Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications & Information Technology has opened one financial bid for the contract to prepare a pre-feasibility outline for the first phase of its planned Muscat Metro network. 

According to the official Oman Tender Board website, the opened bid was submitted by the local F&M Middle East with a price of RO97,125 ($252,000). The tender is classified as a negotiation/direct award. 

The ministry tendered the consultancy services contract for the metro at the end of January. The move has added further weight to the expectation of major new rail projects progressing in Oman and the rest of the region over the next decade.

One other rail project progressing in Oman is the link to the UAE. Last year, Oman Rail and the UAE’s Etihad Rail signed an agreement to jointly establish an equally-owned company known as Oman-Etihad Rail Company.

The new company will hold an overall investment power of $3bn to design, develop and operate a railway network connecting Sohar Port to the UAE national rail network.

The 303-kilometre-long railway will primarily link Sohar to Abu Dhabi. The passenger trains are designed to reduce the travel time from Sohar to Abu Dhabi to 1 hour 40 minutes, and from Sohar to Al-Ain to 47 minutes, travelling at a maximum speed of 200 km/hour. The freight trains will run at up to 120 km/h.

F&M is already working on another study for Muscat. Last year, a consortium including F&M Middle East, Broadway Malyan and Cundall was appointed to deliver the Greater Muscat Structural Plan for the Ministry of Housing & Urban Planning. The study is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2023.

MEED’s January 2023 report on Oman includes:

• COMMENT: Oman restores the faith of investors
• GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY: Muscat’s outlook rises with energy receipts
• ECONOMY: Oman’s economic recovery gains traction
• BANKING: Oman’s banking sector enjoys revived profitability
• POWER: Green hydrogen to revitalise Oman’s utility sector
• OIL & GAS: Oman secures its hydrocarbons future
• CONSTRUCTION: Oman construction looks to shift gear