GCC Six States Sign General Agreement for Regional Railway: 2,117-km Network 55.9% Complete, Full Operations Targeted for December 2030
MANAMA — Transport ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council member states signed the General Agreement for the GCC Railway Project in Manama, Bahrain, on November 8, establishing a common framework for implementing and operating a regional railway network linking all six countries. The signing took place at Riffa Palace in the presence of Bahrain's Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi and the member states' transport ministers, on the sidelines of the 31st meeting of the GCC Ministerial Committee on Transport and Communications.
The network will run about 2,117 kilometres, carrying both passengers and freight, and will connect Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Albudaiwi said the project is about 55.9 percent complete, with full operations targeted for December 2030 and core infrastructure costs estimated at about $16 billion.
The agreement sets out the member states' common obligations on implementation schedules, technical standards, safety requirements and interoperability, with national rail networks connecting into the regional system to unified standards. The GCC Railways Authority, headquartered in Riyadh, will coordinate implementation, monitor progress and help governments address technical and operational obstacles.
The GCC railway has been planned for more than a decade. The GCC Ministerial Council set December 2030 as the completion target in December 2023, and the 238-kilometre Hafeet Rail link between Oman and the UAE is among the cross-border sections already advancing. The GCC says a completed network will improve the movement of people and goods among the six states and deepen regional economic integration.
(Source: Gulf Cooperation Council)
Source: Gulf Cooperation Council
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：沙特阿拉伯首都利雅得城市天际线，海合会铁路局总部设于利雅得（资料图，B.alotaby 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0），经 Wikimedia Commons，本站档案图复用。 / Photo: File photo of the Riyadh skyline, home to the GCC Railways Authority, by B.alotaby, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. GSM archive image reused.
