Railway in Oman

There are currently hardly any train connections in Oman. There is only a small railway line that is about 500 meters long and connects Nizwa the visitors of the Al Hotta Cave from the ticket office to the entrance of the cave. However, the expansion of the railway network in Oman is being planned.

The infrastructure is growing

The railway is the last major infrastructure project that is to be tackled in Oman. The expansion of the roads, the ports and the pipelines has long been completed and has helped the country to experience a previously unknown upswing.

Now, the establishment of a railway network is intended to make traveling within the country easier and, on the other hand, to enable the transportation of goods to occur quickly and efficiently. This fits into the government's concept of focusing on other industries besides oil and gas production in the coming years.

The manufacturing industry needs regular raw materials and must be able to transport the produced goods quickly and cost-effectively to the country’s ports and airports. Here, the planned railway network should provide an alternative to the road.

Implementation

A 2000-kilometer long railway network is to be established in Oman over the next few years. Construction was already able to begin in 2017. A dedicated railway company, the Oman Rail Company, was founded for the preparation and planning. To leverage the expertise of specialists from around the world, the construction of the railway tracks was put out to tender on a large scale. This not only involves the actual construction: Detailed planning of the individual routes, control and acceptance, procurement, and finally the construction itself were also put out to tender. The actual implementation of the overall project ultimately depends on the oil price on the world market, as it has a significant influence on government revenue.