Kuwait plans to start prequalifying firms to bid for its 400-kilometre national rail project as planned during the first quarter of 2016, a source familiar with the scheme tells MEED.

The suspension of the tender for the second phase of the UAE’s Etihad Rail, announced last week, has not apparently affected the timeline for Kuwait’s rail scheme.

“There is no change to the timeline so far…. We are confident the prequalification documents will be released within the first quarter of the year,” the source said. "The tender should be released before the end of 2016 as planned.”

Similar to the second phase of the Etihad Rail, the first phase of Kuwait’s mainline rail is to link with the GCC railway through Nuwaiseeb on the border with Saudi Arabia.

Kuwait’s mainline railway has an estimated budget of $2bn and will likely be tendered ahead of the more expensive metro scheme, whose budget is expected to reach about $18.5bn. Unlike most planned rail projects in the region, however, the Kuwait railroad and metro schemes are to be implemented on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

Another indication that Kuwait’s rail project is moving along was seen in December, when the government asked the Public Authority of Agriculture Affairs & Fish Resources (PAAAFR) to take necessary measures towards delivering the required plots of land for the GCC railway project to the Ministry of Communications, the agency responsible for the state’s rail schemes.

The suspension of the tender for the second phase of the Etihad Rail has fuelled speculation about the planned GCC railway project. The GCC Secretariat, which has set 2018 as the target date for the completion of the regional railway, has yet to release any statement on the status of the scheme following Abu Dhabi’s decision to suspend the tender for the Etihad Rail’s second phase.