Oman Rail has invited consultancies to bid for two studies related to the second segment of its 2,135-kilometre national railway.

The first tender is for consultancy work on a detailed inventory of properties and buildings that wil have to be expropriated for the execution of the second segment. The second tender is for work related to land acquisition.

The 240km second segment of Oman’s national railway extends from Hafeet near Buraimi travelling south to a planned special economic zone (SEZ) in the Dhahirah governorate. The segment is broken down into two sectors: sector A stretches 114km from Hafeet, where the first segment ends, to Ibri, the administrative centre of Dhahirah; while sector B extends 126km from Ibri to the SEZ being planned by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) in the far south of Dhahirah.

The detailed inventory of properties and buildings follows on from the recent change of the project’s status to public utility project. The new status grants Oman Rail the right to directly expropriate properties and land needed for the execution of the project.

Such a detailed inventory is required in order to obtain a “comprehensive database of all components of the properties and lands inventory… in conflict with the new railway alignment including the restricted protected area along the railway line”, according to the firm.

The second tender is for a study on the acquisition of land that Oman Rail requires for the second segment.

The award of the main contract for the first segment of the railway has been delayed, with the project owner requesting shortlisted bidders for a six-month extension of offers.