Oman’s Transport and Communications Ministry has confirmed that it will delay its national railway project after other GCC states’ stopped work on their national railway schemes.

Mohammed al-Shuaili, communications director at the ministry, was also quoted by local media saying that the agency has also cancelled the consultancy contract with a private company “to avoid extra costs.”

Italy’s Italferr, however, told MEED that they have completed all the required preliminary design work for the project and turned over the same to Oman Railway in April.

Italferr won a $37m contract for the $15bn, 2,135km rail project in August 2013.

The latest development on the project was in January when it relased tenders for two studies related to the second segment of its national railway project. 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.

Oman Railway also requested the bidders before the close of 2015 to extend their offers for six months to allow room to negotiate the required financing for the project.

Tender for phase 2 of the UAE’s Etihad Rail, which is suppposed to be the first segment of the GCC rail to be constructed, was suspended in January. The emergency meeting between the GCC states’ transport ministers to discuss potentially a new timeline for the GCC rail, among others, in late March was also cancelled.