KUWAIT: Turkish engineering group Proyapı Mühendislik ve Müşavirlik has been awarded a contract to design Kuwait’s section of the planned Gulf Co-Operation Council railway corridor.
The US$8·1m contract awarded on April 7 covers an 111 km electrified line running from the Al-Shadadiya area of Kuwait City to Nuwaiseeb on the southern border with Saudi Arabia.
The number of stations is to be decided during the one-year design process.
Kuwaiti officials have stated that the estimated cost of construction will not be known until the design process has been completed.
The line is would form the northernmost section of the long-planned GCC Railway from Kuwait to Oman via Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. The project was approved by the six GCC member states in December 2009 when completion was planned for 2018, but it is currently envisaged for 2030.
Each country is responsible for developing the section of the planned line within its own territory, which has led to questions being raised over the commitment of some participants.
The UAE’s existing Etihad Rail network would form part of the corridor, and it is working with Oman Rail though the Hafeet Rail joint venture to develop an extension via Al Ain to the Indian Ocean port of Sohar.
