dammam, Qatif, and Kharj, the report said.
Likewise, the Higher Commission for Riyadh Development (HCRD) also signed contracts valued at more than $22 billion for a Riyadh metro project, which is the biggest in the region. Contractors plan to build a 176 km long metro line in a five-year period, it said.
Plans are under way to build new petrochemical projects with their values touching $70 billion. Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and Farabi Petrochemical Company (Farabi) will lead investments in these projects, the report said quoting petrochemical sources.
The petrochemical projects will be constructed near the oil refineries to get their required feedstock. They will be located in Jazan, Yanbu and Ras Tanura, the report said.
The Kingdom also recently kicked off major industrial and petrochemical projects in Jubail and Yanbu industrial cities with costs reaching SR327 billion.
The projects are supposed to raise the Kingdom’s share to global petrochemical market to more than 12 percent and its petrochemical products to nearly 100 million tons annually, the report said.

GCC traffic infrastructure projects at USD109b

jochemgeheniau — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 08:01:20 +0000

DUBAI – Ongoing roads and bridges developments across the GCC are currently valued at $109 billion according to the most recent figures from business advisory and research firm, Ventures Middle East.
The UAE, second worldwide for roads quality in the latest Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, has investments worth $58 billion in the pipeline for roads and bridges alone, while neighbor Saudi Arabia is undertaking infrastructural improvement projects valued at $77 billion that includes roads, bridges and rail.
As the host of the 2022 Football World Cup, Qatar leads the 2013 boom with an allocation of $20 billion for roads and highways, in addition to a $35 billion rail network. The combined share of roads and bridges projects in the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia meanwhile represents more than 75 percent of the total $109 billion pot.
Oman is securing $14.8 billion on roads, rail and bridges infrastructure in the coming few years, while the Kuwaiti budget for infrastructure works is estimated at $13 billion. Bahrain meanwhile also declared earlier in 2013 that it will spend more than $2.5 billion on major road, bridge, and tunnel networks. The figures signify good news for the hundreds of transport infrastructure service providers participating at the Gulf Traffic exhibition and conference, taking place on Dec. 9 to 11, 2013 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Supported by Abu Dhabi Police and SAEED, the three-day event will bring together more than 100 exhibitors from 20 countries involved in the design, build, and maintenance of the region’s road, rail, parking and public transport projects.
Richard Pavitt, Exhibition Director for Gulf Traffic, said: “The Gulf region has been at the forefront of transport infrastructure developments for several years now, and 2013 marks another big year, where dozens of new projects have been announced across the six Gulf states.”
“Gulf Traffic will bring together industry leaders from across the globe involved in road, rail, public transport and parking industries. Suppliers will be able to showcase new trends and technologies offering cutting edge insights and industry solutions.”
Now in its tenth edition, Gulf Traffic focuses on the four key transport industry sectors including traffic infrastructure, parking, road safety, and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).
Organized by Informa Exhibitions, the region’s foremost transport infrastructure event is also supported by ITS Arab, with the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) signing on as Knowledge Partner.
The show returns this year with the Gulf Traffic Conference, bringing together senior-level professionals and government officials presenting the latest on road and safety management trends and global implementations of ITS.

Call for linking of industrial cities with rail networks, gas pipelines

jochemgeheniau — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 08:13:51 +0000

The Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CSCCI) has urged the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to link industrial cities with gas lines and rail networks in the Kingdom.
Members of the CSC made their request during a meeting with Walid Abu-Khalid, undersecretary to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry , in Riyadh last week.
Saad Al-Moajil, chairman of the national industrial committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers, led the CSC team of businessmen.
Al-Moajil said that such a link would boost the production rate of industrial cities. He added that such a move could promote the sector and offer affordable energy substitutes. In addition, he said it could reduce costs, support national factories and further ensure local products’ access to foreign markets.
Al-Moajil commenced the meeting by highlighting the positive cooperation maintained by the CSC and the ministry to promote trade and commerce in the Kingdom. He said fruitful cooperation would boost investor confidence and stimulate trade in the Kingdom.
Some of the other concerns raised by industrialists included issues such as the continued increase in land rent, as well as abrupt fines enforced on them by the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON) with no prior notice. They also requested a fair representation of industrialists within MODON’s board of directors for a better understanding in matters concerning the sector.
Abu Khalid assured the ministry’s readiness to assist with industrial affairs. He emphasized that the ministry would continue supporting the council’s government procurement department in its efforts to activate the decision concerning granting priority to national products in projects implemented by the government.