MUSCAT: Oman Oil Marketing Company has opened a comprehensive service station in Wadi al Haitham in Al Dhahirah Governorate, which is on the direct route to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is expected to be opened for traffic in the coming days.
Recently the high-level meeting between the two countries discussed the issue of accelerating the procedures for opening the land border linking the Sultanate and Saudi Arabia through the Empty Quarter.
The carriageway — traversing the treacherous dunes of the Rub Al Khali (The Empty Quarter) — will enable trade flows between the Sultanate and the Saudi heartland.
It will also provide a safer, shorter, and more convenient alternative to the existing 1,640km route that motorists must navigate to reach Saudi Arabia. Traversing the territory of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) en route, the latter route is reputed to take between 16-18 hours to cover.
Years in the making, the new Oman-Saudi desert highway is expected to cut travel time by around 12 hours and the journey by around 800 kilometres. The strategically important carriageway starts at Tanam in Ibri Wilayat and ends at the Omani border, about 160km away. On the Saudi side, it runs for a further 550 km before linking up with the key Batha-Haradh highway leading to Riyadh.
Dubbed by experts as a marvel of road engineering, the new road attempts to conquer The Empty Quarter’s constantly shifting and soaring sand dunes.
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