What's the Latest with GCC Rail?

With all the mega-projects and financial clout in the Middle East, one may think that building a railway across the Middle East would be an easier task than many, however, with scorching heat in the region, it's no simple feat, yet meaningful progress is being made.

The Gulf Cooperation Councils (GCC) Railway Project will connect the six member states of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman.

That amounts to a huge 2,200km of railway track.

Why the project is so important is because it does the one thing that is so economically, culturally, and socially important - it physically unites the Middle East.

GCC Rail promises to reach several major cities in the region, integrating with municipal rail systems and making travel between key regions much easier and safer.

A New Logistics Opportunity

Another major advantage of GCC Rail is that it allows Middle Eastern states to move cargo between key destinations and nodes at greater speed with virtually no emissions.

This will mean new channels through which states can trade and a lessening of national and regional carbon footprint.

Further, it will attract a new generation of transport professionals on the technology, rail and smart supply chain side.

Rail provides a huge opportunity to smoothen the transition to a 'smart' infrastructure, easing the congestion at ports and airports, while timing schedules to optimize regional practices.

What's the Latest?

Things really got moving in 2022 after the creation of the GCC Railways Authority, having a body to oversee the coordination of the project has meant much larger strides have been made since then.

Recently, reports in Qatar stated that construction of the section connecting Qatar and Saudi Arabia would begin soon, with groundwork such as engineering designs and a work plan already completed.

This railway section is expect to be operational in 2025.

Meanwhile Etihad has stated that the UAE’s National Rail Network is now complete, a 1,200 km network in the country is ready.

The biggest challenge is Saudi Arabia, with it being the vastest of the countries in the region, with huge swathes of desert to cross.

The planned GCC rail project would reach from Ras al-Khafji in Saudi Arabia, along the Persian Gulf Coast, to Batha, where it would connect with Etihad Rail’s Emirates route.

Saudi Arabia is planning a track that connects Riyadh with Jeddah and Dammam known as the Saudi Land Bridge Project.

According to Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics Saleh Al-Jasser, works “...have been completed, and the path and detailed design works have been determined”.

With this project, a cargo train would be able to cross Saudi Arabia in 18 hours, a journey that normally takes 5 days by sea, and is perilous by foot.

Read more: How the Big 4 of Abu Dhabi have Created an Emerging Logistics Giant