WORLD> Middle East
UAE to set up company for national railway system
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-16 16:38

ABU DHABI -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government will soon set up a company to oversee the construction and operation of a national railway system in the Gulf country, local newspaper Gulf News reported on Thursday.

An announcement in this regard is expected "anytime" and thereafter "things will move quickly" to start work on the project, Abdullah Salem Al Katheeri, director of land transport at the UAE National Transport Authority, was quoted as saying.

"The UAE is in the process of finalizing legal formalities of creating a railway company. It will be announced shortly," he said.

The move will speed up the development a railway system stretching from Fujairah, a northeastern emirate of the UAE, to the country's capital Abu Dhabi, the official added.

The projected UAE railway system that had been talked about for years will eventually be connected with the proposed railway network of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Currently, a 69.7-kilometer urban railway system called "Dubai Metro" is under construction in Dubai, the second largest emirate of the UAE.

The metro system is scheduled to partially open by September 2009 and be fully completed by 2012.