The UAE government has given the green light to its ambitious $3 billion railway project, that will link all the seven emirates, and will start seeking tenders by 2015, said a news report.

The emirates-wide rail network, which will link Al Ruwais in Abu Dhabi to Fujairah, will be built in two phases.

A federal bill on the formation of the Union Railway Company was passed by the UAE ministry of services on Tuesday as a first step, the Gulf News reported citing officials.

The Union Railway Company, a fully government-owned entity, will own and operate trains, and invest in the transportation of passengers and goods on rail network connecting all the seven emirates, it added.
 
“Studies on the trans-emirates rail network have been completed and a body has been created to make policies and regulations for the rail transport in the country,' Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, minister of public works, was quoted as saying by WAM.

Construction will be divided into two phases with the first focusing on creating an industrial railway for goods, which will take five years to complete.

The second phase will involve a passenger line consisting of 621 miles of track running from the coast to the border with Saudi Arabia.