Oman Rail has floated tenders for the construction of an additional 1,207 km of railway infrastructure linking the country’s three maritime gateways at Sohar, Duqm and Salalah with the GCC rail system, said a report.

Through back-to-back tenders, the Omani company aims to complete three further segments of the nine-segment national rail network by awarding contracts worth an estimated $6 billion to 8 billion, reported the Oman Daily Observer.

Segments Two, Three and Four cover the distance from Hafeet on Oman’s border with Abu Dhabi all the way down to Salalah in Dhofar Governorate, via Haima and Duqm.  Together with Segment One, which extends from Sohar Port (Batinah North Governorate) to Buraimi on the Sultanate’s border with the UAE, they represent the strategic backbone of the country’s rail network.

The segments includes a technically challenging 93-km stretch from Thamrait to Salalah Port, traversing rugged terrain crisscrossed by major wadis.

Through this competitive tendering process, the Omani firm has signalled its intent to accelerate the pace of implementation of the national railway network, it said.

A contract for the 207-km-long stretch representing Segment One is expected to be announced by Oman Rail in the third quarter of this year, stated the report.  

Five consortiums led by prominent international rail contractors are bidding for the multibillion-dollar package, it added.