BrazilFrench firm Egis lands project management contract for UAE railway
French engineering and consulting firm Egis have been awarded a lucrative contract to help Etihad Rail develop the United Arab Emirates railway network.
The development of the rail that will eventually link the UAE with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman will play a key role in continued economic growth in the region. As it currently stands, the UAE’s rail network is 264km and does not provide for international connections. The overhaul is part of a larger Gulf Cooperation Council rail network plan that aims to add over 800kms of tracks throughout the Emirates.
The rail network as a whole will span through all six GCC states, increasing connectivity for both people and businesses whilst enhancing regional cooperation. The proposed UAE rail will connect all seven Emirates and link with Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar via Saudi Arabia. Overall the GCC rail will stretch for over 2,000km upon completion in 2024.
The UAE section of the rail will provide huge mobility gains for the Emirates and will also diversify multiple industries in the country. The additional rail link will provide businesses with a much needed freight link for commodities and will help the Northern Emirates develop their tourism industries. Furthermore, the connection will also allow the regions outside of Dubai and Abu Dhabi to expand their industries, bringing growth and jobs.
Egis will act as the project manager for the railway project valued at roughly $30 billion in the UAE alone. The company will work together with Etihad Rail in both stage 2 (600km) and stage 3 (250km) of the project to oversee and supervise different project contributors including the engineering consultant responsible for preliminary design and construction supervision, the future design-and-build contractors, as well as third parties.
In a press release the firm said; “For the Emirates, delivering a project of this scale will demand extensive expertise and coordination. The network is a combination of freight and passenger lines which extends over 1,000km and has nearly 40 railway facilities including logistics sites for freight, passenger stations, stabling and maintenance depots. The growth and dynamics of the Emirates generate major changes in infrastructure. The Etihad Rail PMC contract is part of the strategy to further develop in the Middle East and more particularly in the United Arab Emirates.”
This project marks Egis’s third major guided transportation project in the GCC, having previously worked on Qatar’s automatic metro and Dubai’s autonomous transportation system. The firm has 13,600 people around the globe and generated over $1 billion in managed turnover in 2017.
