Oman Rail has requested proposals from consultants for the construction supervision contract for the first phase of its national railway.

The deadline for bids is 18 May.

The consultant will be part of the management team for the project along with Oman Rail, preliminary design consultant Italferr from Italy and Sector A project manager Tecnicas Reunidas from Spain.

The project management consultancy contract originally included construction supervision, but Oman Rail is now dividing the work.

The rail developer is currently evaluating engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract bids from 11 international consortiums.

The first phase involves a 207-kilometre stretch from Sohar to Buraimi, of double-track, mixed freight and passenger non-electrified railway line, split into three packages.

Sector A stretches 127km, linking Sohar to the Oman/UAE border at Al-Buraimi and Khatmat al-Malaha. It includes two 2.9km-long tunnels, two 0.3km-long cut-and-cover sections, and 51 viaduct sections totalling 16.7km. For buildings, there are three stations, one depot, one maintenance facility, four freight terminals and three maintenance centres.

Sector B is 34km long, linking Sector A with the Al-Buraimi station. It has two 1.9km-long tunnel sections and nine viaduct sections totalling 6km. For buildings, there are two stations, one maintenance facility and two freight terminals.

Sector C links Sector A to the Port of Sohar over a distance of 38km. It will have eight viaduct sections totalling 3.1km, one depot and two freight terminals.

There will also be 8km of junctions linking Sector A to Sectors B and C with four viaduct sections totalling 1.9km.

The difficult terrain and number of tunnels and viaducts is presenting a design and engineering challenge to contractors.

Italferr is now preparing preliminary designs for the second phase, which stretches 240km from Hafeet to the Al-Dhahirah governorate.