KUWAIT CITY, Jan 29: A government report revealed that the Public Authority for Roads and Transportation (PART) has specified 11 goals for the economic feasibility of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) railway project. These goals include the following:
Develop trade and economic exchange between GCC countries in the field of land transportation for people and goods,
Develop the local and Gulf economies,
Open investment areas,
Strengthen social ties between GCC countries,
Reduce the cost of transporting goods and people,
Reduce the cost of road maintenance and sustainability by limiting the movement of passenger and cargo transport vehicles,
Reduce carbon emissions by trimming down the number of trucks for transporting goods,
Prevent traffic accidents by reducing the number of passenger and cargo trips on the roads,
Open labor markets and transportation services between GCC countries,
Develop areas adjacent to the railway track,
Generate job opportunities for citizens and achieve the goals of 2035 Kuwait Vision. The report explained that the tender for the study, detailed design and preparation of the railway tender documents, which a Turkish company recently won to implement at a cost of KD 2.4 million, will take 12 months and includes the first phase of the Kuwait section of the GCC railway project with a length of 111 kilometers out of 265 kilometers -- the total length of the project in Kuwait, which will be offered at a later stage. It pointed out that the total length of 265 kilometers was divided into two — 111 kilometers for the first phase and 153 kilometers for the second phase — to avoid delays in offering and implementing the project.

This is part of the commitment to move forward in parallel with the project schedule within the GCC countries, which is expected to be completed in late 2030. It disclosed that the first phase starts from Nuwaiseeb and ends in Shaddadiya, southwest of the new Kuwait airport. It will consist of four stations, the first of which is the main station for passengers. Approval has been obtained from the Municipal Council to allocate the site.

Second is the maintenance station for passenger trains, third is for the maintenance of freight cars, and fourth is a dry port for loading and financing. It stated that the second phase of the project, which is included in the plan of PART, consists of the railway line reaching Mubarak Port on Bubiyan Island, to complete the length of 265 kilometers in Kuwait; in addition to future tracks linking Shuaiba and Shuwaikh ports. It added that if an agreement is reached with the northern countries, there will be a link between Abdally and Umm Qasr Port in Iraq. It said the project’s path will start from Kuwait in the North to Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman in the South, with a length of 2,177 kilometers, passing through all the Gulf countries as per the specified lengths for their territories.

By Mohammad Ghanem
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff