The 1,100 km-long rail network, to be constructed at an estimated cost of Dh30 billion, will also be part of the wider GCC railway project and will connect the UAE with neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Oman, apart from creating a link between the emirates.
It will connect the UAE to Sohar in Oman through Al Ain. The railway will also connect the UAE with Saudi Arabia through the Ghuweifat border and in turn to the greater GCC and MENA regions. Union Railway will thus offer two routes that provide alternative access to the Indian Ocean, Al Nowais said in his keynote address at MEED’s Middle East Rail Projects Conference.
The network will be for diesel trains carrying both the cargo and passengers, though the focus will be on freight. Speed of the freight movement on the track will be 80-120 kilometres per hour while the passenger trains will be running at a speed of 160-200 kilometres per hour.
According to estimates, three million containers will be needing transport across the UAE by 2015, Al Nowais said. The proposed railway is expected to transport 30 million tons of bulk and break bulk by 2015, including rocks, aluminum, cement, iron ore, steel and other products. “We are also expecting substantial demand for passenger traffic as well on the route,’’ he said.