Stevin Rock has signed an agreement with the UAE’s federal railway authority Etihad Rail. Under the terms of the partnership, the firm will use the UAE’s under-construction rail network to distribute products from its three quarries located in Kadra (Shawkah), Al-Ghail and Khor Khuwair to Etihad Rail distribution terminals across the country.

Owned by the government of Ras al-Khaimah, Stevin Rock has been operating in the UAE since 1975. It specialises in manufacturing limestone, gabbro rock, concrete and asphalt aggregates for the construction industry.

Etihad Rail has announced it will operate three trains each day to carry 11.9 million tonnes a year (t/y) of commodities from the Al-Ghail quarry to distribution locations across the UAE, as well as one train daily from Khor Khuwair to distribute 4.5 million t/y.  

The agreement is the latest in a long line of regional partnerships that Etihad Rail has entered into over the past 18 months

In October, National Quarries signed an agreement with Etihad Rail for the distribution of its products across the country.

Part of the UAE-based Al-Jazeerah Investment Company, National Quarries has operations across the GCC, specialising in building and road construction products. It is expected the volume of products National Quarries will transport by 2020 using the national railway will reach 2 million tonnes.

Earlier in 2014, Al-Jaber Crushers & Quarries signed a similar agreement with Etihad Rail for the distribution of its products across the country. Al-Jaber Crushers & Quarries is part of the local Al-Jaber Group.

Etihad Rail also signed another agreement in early July with Tarmac Middle East for the distribution of aggregates and asphalt supplies across the UAE.

The railway operator had been planning to award the phase-two contracts for the railway for most of 2014. Phase two will connect major ports and cities in the UAE. The 628-kilometre rail line will link Ruwais in Abu Dhabi to Ghweifat on the country’s border with Saudi Arabia.

The first section of phase one, linking the gas fields of Habshan to Ruwais port, is due to be completed and operational by the end of 2014. Civil and track work for phase one, worth $898m, is being undertaken by a consortium led by Italy’s Saipem. The other members of the consortium include Tecnimont, also Italian, and the UAE’s Dodsal Engineering & Construction.

Etihad Rail is also planning to tender phase three of the railway, which will cover the track connecting to the northern emirates.