meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

GCC rail projects attract global attention

20 February 2024

 

Progress on planned rail projects across the GCC has been a stop-start affair over the past decade.

While significant progress was made on Etihad Rail phases two and three in 2018, and work continued on the Riyadh and Doha metros, both awarded in 2013, little progress was made on major rail schemes such as the Saudi Landbridge, Bahrain Metro and Kuwait Metro.

Other significant schemes, including the Abu Dhabi and Jeddah metros, were put on hold.

With key opportunities not progressing, many international rail contractors gave up on the region and looked for opportunities elsewhere.

The decline in project activity was due to two factors. The first was the effect of low oil prices on government spending. The second, more subtle reason was a lack of high-level political buy-in. Rail projects were not a priority for the region’s leaders.

Today, the sentiment for rail in the GCC could not be more different. Progress is being made on a range of large-scale railway schemes, hence offering huge opportunities for international contractors to return to the region.

The spike in project activity levels in the regional rail sector means contractors will have plenty of opportunities to choose from.

The turning point came in January 2021 when GCC countries signed the Al Ula agreement. The official announcement by the GCC secretariat effectively restarted the GCC railway project, which will connect all six GCC countries with a sprawling railway link.

Since then, a string of recent moves and statements have meant all six bloc members have either declared or signalled their plans for their sections of the rail network.

Major markets

Saudi Arabia and the UAE stand out in terms of work opportunities for international contractors. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has moved towards starting significant rail projects, including the Saudi Landbridge and Riyadh metro extension.

The kingdom is preparing to start work on the $7bn Saudi Landbridge project this year as the negotiations for the final cost and financing of the project reach the closing stages.

Contractors will also be eyeing the doubling of the second track on the North-South Railway (NSR) network. In January, Saudi Arabia approved the project at an estimated investment of SR4bn ($1bn).

The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) also received prequalification forms from consortium companies for the tender to design and build the next phase of the Riyadh Metro project. Three teams of local and international contractors have formed to bid for the contract.

The other significant railway scheme in the market is the Riyadh Metro Line Two extension, for which the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) has issued a tender notice. According to sources close to the project, the tender is open only to the contracting groups working on the Line Two scheme.

These significant undertakings will link key cities and industrial hubs to boost the country’s logistics and industrial sectors and improve passenger transport infrastructure, especially in Riyadh.

In the UAE, the country has announced the partial completion of the Etihad Rail scheme, with freight trains beginning operations in February.

The country is now looking to strengthen its rail infrastructure further as it begins the procurement process for a railway link connecting the UAE with its neighbour Oman.

Oman Etihad Rail Company received bids in February from several consortiums comprising a mix of local and international contractors for three civil works packages for the UAE-Oman railway project.

The country is also preparing to start construction on the UAE’s high-speed rail project after asking contractors to express interest in the early works for the line connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The client is expected to launch the prequalification process for the main contract tender in Q2 of this year. 

Meanwhile, tendering activity is ramping up for the highly anticipated Dubai Metro’s new Blue Line. Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has set a deadline of 19 May for consortiums to submit their bids for the design and build contract. It is one of Dubai’s largest upcoming infrastructure schemes, requiring international contractors to work in a joint venture with local partners.

Contractors have started work on the first phase of Abu Dhabi’s long-awaited light rail transit (LRT) system. The local National Infrastructure Construction Company (NICC) and National Projects & Construction (NPC) are carrying out the construction work.

Upcoming opportunities

In the coming years, several upcoming rail schemes in other GCC countries will also provide ample work opportunities for rail contractors.

Last year, Oman invited firms to prepare a pre-feasibility outline for the first phase of its planned Muscat Metro network. The project has long been discussed, and the tender for the preliminary consultancy work is a major step as it signals the government’s ambition to deliver the project.

Other planned metro projects are at a more advanced stage. Bahrain is expected to develop the initial phase of the upcoming metro scheme imminently. In February last year, Bahrain’s Transportation & Telecommunications Ministry prequalified firms that could bid for the tender for the upcoming project.

There are plans to extend the Red, Green and Gold lines in Doha, and the tendering activity is expected to start soon.

As projects move forward, the GCC’s railway sector presents a promising pipeline for contractors to capitalise on. With ambitious infrastructure projects under way and planned across the region, these schemes are expected to generate significant demand for skilled professionals and contractors.

