The Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates, have begun to take the necessary measures to realize the railway project linking the two neighbors. The ambitious project will finally join the railway network of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which was halted due to political and financial circumstances that occurred in the region during the past two decades.
Oman’s statement, delivered by Engineer Abdulrahman bin Salem al Hatmi, Group CEO of ASYAD Group, said that preparations for this vital project have begun with the launch of construction work that will soon connect the two countries. The project will include the construction of two tunnels with a length of 2.5 kilometers, in addition to the construction of 36 bridges due to the terrain that characterizes the Hafeet area, including mountains, highlands, and sandy areas.
The railway project will connect several areas between the two countries, including the city of Sohar, Al Ain, and Al Buraimi, next to the city of Abu Dhabi, and will reduce the travel time between those cities much more than is done today via land roads for cars, providing all the comfort and luxury that the Gulf individual aspires to. This will help achieve more economic and social returns and benefits, in addition to enhancing tourism and trade among all GCC countries.
Key information shared by ASYAD indicates that the project will contribute to achieving economic returns by enhancing public transportation operations for goods and products, so that one freight train trip can transport more than 25,000 tonnes of general goods or ship more than 270 standard containers. Additionally, it will reduce carbon emissions by a rate of 10 times compared to other means of transportation, fulfilling the desires of international organizations that call for reducing these emissions by the year 2030.
This project will enable citizens and expatriates to obtain a new means of transportation, especially since the project has become integral to its expansion between all the GCC countries. It will later connect with Iraq and Turkey and go directly to the European continent on the one hand, and from Iraq to Iran and then to Asia on the other hand.
The railway between Oman and the Emirates will undoubtedly achieve significant financial savings in transporting goods and products via land and sea, at a rate of 35% to 40% via land and 50% via sea compared to the cost of other means of transportation, in addition to saving a lot of time. The importance of trains between cities is great, as they are one of the important and basic means of transportation that work to connect many passengers and travelers very quickly and in a short period of time, facilitating the movement of trade.
The railway between Oman and the Emirates will also be distinguished in the operational aspect by several advantages, including speed, safety, regularity, psychological comfort, preservation of the environment, economy, and savings in administrative and customs procedures. This means is also considered one of the safest means of transportation compared to some of the disasters that occur today on automobile highways because of traffic accidents, considering that traffic accidents on railways are much less than accidents on road transport.
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