Oman-Etihad Rail Company, the developer and operator of the UAE-Oman Rail Network, is expected to invite local and international contractors to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) letter for the UAE-Oman railway in the first half of the year.

The scope of the UAE-Oman network will include the civil works package and the electrical systems and rolling stock package for the Abu Dhabi-Al-Ain segment.

The EoI for the second phase of the project, which will connect Al-Ain to Sohar, could be issued in the second half of the year.

The Oman-Etihad Rail Company is a joint venture of the sultanate’s national railway developer and operator Oman Rail and the developer and operator of the UAE’s Etihad Rail.

It was established in September to develop the 303-kilometre railway network between the two countries.

The project recently received a push after Oman-Etihad Rail Company inked a strategic agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company to support its development.

The overall investment for the planned railway link is $3bn.

Passenger trains will run up to 200 km per hour, reducing the journey time between Sohar and Abu Dhabi to 100 minutes and between Sohar and Al-Ain to 47 minutes.

Freight trains will reach 120 km per hour.