Italian, UAE groups win rail contract

Etihad Rail, the developer of a railway network in the UAE, said on Wednesday it awarded a Dh3.3 billion ($900 million) contract to an Italian-UAE joint venture as the first phase gets underway.

The civil and track works contract has been awarded to Italy's Saipem, Tecnimont and UAE-based firm Dodsal Engineering & Construction PTE Limited, a statement from Etihad Rail said.

The contract is for the first stage of the rail network linking the western region cities of Habshan and Ruwais by 2013 and linking Shah and Habshan by 2014.

"With this key contract in place and with our signed agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc) this week, our vision is becoming a reality and we're getting closer and closer to seeing the first trains run in 2013," Richard Bowker, Chief Executive of Etihad Rail said in the statement.

Earlier this week, Etihad Rail signed an agreement with Adnoc for transporting up to seven million tonnes of granulated sulphur annually.

State-owned Etihad Rail is building a 1200 km rail network at a cost of $11 billion to connect urban and remote areas in the UAE as part of plans to develop trade and foster development.

Phase two of the project will connect Abu Dhabi to Jebel Ali in Dubai while the third phase will connect the northern Emirates. The network will also form a vital part of the GCC Railway Network - linking the UAE to Saudi Arabia via Ghweifat in the west and Oman via Al Ain in the east.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.