Hafeet Rail, the company in charge of the future railway between the United Arab Emirates and Oman, signed two important agreements signalling a transition “from development to operational readiness”, as the company’s CEO Ahmed Al Musawa Al Hashemi said. The deals were signed with Noatum Logistics, part of AD Ports Group, and Asyad, Oman’s state-owned logistics arm.
The contract between Hafeet Rail and Noatum Logistics looks to establish regular flows between the two countries. “Under the proposed arrangement, Noatum Logistics would run a daily rail service leveraging Hafeet Rail’s network, once completed”, AD Ports Group said. Expectations are quite high, as each train running between Sohar (OM) and Abu Dhabi (UAE) will move 276 TEUs, roughly three times what an average freight train in Europe can carry.
The agreement with Asyad, on the other hand, was signed at the beginning of October and its goal is to establish intermodal train services between Oman and the UAE. “The agreement is designed to deliver a seamless end-to-end container journey along the Oman–UAE railway corridor; from rail haulage to port operations, customs clearance, consolidation, and last-mile delivery”, Asyad explained.
When will it start?
Both these agreements are significant steps in the development of the Oman-UAE railway, currently under construction. This will be the first railway crossing borders in the Gulf region, and it is the first part of the GCC Railway, a proposed rail network on the eastern side of the Arab peninsula. There is no concrete opening date of the 238-kilometre line between Oman and the Emirates yet, but recent estimates suggest that 50 to 70% of the project has been carried out since April 2024.
Over the past year or so, Hafeet Rail secured 1,5 billion dollars in financing from Emirati, Omani and regional banks, which is more than half the total funding needed. Soon thereafter, the company purchased 27 heavy-haul freight locomotives from US manufacturer Progress Rail. The first shipper showing interest in using the future railway is Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel, one of the largest steel producers in Oman, which signed an agreement with Hafeet Rail over two years ago.
Geopolitically interesting
Other than a possible revolutionary project for transport across the Gulf, the Oman-UAE railway is an example of how the region is still fertile terrain for the world’s superpowers. The world’s two largest superpowers, US and China, are arch rivals on paper and often try to undermine one another.
However, the Gulf railway project sees the involvement of both of them: if a US-based company will provide the locomotives, it will be a Chinese one taking care of the wagons. Hafeet Rail has in fact signed a contract with China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation for the design and supply of multimodal freight wagons.
The European Silk Road Summit
The rising role of rail in transforming global supply chain, of which Hafeet Rail is a prime example, will be one of the topics discussed at this year’s European Silk Road Summit. Join us in Milan on 19 and 20 November to talk Middle Corridor developments, Eurasia market trends and important digitalisation projects. Check out the programme here and get your ticket here.