The Hafeet Rail project is a 238 kilometre cross border railway located between Sohar Port in Oman and the UAE national network at Al Wathba, and it has now passed 40 percent completion. Track laying began in June 2026, carrying the corridor beyond earthworks into installation.

What the Hafeet Rail Project Has Built So Far

More than 27 million cubic metres of earthworks and over 100,000 cubic metres of concrete are complete, alongside 80 major structures, 900 concrete piles and 130 box culverts. Etihad Rail, one of the three joint venture partners, is simultaneously advancing a far faster corridor at home, where the Abu Dhabi to Dubai high speed line has entered construction.

Project Overview

• Project Name: Hafeet Rail, the Oman and UAE railway connection, named after Jebel Hafeet
• Location: Sohar Port in Oman to the UAE national rail network at Al Wathba, via Al Buraimi, Wadi Al Jizzi and Al Ain
• Length: 238 kilometres
• Project Value: Not publicly disclosed
• Client and Owner: Hafeet Rail Company, a joint venture of Etihad Rail, Oman Rail and Mubadala Investment Company
• Key Components: 80 major structures including bridges, viaducts and tunnels through the Hajar Mountains, with integrated flood protection across the wadis
• Operating Speeds: 200 km/h for passenger services and 120 km/h for freight
• Journey Times: Around 100 minutes between Sohar and Abu Dhabi, and 47 minutes between Sohar and Al Ain
• Status: More than 40 percent complete as of April 2026, with track laying under way and over 10 million safe working hours recorded
• Strategic Impact: The Gulf’s first cross border rail connection, built to shift freight off road haulage and to lay the foundation for future passenger services under Oman Vision 2040

Project Team

• Client and Owner: Hafeet Rail Company
• Joint Venture Partner: Etihad Rail
• Joint Venture Partner: Oman Rail
• Joint Venture Partner: Mubadala Investment Company
• Omani Logistics Group: Asyad Group
• Main Contractor: Not publicly disclosed

Reported 5th May 2024: Muscat: Mr. Abdulrahman bin Saleh al-Hathmi, the CEO of the Omani plain board, Asyad Group, has announced the begining of preparing to carry out the construction work for the Hafeet Rail project linking the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates

He specifically stated that the railway line has been thoughtfully designed with cutting edge engineering ideas to assist the rail to get through the terrain variations and different climate conditions of that area.

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Scope

On the other hand, Al Hatmi pinpointed the fact that the project would be including stations for passenger travels in Suhar and in Al Ain as the freight stations would be there in the cities of Sohar, Buraimi, and in Al Ain. The railway is predicted to shorten the travel time dramatically. The car ride between Suhar and Abu Dhabi will be shortened to 100 min, and Suhar-Al Ain route is expected to be only 47 minutes from the point of view of this 238 km route.

The CEO underscored the economic advantages of the project by pointing out that the loaded freight train would have a potential payload capacity of more than 25,000 tons or an equivalent of over 270 standard containers; at the same time, this would be one of the measures to reduce greenhouse emissions to the level 10 of times lower than that of alternative vehicles. An expected speed of the freight train will be approx. 120 km/h and a speed of the passenger train will be 200 km/h.

Length

The project includes two tunnels that covers a 2.5 km length and 36 bridges the highness of 34 meters which ensures the bridge. The  project is expected to yield huge amount of savings in terms of the cost of transporting goods which lies between $0.35 – $0.40 per mile compared to other modes of transportation. In addition, we want to shorten travel time by 80 percent of goods between Sohar and Abu Dhabi relative to the sea transportation, and up to 50 percent compared to the the car travel.
The key contribution of Engineer Hatmi in building the Hafeet Rail project was emphasizing the importance of such transportation infrastructures for economic prosperity, integrated between the Kingdom of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. From this aspect, the railway is considered as a locomotive for the trade promotion and integration connecting countries in business dealings, ensuring transportation of goods and people through the network quickly and environmentally sustainable ways.

The project is connected with general regional measures of increasing transport infrastructure and of the economic relation strengthening within the area. The project, as it portrays, will be a substantial cost of the possible expansion of transportation in the area, given the prospect of new chances in the area of export, investment, and other activities leading to development.

In summary, the kick-off of the Hafeet Rail undertaking is a moment that symbolizes the beginning of the cross-border connection facilitation process, an enterprise that seeks to enhance connectivity and create economic growth between Oman and the UAE. Driven by model, process automatization and excellent economic performance, the railway is people to play the leading role of the area transportation in the days to come.

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