ETIHAD Rail has awarded a Dirhams 3.3bn ($US 980.9m) contract to a consortium of Italian firms Saipem and Tecnimont, and UAE-based Dodsal Engineering and Construction, for civil and track work on the first 266km phase of the country's 1200km network that will link Habshan and Ruwais by 2013, and Shah and Habshan by 2014.

The contract comprises the design, procurement and construction of railway infrastructure, including earthworks, track site grading, bridge construction, installing communications systems and building a depot at Mirfa, as well as testing and commissioning.

 

The contract follows an agreement signed earlier this week by the directors of Etihad Rail and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) for the transport of up to 7 million tonnes on the rail network annually.

 

Etihad Rail is investing Dirhams 40bn to build the 1200km network that will connect urban and remote communities across the UAE. UAE's lines will also form a key part of the GCC Railway Network that will eventually link the UAE with Saudi Arabia via Ghweifat in the west, and Oman via Al Ain in the east.