UAE-Oman rail network expected to bring about new era of collaboration and growth

The 303km train linking Sohar as well as Abu Dhabi is developed to aid make the GCC a logistics centre and sustain the sultanate’s financial development

The UAE-Oman rail network is expected to bring a brand-new period of connection and financial growth for Oman and also help the GCC area to come to be an international logistics centre.

The sultanate has highlighted plans to additional work together with its GCC neighbours as it goes after long-held ambitions to function as a bridge in between East as well as West.

” Oman’s area in the Arabian Peninsula, plus its access to deep-sea ports overseeing the Indian Sea outside of the choke point of Hormuz Strait, provides a virtually excellent stop in between the West as well as the East,” said Mahmood Al Wahaibi, taking care of companion at Oman Believe Urban as well as infrastructure lead at the Oman National Spatial Technique project.

Deal with the initial stage of the network is anticipated to start after a $3 billion contract was authorized by the Oman-Etihad Rail Business and Mubadala last month.

In 2015, Etihad Rail entered into a collaboration with Oman Rail to develop the Oman-Etihad Rail Company and build a 303km rail course in between Sohar and Abu Dhabi.

In 2014, the sultanate set out its approach for 2040, which pictures the sector producing concerning 300,000 tasks as Oman becomes a logistics centre.

Sohar to become a more accessible tourist destination

Trains will connect Sohar and Abu Dhabi in a hr as well as 40 mins while the trip from Sohar to Al Ain will certainly take 47 minutes.

” The railway network will certainly offer us with an alternative mode of transportation, besides air and roadway traveling,” said Sultan Al Balushi, a homeowner of Sohar.

” It will certainly benefit people in both the UAE and Oman who are trying to find a quicker setting of transportation at a more budget-friendly price.

” I drive two or three times a month to the UAE for buying and tourism, so as soon as this rail is practical, I can also consider travelling by train.”

Sohar has long been a destination for many GCC homeowners as well as Omani locals attracted to its lavish plant life and hills.

Sohar Ft as well as Sultan Qaboos Mosque are amongst the several vacationer places in or around the city.

Aftab Patel, president of Al Omaniya Financial Solutions and a long-lasting resident of the sultanate, said the tourist sector would certainly take advantage of the rail job as a result of the “uniqueness value in train traveling”.

” Once Oman’s funding is connected with the network, it has the prospective to boost tourism swiftly and also benefit travelers in both countries,” he claimed.

Oman Rail informed The National that the network would certainly help to “form a bright future for transport in Oman as well as the GCC”.

” The network is created to effect deep social modifications by effortlessly attaching metropolitan centres with financial and also commercial areas, producing work, developing the national human funding, boosting local tourist and also kicking off a new age of technology,” the rail operator claimed.

Lowering costs and improving connectivity

The rail network, when complete, will link Oman’s GCC neighbors to all ports in the sultanate.

Mr Al Wahaibi stated a current agreement connecting Sohar port to the UAE offered both nations a chance to collaborate on the import and also export of products, including crude, while circumventing the Strait of Hormuz.

” This development might lead to significant reductions in time and expenses associated with these tasks,” he claimed.

Ship proprietors whose vessels dock at Sohar port every week can conserve approximately $10 million and 104 days annually by choosing to deliver their products further inland by rail, said a Mercator record commissioned for Oman’s logistics method for 2040.

For ship owners using several solutions, this might equate to savings in the range of $50 million to $100 million a year.

Adham Al Said, co-founder of The Company for Organization as well as Consulting, and also assistant professor of business economics at Sultan Qaboos College, stated the financial activity in the sultanate’s transportation field added regarding 5 per cent to gdp in real terms over the previous years.

” With new modes of transport offering alternatives for more business, connecting existing commercial logistical hubs will certainly be important to improving the value-added outcomes,” he stated.

Utilizing the rail network can help industries in Oman to decrease the price of resources and also finished items.

Ayad Al Balushi, chairman of Sohar Aluminium, stated transport was product to the price of the company’s items, especially the final price paid by the customer.

” At Sohar Aluminium, with exports being a huge component of our business, decreasing transportation costs is of extremely important importance. It will certainly offer us with an one-upmanship over other market players worldwide,” Mr Al Balushi claimed.

GCC as a logistics centre

Sohar is residence to several export-based firms.

With a well-connected logistics market, the sectors in Sohar can reach their clients much faster and for much less, making them a lot more competitive, claimed Mr Al Balushi.

“The even more linked we are, the far better we can place ourselves as a region,” he claimed.