The scale and ambition of the UAE’s mega railway project has been revealed in a new video.
Footage posted to social media by Etihad Rail shows construction well under way on the 145 kilometre link between Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah port.
The work shows crews carving a path through the mighty Hajar Mountains before laying down the tracks.
Workers will dig at least 15 tunnels through the Hajar Mountains and build 35 bridges designed for heavy cargo loads.
The video also shows an impression of Etihad Rail trains on their way to the east coast.
No firm completion date for the UAE-wide network has been given but when fully complete, Etihad Rail will stretch for about 1,000 kilometres from Ghuweifat on the border with Saudi Arabia to Fujairah on the UAE’s east coast.
It will connect Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port and Mussaffah with Jebel Ali port in Dubai and the Port of Fujairah.
Etihad Rail earlier this year said the second stage of the railway is “moving forward rapidly”, with contracts awarded for construction, civil works and freight facility centres.
Stage one – linking the gas fields at Shah and Habshan to the port of Ruwais – is already in operation.
Etihad Rail was created in 2009 and it is hoped the railway will eventually form part of a wider GCC network.
Freight is the focus but Etihad Rail’s original mandate also specified a passenger element.
Chinese construction firms are heavily involved in work.