KUWAIT: Minister of Public Works Noura Al-Meshaan on Monday signed a contract with a Turkish firm for the detailed design work of Kuwait’s part of a Gulf railway that will link the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states by 2030.

The ministry’s undersecretary for planning and Development Ahmad Al-Saleh told reporters after the signing that the line for the rail link in Kuwait has been determined and the contract will provide the detailed design of the project.

He said the length of the project in Kuwait is around 111 kilometers and will start from Shadadiya area, near the new university, to the Nuwaiseeb border post with Saudi Arabia to link Kuwait to the rest of the Gulf countries.

Saleh did not provide estimates for the cost of the Kuwait’s part saying it will be determined after completing the design works. But the total cost of the GCC railway project is estimated at $15 billion, according to the GCC.

The long-delayed GCC railway project has been revived by the recent GCC summit in Qatar and is now estimated to be operational by September 2030.

The 2,177-km railway will link Kuwait City with the Oman capital Muscat through Dammam in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The majority of the distance is in Saudi Arabia and UAE.

The railway will be used to transport both passengers and goods and is planned to travel at 220 km/h for passengers and 120 km/h for goods.

The railway is estimated to carry as many as eight million passengers by 2045 and about 95 million tons of goods.

It is expected to boost inter-trade between the oil-rich six Gulf states and promote travel and tourism. It has been delayed for many years but the GCC leaders revived it at the end of 2024.