303-Kilometer Hafeet Rail Will Connect Abu Dhabi and Sohar Port in Oman
By Simon West
Siemens Mobility is among the companies that have been awarded contracts by the Oman and Etihad Rail Company (OERC) for a project to build a 303-kilometer railway line linking Oman and the UAE.
OERC, a joint venture formed by the two countries in 2022, launched the Oman-Etihad Railway – recently rebranded to Hafeet Rail – as the Middle East’s first cross-country rail project.
The project has an estimated price tag of US$3 billion and when complete, will transport passengers and freight between Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Sohar in northern Oman. The Omani section of the network marks the sultanate’s first-ever railway system.
Siemens Mobility will work alongside Egypt’s Hassan Allam Construction to deliver the design, build and integration of the network’s ETCS Level 2 signaling, telecom and power supply systems.
“The signaling solutions are state-of-the art and desert-proof,” Siemens said in a filing.
The design-and-build contract was awarded to a consortium led by NPC, a unit of Abu Dhabi-based Trojan Construction Group, and Oman’s Galfar Engineering & Contracting. Middle East business publication MEED quoted sources as saying that an engineering design firm for the project would be appointed “imminently”.
A New Era in Bilateral Ties
According to the OERC, the network marks a “new chapter” of collaboration between the UAE and Oman.
“It will improve supply chain efficiency and facilitate cross-border trade by linking commercial ports to the railway network. It will also boost market competitiveness and reduce the total cost of supply chains due to its high levels of efficiency compared to other means of transportation,” the OERC said.
Passenger trains on the line will have a top speed of 200 kilometers per hour and provide an end-to-end journey time from Abu Dhabi to Sohar of 1 hour 40 min. Freight trains will reach top speeds of 120 kilometers per hour.
No timelines have been released for the completion of the project.
The UAE’s domestic Etihad Rail network began freight operations last year and test runs of its passenger services in January. The line stretches 900 kilometers from the town of Ghuweifat on the Saudi border to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman coast via Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah.
The network is expected to have a cargo capacity of 60 million tons by 2030.
Breakbulk Middle East 2025 is taking place on 10-11 February in Dubai.
MAIN PHOTO: Etihad Rail freight train in the UAE. CREDIT: Etihad Rail
SECOND PHOTO: Etihad Rail takes delivery of its first advanced rolling stock fleet. CREDIT: Etihad Rail
