OMAN-Etihad Rail, the joint venture between Oman Rail and Etihad Rail, has launched a prequalification tender for civil works on the new railway it is developing to connect the UAE with Oman.

In an announcement posted on Twitter, the joint venture invited specialised contractors to apply for prequalification for tendering of the civil works. Potential contractors must demonstrate individually or in a joint venture or consortium that they have the necessary resources and required expertise.

Oman Rail and Etihad Rail signed a $US 3bn agreement to design, build and operate a 303km cross-border standard gauge railway from the port of Sohar, on the Gulf of Oman, to UAE’s national network at Abu Dhabi via Al Ain in September 2022. Passenger trains will operate at up to 200km/h, reducing journey times from Sohar to Abu Dhabi to 1h 40min, and from Sohar to Al Ain to 47 minutes. Freight trains will operate at up to 120km/h on the new railway.

The civil works contractor must be registered in the UAE or Oman to work in that particular country, and must have recent experience executing projects of a similar size and nature. This includes earthworks, structures, tunnels, freight facilities, roads and depots, including design and build experience and on-time completion of projects.

The prequalification documents are available from March 13 until March 27 at Tenderdoc.oe-rail.com for Dirham 50,000 ($US 13,614).

Oman-Etihad Rail has also signed a cooperation agreement with Mubadala Investment, a sovereign investor owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, to support the development of the 303km network.

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