Kuwait’s Public Authority for Roads and Transportation (Part) aims to tender the Kuwait National Rail Road project this year. The authority has noted its plans to issue the tender before the end of this, according to industry sources.

The contract is expected to have an estimated value of $973 million according to these sources. Furthermore, earlier this year, Part issued the designing contract of the rail road project. The contract was issued to Turkiye-based Proyapi Muhendislik ve Musavirlik Anonim Sirketi. “Proyapi is being pushed very hard on the design for this project,” one source noted. They also noted that the company is preparing tender document and Part has clearly noted that it wants the invitation to bid issued this tear.

Originally, Part had wanted to use a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model for the contract. However, they have now decided that an engineering, procurement and construction contract is suitable.

The Scope of Implementation on the Kuwait National Rail Road Project

The scope of the main contract on the Kuwait National Rail Road Project entails various phases of implementation. These include civil works, the installation of tracks and the provision of trains. The railway project forms part of the GCC railway project. The GCC railway project have been commencing rapidly following the signing of the Al-Ula declaration. The declaration was signed by the six member states involved in the project in January 2021.

One source noted that, “A lot of work has been done on the wider regional project.” Furthermore, he noted that because of this progress, Kuwait is under pressure from its neighbors to move their end of the project. The GCC railway network is expected to be completed by 2030. Once completed, the railway will span 2,177 kilometers, linking many Gulf countries via the railway line. For instance, it will link Kuwait City in the north to Oman in the South.