Turkish construction company Kalyon Inşaat has announced that its consortium has begun work on the UAE's first high-speed railway network, a part of Etihad Rail's $13 billion plan to develop a passenger railway network spanning 900km across the emirates.

The full Abu Dhabi-Dubai high-speed railway will extend approximately 150km and once completed, it will cut travel time from around 90 minutes to just 30 minutes, reported Daily Sabah.

Kalyon Inşaat is part of an international consortium - comprising UAE-based National Projects and Construction and Trojan Tunneling as well as China's China State Construction Engineering Corporation - which clinched the contract for the Abu Dhabi section of the Abu Dhabi-Dubai High-Speed Rail Project from Etihad Rail.

Under the consortium's contract, the Abu Dhabi section will include around 97km railway track and four stations.

The route will also feature an 11.2-km twin-tube tunnel, one of the project's major engineering components, said the report.

The railway will operate at speeds of up to 320km per hour, making it the UAE's first high-speed rail line. It is scheduled for completion in 2031, it added.