Full steam ahead for GCC rail projects

The Chinese-built Holy Sites Metro Light Rail in Makkah in western Saudi.

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Described by Etihad Rail chairman Nasser Ahmed Khalifa Al Sowaidi as “one of the most strategic and dynamic initiatives that the country is undertaking to ensure continued growth across all economic sectors,” the UAE national railway is finally kicking off with the construction programme management contract awarded to the Aecom-Parsons JV.

The JV team will be responsible for programme management during the first phase of the Etihad Rail project. The first stage is the Shah-Habshan-Ruwais route for transporting sulphur in granulated form to its point of export at Ruwais.

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Stage 2 comprises the remainder of the Abu Dhabi Emirate network and the connection to Jebel Ali Port, while stage 3 will involve the remainder of the Northern Emirates network. Preliminary engineering for these two stages is being provided by Atkins.

Aecom will provide system setup, preliminary engineering, contract formation and awarding EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) or equivalent contracts.

In addition to the preliminary engineering and EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contracts, Aecom will also prepare tender documentation and administer, manage and supervise other third party contracts issued by the client.

“We are delighted to have been awarded this contract that will be a central element of the Emirates’ transport infrastructure and will help drive economic growth,” said Aecom president and CEO John M. Dionisio.

“We are delighted to have been awarded this contract that will be a central element of the Emirates’ transport infrastructure and will help drive economic growth,” said Aecom president and CEO John M. Dionisio.

Etihad Rail is the rebranded master planner behind the first national railway network in the UAE. The first stage of this mammoth undertaking involved building a freight route from Habsham to Shah. The construction schedule anticipates completion of the route between Habsham and Ruwais by the beginning of 2013, and to Shah by the end of 2014.

Designs for the second and third phases, which will eventually see all emirates linked across a single network, as well as links to Saudi Arabia and Oman, covering a total 1,200km.

The first phase route will transport granular sulphate from Sham and Habsham to Ruwais in partnership with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The companies had been planning the line for more than a year.

A tender for the main construction contract for the first phase was issued on 1 March, and the company aims to award the contract by the start of summer this year, according to CEO Richard Bowker. Contracts for the rolling stock for the locomotives and wagons are also out to tender.