Gulf Arab railway projects gain speed

In their common aim to upgrade the infrastructure and means of transport, the oil-rich Gulf states announced fresh progress on existing railway and tram projects over the week. On Tuesday, the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said Alstom Company in France successfully tested the wagons for the Al Sofouh Tram, Dubai's first tram track which is now under construction and will connect the Dubai Marina district with the world-famous luxury hotel Burj Al Arab. The 14.5-km-long track is expected to transport passengers by 2014. Dubai spearheaded the thirst for railway systems on the Arab peninsula when it launched the driverless metro system, Dubai Metro. The city, a candidate to host the World Expo 2020, will speed up its plans to expand the Dubai Metro with five billion Dirham (1. 36 billion U.S. dollars) by building more tracks if it wins the bid, the RTA has said. On Wednesday, Abu Dhabi Airports Company said it is preparing a tender for building a rail link connecting the midfield terminal which is under construction at Abu Dhabi International Airport. The link shall function as a gateway to the United Arab Emirates' capital and provide an initial capacity of 30 million passengers per year. On June 6, Qatar awarded contracts of 8.2 billion dollars for the phase one of the metro in the country's capital Doha. The scheme is part of a major infrastructure upheaval to prepare the Gulf state for the FIFA World Cup 2022.