Etihad Rail: inside the UAE railway network's nerve centre

Railway technicians work on the line at Mirfa base

Once complete, the Etihad Rail network will connect all of the Emirates – from Ghweifat in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi to Fujairah on the east coast. It will also link with Saudi Arabia. AFP

The link will take an estimated 375,000 vehicles off the roads. AFP

Inside an Etihad Rail train at Al Mirfa in Abu Dhabi. The complete network will feature 1,200 kilometres of track. AFP

An Etihad Rail train at Al Mirfa. A fully loaded freight train can carry the equivalent cargo of 300 lorries – reducing carbon dioxide emission by up to 80 per cent. AFP

An Etihad Rail technician at work on a train at Al Mirfa. Greenhouse gases will be slashed by more than 2.2 million tonnes a year once the network is fully operational. AFP

An Etihad Rail train at Al Mirfa. A contract to manufacture and supply 842 carriages will take the total fleet to more than 1,000, an eightfold increase in Etihad Rail’s transport capacity. AFP

Trains will carry petrochemicals, aggregates, construction materials, industrial waste, aluminium, perishable goods and general domestic and international cargo. AFP

Engineers work on an Etihad Rail train at Al Mirfa. While freight is the immediate priority, passenger transport will become a key focus in years to come. AFP

Although much of the route is through flat desert, engineers must excavate at least 15 tunnels through the Hajar Mountains and build 35 bridges for heavy cargo loads. AFP

Laying of track on stage two commenced at the beginning of 2021, from the railhead in Ruwais, in Abu Dhabi, running westwards towards Saudi Arabia. When completed, the UAE’s national rail network will have a total annual capacity of more than 50 million tonnes of goods. AFP

In a quiet coastal town about 150 kilometres west of Abu Dhabi city sits the nerve centre of the UAE’s railway project.

Lines stretching across the desert, tunnels bored through mountains and bridges built to carry heavy loads – if there ever was an Emirati megaproject, this is it.

And at the Mirfa railway base, technicians inspect carriages, engines are put through their paces in harsh conditions and tracks are inspected.

Stage one of Etihad Rail – linking the gasfields at Shah and Habshan to Ruwais – is already in operation.

Now the second stage of the project – stretching about 1,000km from Ghuweifat on the border with Saudi Arabia to Fujairah on the UAE’s east coast – is advancing rapidly.

Workers must dig at least 15 tunnels through the Hajjar Mountains and build about 35 bridges designed for heavy cargo loads.

Etihad Rail also said in January it started construction of the 139km stretch connecting the existing line at Ruwais to Ghuweifat. Close to 59 per cent of the project has been completed, it said then.

Etihad Rail was created in 2009. Freight is the focus but its original mandate included a potential passenger element.

It is also envisaged that the UAE lines could form part of a wider GCC rail network.

Meet Etihad Rail's first female train controller – in pictures

The Etihad Rail network will stretch from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah when complete

Maithaa Al Remeithi is Etihad Rail's first female train controller. All pictures by Victor Besa

Maithaa Al Remeithi has turned a childhood love of trains into her dream career

Maithaa Al Remeithi plays an integral role in the UAE's rail sector

Each day, two freight trains leave the depot at Etihad Rail to transport granulated sulphur from gasfields in Shah and Habshan to an export point in Ruwais

The depot in Mirfa serves as the centre of operations for Etihad Rail

Any one train can take up to 110 wagons, can travel at speeds of 120 kilometres an hour and, at full length, can reach about 1.2km

It is full speed ahead for Etihad Rail's expansion plans

Located a few kilometres inland in a large open expanse, two train tracks which serve Etihad Rail span 264km