By leveraging their expertise in the regional rail sector, contractors have the chance to play a vital role in shaping the future of transport in the region while filling their order books for years to come.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11524691/main.jpg
Yasir Iqbal

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Algeria opens bidding for water treatment plant

    15 April 2026

     

    State-owned Cosider Pipelines, part of Algeria’s public infrastructure group Cosider, has issued a tender for the construction of a demineralisation plant in In Salah in Algeria.

    The contract covers the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of a plant with a treatment capacity of 62,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

    The tender is open to local and international companies specialising in the design and construction of demineralisation and reverse osmosis desalination plants.

    The bid submission deadline is 26 April.

    The project will be located at In Salah, a key industrial area in southern Algeria, where treated water supply is important for both municipal and industrial use.

    Cosider said that individual bidders must demonstrate that they have completed at least one reverse osmosis demineralisation or desalination plant with a capacity of 20,000 cubic metres a day or more.

    They must also show an average annual turnover of at least AD1bn ($7.7m) for their five best years over the past decade.

    For consortium bids, all partners must share full responsibility for the contract, while the lead company must meet the technical and financial requirements.

    Recent projects

    In 2023, MEED reported that Riyadh-based water utility developer Wetico had won two contracts to develop water desalination plants in Algeria.

    Societe Algerienne de Realisation de Projects Industriels (Sarpi) awarded the contract for the El-Tarf desalination plant, while Entreprise Nationale de Canalisations (Enac) is the client for the Bejaja facility.

    Both plants were commissioned in 2025, each with a production capacity of 300,000 cm/d.

    Separately, Wetico was the main contractor on a third plant commissioned last year. The Cap Dijinet 2 seawater desalination plant in Boumerdes province covers 18 hectares and also has a capacity of 300,000 cm/d.

    Like many countries, Algeria is facing pressure on resources due to longer and more frequent droughts. Seawater desalination is seen as a key driver of the government’s strategy to guarantee drinking water supply.

    According to previous reports, the government is planning to build up to six additional plants by 2030.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16404325/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • WEBINAR: UAE Projects Market 2026

    15 April 2026

    Webinar: UAE Projects Market 2026
    Tuesday, 28 April 2026 | 11:00 GST  |  Register now

    Agenda:

    • Overview of the UAE projects market landscape
    • 2025 projects market performance
    • Value of work awarded 2026 YTD
    • Impact of the Iran conflict on the projects market and real estate, assessing supply chain disruptions, material cost inflation and war risk premiums
    • Key drivers, challenges and opportunities
    • Size of future pipeline by sector and status
    • Ranking of the top contractors and clients
    • Summary of key current and future projects
    • Short and long-term market outlook
    • Audience Q&A

    Hosted by: Colin Foreman, editor of MEED 

    Colin Foreman is editor and a specialist construction journalist for news and analysis on MEED.com and the MEED Business Review magazine. He has been reporting on the region since 2003, specialising in the construction sector and its impact on the broader economy. He has reported exclusively on a wide range of projects across the region including Dubai Metro, the Burj Khalifa, Jeddah Airport, Doha Metro, Hamad International airport and Yas Island. Before joining MEED, Colin reported on the construction sector in Hong Kong.

    Click here to register

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16401868/main.gif
    Colin Foreman
  • Saudi Landbridge finds its moment in Gulf turmoil

    15 April 2026

    Commentary
    Yasir Iqbal
    Construction writer

    The strategic case for the Saudi Landbridge has never been more urgent. SAR’s appointment of Spain’s Typsa as lead design consultant, reported by MEED this week, is more than a procurement milestone. After two decades of delays, it reflects how the long-deferred project has become a strategic necessity.

    The conflict reshaping the Middle East has made that necessity more immediate. Red Sea transits are costly and unpredictable. The Strait of Hormuz carries risk no insurer can fully price. Saudi Arabia’s most valuable exports, including crude oil, refined products, petrochemicals and industrial goods, move almost entirely by sea through routes that are no longer reliably secure.

    The kingdom sits between two coastlines with no rail link connecting them. That gap is now an economic exposure.

    The $27bn project addresses it directly. More than 1,500 kilometres of track, anchored by a 900km railway between Riyadh and Jeddah, will provide direct freight access from King Abdullah Port on the Red Sea, with upgrades to the Riyadh-Dammam line and a new connection to Yanbu.

    Together, they create what Saudi Arabia has never had: a continuous land corridor linking Gulf industrial ports to Red Sea export terminals, entirely within its own borders.

    The commercial implications are substantial. Aramco’s downstream output, Sabic’s chemicals, and the manufacturing clusters of Jubail and Yanbu gain flexible access to both coasts.

