THE Qatar cabinet has approved the long-awaited plan to build a railway from Doha to Saudi Arabia. Approval was granted at the weekly cabinet meeting on October 8, chaired by Qatar’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.
This would be Qatar’s first main line railway. The new line would be around 100km long and would run from Doha to Abu Semra on the border with Saudi Arabia, where it would connect with the planned section of the Gulf Railway running from Damman south to Ghuwaifat on the border with the United Arab Emirates. Here the new line would connect with the existing Etihad Rail network to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah.
Qatar’s 2050 transport plan calls for a passenger rail line from the new Doha main international rail terminal to Doha’s Hamad International Airport, and a freight branch line off the Saudi line to Hamad Port and Mesaieed Industrial City south of Doha.
It is hoped to complete the entire Gulf Railway running from Kuwait via Damman to the UAE and Muscat in Oman by 2030. A 45km branch across a causeway is planned from Damman to Bahrain.
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