A study on a railway connecting Bahrain and Saudi Arabia is expected to be completed by the end of March.

Two routes have been proposed for an 87-km-long rail link that will connect two stations on either side of the water, according to Bahrain's Transportation Ministry land transport and postal affairs under-secretary Mariam Ahmed Jumaan, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

She said Bahrain had faced issues with a number of proposed routes due to its dense urban landscape.

According to the Oman Tribune, Jumaan indicated that the plan was to build the new causeway and make it operational by 2018.

She gave details of the plan during the GCC Rail and Metro Conference, which took place in Muscat, Oman, on Sunday and Monday.

Jumaan revealed the Bahrain station would be built on reclaimed land and connect under a second phase to the country's port and airport - potentially connecting with a proposed causeway linking Bahrain and Qatar. The first phase will connect Saudi Arabia.

Canadian engineering consultancy SNC Lavalin has been tasked with conducting a study on the Bahrain-Saudi rail link, which was supposed to be completed last year.

The rail link is expected to be part of a larger GCC railway network that is planned to extend throughout the Gulf. - TradeArabia News Service