    Exporters targeting Europe and the Americas load at Jeddah; those serving Asia pivot east to Dammam by rail, on demand, without Hormuz risk or Red Sea freight surcharges.

    No neighbouring economy has that optionality. The network also underpins a broader economic ambition. Connecting Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Jubail, Yanbu, King Abdullah port and King Khalid airport by rail positions the kingdom as a genuine logistics corridor between East and West. 

    With design now under way and construction tenders expected imminently, the Landbridge is closer to reality than at any point in its troubled history. Regional disruption did not create this project. But it has made the argument for it unanswerable.

    MEED’s April 2026 report on Saudi Arabia includes:

    > COMMENT: Risk accelerates Saudi spending shift
    > GVT &: ECONOMY: Riyadh navigates a changed landscape
    > BANKING: Testing times for Saudi banks
    > UPSTREAM: Offshore oil and gas projects to dominate Aramco capex in 2026
    > DOWNSTREAM: Saudi downstream projects market enters lean period
    > POWER: Wind power gathers pace in Saudi Arabia
    > WATER: Sharakat plan signals next phase of Saudi water expansion
    > CONSTRUCTION: Saudi construction enters a period of strategic readjustment
    > TRANSPORT: Rail expansion powers Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure push

    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16401567/main.png
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Indian firm selected for Saudi sewage treatment project

    15 April 2026

     

    Saudi Arabia’s National Water Company is understood to have recently selected Indian contractor VA Tech Wabag as its preferred bidder for a contract to expand a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Al-Majmaah in Riyadh Province.

    The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package for the Al-Majmaah STP has an estimated value of $65m.

    The scope includes the construction of sewage treatment plant units, a pumping station and an effluent surplus line. It also covers the installation of a Scada system, supervisory control systems and associated facilities.

    As MEED understands, six bids were submitted last year, including from local firms Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies, Al-Rafia Contracting, Civil Works Company, Saudi Sdn Water & Energy and Washnah Trading & Contracting.

    The project forms part of Saudi Arabia’s broader push to expand treatment and reuse infrastructure under Vision 2030, particularly across the Riyadh region.

    MEED recently revealed that NWC had awarded an EPC contract for the latest phase of its long-term operations and maintenance sewage treatment programme.

    The contract to build and upgrade sewage treatment plants with a combined capacity of about 440,000 cubic metres a day was awarded to a consortium led by China’s Jiangsu United Water Technology.

    Elsewhere, a joint venture of Kuwait-based Heavy Engineering Industries & Shipbuilding and Wabag is awaiting the formal contract award for phase two of Kuwait’s Doha seawater desalination plant project.

    The firms submitted the lowest bid of $373.2m for the project last year.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16401155/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • SAR extends phosphate rail track deadline

    15 April 2026

     

    Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) has extended the bid submission deadline to 26 April for a multibillion-riyal tender to double the tracks on the existing phosphate transport railway network connecting the Waad Al-Shamal mines to Ras Al-Khair in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

    The new tender – covering the second section of the track-doubling works and spanning more than 150 kilometres (km) – was issued on 9 February. The previous bid submission deadline was 15 April.

    The new tender follows SAR receiving bids from contractors on 1 February for the project’s first phase, which spans about 100km from the AZ1/Nariyah Yard to Ras Al-Khair.

    The scope includes track doubling, alignment modifications, new utility bridges, culvert widening and hydrological structures, as well as the conversion of the AZ1 siding into a mainline track. It also includes support for signalling and telecommunications systems.

    The tender notice was issued in late November, with a bid submission deadline of 20 January 2026.

    Switzerland-based engineering firm ARX is the project consultant.

    MEED understands that these two packages are the first of four that SAR is expected to tender for the phosphate railway line. Other packages expected to be tendered shortly include the depot and systems packages.

    In 2023, MEED reported that SAR was planning two projects to increase its freight capacity, including an estimated SR4.2bn ($1.1bn) project to install a second track along the North Train Freight Line and construct three new freight yards.

    Formerly known as the North-South Railway, the North Train is a 1,550km-long freight line running from the phosphate and bauxite mines in the far north of the kingdom to the Al-Baithah junction. There, it diverges into a line southward to Riyadh and a second line running east to downstream fertiliser production and alumina refining facilities at Ras Al-Khair on the Gulf coast.

    Adding a second track and the freight yards will significantly increase the network’s cargo-carrying capacity and facilitate increased industrial production. Project implementation is expected to take four years.

    State-owned SAR is also considering increasing the localisation of railway materials and equipment, including the construction of a cement sleeper manufacturing facility.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16400986/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal