Rail transport in the United Arab Emirates

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Ruwais-Shah
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend
   
 Saudi Arabia
   
 Ghuwaifat
   
 (Construction phase 2)
   
 0 Ruwais
Station, station
 Al Marfa
Station, station
 Tariff
   
 to Abu Dhabi (construction phase 3)
Station, station
 Habshan
End station - end of the line
 264 Shah

The Rail transport in the United Arab Emirates is currently under construction. The first line went into commercial operation in 2016.

network

A T-shaped network in standard gauge is planned , the main branch of which runs parallel to the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the Persian Gulf . It is to be built in three construction phases and in the final stage of development will cover 1200 km, which will connect all seven Emirates of the UAE. The operator is the national railway company of the UAE, Etihad Rail . Responsibility for the railway infrastructure is DB International .

ETCS Level 2 is intended as the signal and train control system.

history

Construction work on the first section from the port of Ruwais via Tarif to Shah (264 km) began in 2010. The first two of 7 locomotives ordered arrived on April 10, 2013 after the first batch of freight wagons had been delivered at the end of December 2012. The route has been used by test trains since September 2013, and on December 9, 2015, approval was given for commercial freight traffic , which began in early 2016.

business

DB Schenker Rail and Etihad Rail founded a joint venture, Etihad Rail DB Operations LLC , in June 2014 . DB Cargo provides the approximately 200 employees that rail operations initially require. Sand drifts and the stretching behavior of the tracks at the extreme temperatures make operation difficult . The route is fenced in to protect railway operations from wild dromedaries and gazelles .

Mainly granulated sulfur , a by-product of natural gas production, is transported on the route . The sulfur trains run with a leader of two or three diesel locomotives of the SD70ACS series from Electro-Motive Diesel and 110 freight cars . A train is 1.8 km long and weighs 11,000 tons when loaded. An average of 410,000 tons of sulfur are transported every month. In 2017, the transport volume of 10 million t was exceeded.

expansion

Two further construction phases are planned:

Construction phase 2

Construction phase 2 is to advance the route over 628 km to the Saudi Arabian border, include a route from Tarif to al-Ain and create connections to Abu Dhabi and the port of Jebel Ali . The opening was initially planned for 2017. On January 26, 2016, Etihad Rail suspended the tender for construction phase 2. The official justification was that the schedule and the way it was carried out had to be reconsidered. However, it cannot be ruled out that the low oil price has shaken financing. In mid-2018, planning services for this construction phase were then awarded to the French infrastructure company Egis . On March 11, 2019, Etihad Rail announced that it had received the construction contract for the first batch of the 2nd construction phase, the 139 km long double-track line from Ruwais to Ghuwaifat on the Saudi border for 1.5 billion (approx . Euro ), to a consortium made up of China State Construction Engineering Corp. and the South Korean SK Engineering & Construction . Etihad Rail also announced that the orders for the remaining sections of the 2nd construction phase should follow in a few months.

A later extension to Oman would be technically possible. Also passengers is planned in the future.

Construction phase 3

Construction phase 3 is to expand the network by 279 km. It will serve the north of the country and connect Dubai , the port of Saqr and Khor Fakkan to the rail network. This construction phase should open in 2018. For this, too, planning services were only awarded to the French infrastructure company Egis in mid-2018.

For both construction phases, the aim is now to put them into operation in 2024.

literature

  • Oliver Keppler: Hot track . In: mobil 4/2016, pp. 102-104.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Etihad homepage .
  2. ↑ Keppler, p. 103.
  3. ↑ Etihad signaling contract . In: Railway Gazette International . tape 168 , no. 3 , 2012, ISSN  0373-5346 , p. 12 ( online under a similar title ).
  4. ↑ HaRakevet 112 (March 2016), 112: 07 Other Middle East Railways, J. United Arab Emirates. Etihad Rail (i), p. 22.
  5. ↑ Press release from Etihad v. April 10, 2013 (PDF; 129 kB).
  6. ↑ Press release from Etihad v. December 26, 2012 (PDF; 384 kB).
  7. ↑ HaRakevet 112 (March 2016), 112: 07 Other Middle East Railways, J. United Arab Emirates. Etihad Rail (i), p. 22.
  8. ↑ HaRakevet 112 (March 2016), 112: 07 Other Middle East Railways, J. United Arab Emirates. Etihad Rail (i), p. 22.
  9. ↑ db / mr: DB Schenker on the Arabian Gulf . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 8-9 (2013), p. 413.
  10. ↑ Keppler, p. 104.
  11. ↑ Keppler, p. 104.
  12. ↑ Press release from Etihad v. April 10, 2013 (PDF; 129 kB).
  13. ↑ Keppler, p. 103.
  14. ↑ Press release from Etihad v. December 26, 2012 (PDF; 384 kB).
  15. ↑ Keppler, p. 103.
  16. ↑ Etihad Rail achieves key Stage One sulfur milestone , Trade Arabia, February 18, 2017
  17. ^ NN: Etihad Rail Awards Consultancy Contract . In: HaRakevet 121 (June 2018), p. 29 (based on a report from Railway Gazette International of May 24, 2018).
  18. ^ Etihad homepage .
  19. ↑ HaRakevet 112 (March 2016), 112: 07 Other Middle East Railways, J. United Arab Emirates. Etihad Rail. Stage 2 Tendering Suspended (ii), p. 22.
  20. ^ NN: Etihad Rail Awards Consultancy Contract . In: HaRakevet 121 (June 2018), p. 29 (based on a report from Railway Gazette International of May 24, 2018).
  21. ^ Message from Railway Gazette International in: HaRakevet 125 (June 2019), p. 26.
  22. ^ Etihad homepage .
  23. ↑ See: here .
  24. ^ Etihad homepage .
  25. ^ NN: Etihad Rail Awards Consultancy Contract . In: HaRakevet 121 (June 2018), p. 29 (based on a report from Railway Gazette International of May 24, 2018).
  26. ^ NN: Etihad Rail Awards Consultancy Contract . In: HaRakevet 121 (June 2018), p. 29 (based on a report from Railway Gazette International of May 24, 2018).
  27. ^ NN: Etihad Rail Awards Consultancy Contract . In: HaRakevet 121 (June 2018), p. 29 (based on a report from Railway Gazette International of May 24, 2018).