01 April 2023

Etihad Rail has announced the completion of the UAE national rail network, an ambitious project spanning 900 km and linking the seven emirates. The main line extends from Ghuweifat on the Saudi border to the northern emirate of Fujairah.

The inauguration of the national railway network was witnessed by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, at the network’s main centre for control and maintenance in Al Fayah, Abu Dhabi.

Lauding the key achievement, Sheikh Mohammed said the national railway network was an important milestone in the UAE's development journey, and an ambitious project that contributes to strengthening the country’s future.

While the cargo train operations across all the emirates have been launched fully, passengers wanting to ride the railway will still have to wait for some more time, stated Etihad Rail.

The network contributes to supporting companies' businesses and enhancing investment opportunities.

Stage One of the network has been fully operational since January 2016, whereas the Stage Two of the project started in early 2020.

Announcing the milestone, Etihad Rail Chairman Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said: “A mammoth project, it involved 11 contractors, 25 consultants, and 28,000 specialists who worked on the project clocking 133 million working hours as well as 40,000 approvals from 180 government agencies.”

More than 1,000 operational documents have been produced, including instructions, handbooks, guidelines, policies, operating procedures, agreements, and others.

Sheikh Theyab also kicked off the operation of the freight trains throughout the UAE with a fleet of 38 locomotives and more than 1,000 wagons capable of transporting all types of goods. The fleet of the most modern freight trains in the region has a capacity of 60 million tonnes of goods annually, and more than 1,000 multi-purpose vehicles.

The railway network passes through a variety of geographical terrains, within a large-scale engineering plan that included the construction of 593 bridges and crossings of all types and nine tunnels with a length of 6.5 km.

According to Etihad Rail, it took 120 million cu m of excavation work to complete, to ensure the highest levels of vehicular traffic flow on the railway network.

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