Tenders for an engineering study of the 2,117-km-long inter-Gulf rail network will be floated in the first quarter of 2010, GCC General Secretariat sources said on Sunday. Specialized consultancy firms would be asked to submit tenders to conduct the study within 18 months. An independent authority would also be established to manage the multi-billion dollar project, which is expected to create about 40,000 jobs. The technical studies will be followed by building of the railway lines in 2012 before it becomes a reality by 2017. GCC Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs Mohammad bin Obeid Al-Mazroui, was quoted as saying that “up to five companies would be short-listed to carry out the project. Either a single company would be chosen for executing the project or a number of companies would come together to do it as part of a consortium”. Meanwhile, a broad outline of the rail system in the Sultanate has been put in place and a feasibility study for the project is being carried out by French firm Systra Consulting and Oman's National Engineering Office. The study is almost in the finishing stages, officials said. The project involves building a rail system traversing Batinah with links to Al Buraimi near the UAE border.
