Etihad Rail awards Dh1.6bn systems contract

Hitachi Rail will be responsible for the network’s power distribution and electronics subsystems

Delegates look at an Etihad Rail poster. The national rail network will connect Fujairah and Khorfakkan on the UAE’s east coast to the UAE’s border with Saudi Arabia at Ghuweifat. Pawan Singh / The National

Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE’s national railway, has awarded a Dh1.6 billion contract for systems and integrations work for the projects second phase to Hitachi Rail.

The contract will cover the design and build of the power distribution network and electronics subsystems. The proposed power system will run for 800 kilometres and handle power of up to 11 kilovolts.

"The awarding of the systems and integration contract is an important step in accomplishing this national strategic project, which is the future of a new transport sector in the country, and upgrades the transport and shipping sector in the UAE by linking ports to economic, industrial and residential areas,” said Sheikh Thayeb bin Mohamed, chairman of Etihad Rail and a member the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

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The systems contract award is the latest of several deals signed this year to progress the second phase of Etihad Rail, which will extend the current network of 264 kilometres by 605km. In March, China State Construction Engineering Corporation and South Korea's SK Engineering were awarded a Dh1.5bn deal to link the existing railway at Ruwais with Ghuweifat on the UAE-Saudi border. China Railway Construction Corporation and Ghantoot Transport and General Contracting were then awarded contracts worth a combined Dh4.4 billion in July for lines stretching 216km and 94km that will connect the network to Khalifa Port and Khalifa Industrial City in Abu Dhabi, and to Jebel Ali Port in Dubai.

Etihad Rail said the network would be equipped with a communications system and control centre with its main operations in Faya and another in Mirfa. The main operations centre will be able to pinpoint the location of a train on the network at any time, control its speed and even stop it where necessary. It will also house a crisis management unit.

“The national railway network will operate according to the latest technologies adopted for operating systems and to the highest international standards, to connect the emirates of the UAE," Sheikh Thayeb added.