Gulf Railway project gains momentum amid political hurdles

A monumental railway project in the Persian Gulf, valued at a quarter trillion dollars and initially launched in 2009, is gaining traction after years of political hurdles and delays.

The Gulf Railway is set to extend over 1,240 miles along the coast, connecting Muscat in Oman to Kuwait City, and will facilitate swift transport for passengers and freight among the major urban centres of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

According to the Council's website, "The GCC rail project will significantly enhance connectivity and integration within the Gulf region," leading to direct benefits for intra-regional trade and the mobility of citizens and residents among member states. With estimated costs ranging from $167 billion to $250 billion, the GCC Railway is recognized as the world's third-largest "megaproject" currently under development, surpassed only by Saudi Arabia's $500 billion Neom city project and the EU's Trans-European Transport Network (TENT-T), which aims to improve rail connectivity across Europe at an estimated cost of $600 billion. Launched in 2009 with an initial completion target of 2018, the Gulf Railway faced delays due to falling oil prices that worsened fiscal challenges in the Gulf states during the mid-2010s, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). 

The completion timeline has been pushed back multiple times, with 2030 now projected as the latest target date. As of September, the project remains in the design phase, focusing on feasibility studies, consultant appointments, and tendering for various segments of the railway. Each GCC member state is tasked with developing the segment within its borders, but political and economic obstacles both within and between the nations have slowed the project's momentum. 

In 2016, Mohammed Al Shuaili from the Omani Ministry of Transport and Communications stated to the Times of Oman that Oman would pause its work on the GCC Railway due to indications that other Gulf states had also chosen to halt the project. However, in 2021, the initiative gained significant momentum when the leaders of the six member states agreed to form a centralized authority to oversee construction coordination among the Council members. Still, ongoing domestic political issues have continued to impede progress.

In December, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reported that "chronic political gridlock" in Kuwait had stalled multiple railway projects, including its segment of the GCC railway. Nevertheless, during a meeting in Abu Dhabi on October 8, GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi announced that several initial phases of the project had been successfully completed. 

"We are working closely with the General Secretariat and the GCC Railways Authority to advance the railway connection project among member states, which will greatly enhance connectivity and integration in the Gulf, leading to positive impacts on trade and the mobility of citizens and residents across the GCC," Albudaiwi stated. 

He noted that Qatar has already developed design and implementation plans for its section, while Kuwait is finalizing consultancy agreements for its design, expected to be completed by year-end. Upholding the 2030 timeline, Albudaiwi projected that the railway would accommodate 6 million passengers by the decade's end, increasing to 8 million by 2045, while freight transport would rise from 201 million tons to 271 million tons in the same timeframe.

By Naila Huseynova