A joint venture of Indian contracting heavyweight Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Power China International has been picked to work on Package A of Stage 2 of the UAE’s national railway network, Etihad Rail, which will be 1,200-kilometre-long upon completion.
Construction works under the package was launched by HH Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, and chairman of Etihad Rail.
The Indian-Chinese JV will construct freight facilities for the railway network which will be carried out at a total cost of $509.1m (AED1.87bn). Under the terms of the contract, the companies will be jointly responsible for the surveying, design, construction, equipment installation, testing, and pre-commissioning of each facility.
Package A will cover 139km, starting from Ghuweifat on the UAE border with Saudi Arabia to Ruwais, where the line connects with Stage 1 of the rail network. Construction activities under Package A will involve the use of 700,000m3 of ballast, 27,215,542 tonnes (t) of earthwork, and the installation of over 450,000 concrete sleepers provided by Etihad Rail’s own manufacturing plant that produces up to 45,000 railway sleepers each month.
With the contract award, Etihad Rail has completed the contract-awarding process of Stage 2 of the national network which will connect Fujairah and Khorfakkan on the emirates’ east coast to the UAE border with Saudi Arabia at Ghuweifat.
Commenting on the contract award, HH Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed said that the launch of construction works under Package A witnessed Etihad Rail’s “transition from planning and design to actual implementation of the project on the ground”.
The contract was signed by chief executive officer of Etihad Rail, Shadi Malak; L&T’s Anupam Kumar and Power China International’s Hong Lee, in the presence of L&T’s managing director, S N Subrahmanyan and president of Power China International, Wu Wenhao, the Emirates News Agency reported.
Etihad Rail is constructing a series of freight facilities in Ruwais, Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD), Khalifa Port, Dubai Industrial City (DIC), Jebel Ali Port, Al Ghayl and Siji, Fujairah and Khorfakkan Ports.
