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Consultants submitted proposals on 14 July for a contract to provide design consultancy services for the Saudi Arabian section of the GCC railway network, which is intended to link all six member states.

Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) issued the tender on 7 May, MEED previously reported.

The tender covers the concept, preliminary and issued for construction design stages. SAR requires the selected consultant to review, update and complete the existing preliminary design.

The consultants who submitted bids include: 

• Atkins with Khatib & Alami
• DeutscheBahn with ARX
• Egis with Sener
• Idom with Dal Al-Handasah
• Systra

Saudi Arabia’s section of the railway will start at Al-Khafji in the Eastern Province, near the border with Kuwait, and end at Al-Batha, on Saudi Arabia’s border with the UAE. The route length in Saudi Arabia will be about 672 kilometres (km).

The railway will interface with the Kuwait National Rail Road (KNRR) project on the Kuwaiti side. Last year, MEED exclusively reported that the KNRR design contract was awarded to Turkiye’s Proyapi Muhendislik ve Musavirlik Anonim Sirketi.

The KNRR forms part of the wider GCC rail network. GCC railway projects have gained renewed momentum since the six member states signed the Al-Ula Declaration in January 2021.

In October last year, Qatar’s cabinet approved a draft agreement paving the way for a railway link between Qatar and Saudi Arabia as part of the GCC railway network.

GCC railway line

Under the overall plan, the railway will run from Kuwait, pass through Dammam in Saudi Arabia, reach Bahrain via a planned causeway, and continue from Dammam to Qatar, the UAE and, ultimately, Muscat via Sohar in Oman. The railway is reported to span about 2,186km in total.

The route length within each member state is as follows: 684km in the UAE, 672km in Saudi Arabia, 306km in Oman, 283km in Qatar, 145km in Kuwait and 36km in Bahrain.

The railway is designed for passenger trains travelling at 220km/h and freight trains operating at 80-120km/h.

With high levels of project activity, governments in spending mode and renewed cooperation under the Al-Ula Declaration, the latest efforts to restart the GCC railway project may make more progress than previous attempts. If completed, the railway could prove transformational for a region that is globally connected but still divided by national borders.