Kuwait City: Roads and Land Transport Public Authority has announced that approval has been received for the first phase of the domestic railway project in Kuwait. Officials said that the procedures related to the project will start in the next few days.
The Ministry of Finance has allocated ten lakh dinars for the rail project. Currently, there are studies conducted for the Gulf Rail project, but there are indications that necessary reforms may be made in the new situation. The construction work will be started after conducting a study taking into account the opinions of the government. With the completion of the country’s railways, travel and freight movement will become easier and cost-effective.
Earlier, the government had given permission for the railway line connecting from Saudi Arabia to the Shadiya region of Kuwait. The head of the Kuwait Roads and Land Transport Authority, Hussain Al Khayat, said that the consultancy study and design of the project, which will be completed in four and a half years, is ready and the construction task has been given to the Public Roads Authority.
The Gulf Railway project was formed with the objective of facilitating commercial movement in the GCC member states. The total distance of GCC Railway is 2,117 km. The initial decision was for the Gulf countries to complete the work in their respective sectors and implement the first phase in 2018, but due to the drop in oil prices and Covid, they could not proceed further.