UAE railway company launched

The Federal Government issued a decree yesterday officially establishing the Union Railways Company, with a capitalisation of Dh1 billion (US$272m), to oversee a planned national rail system.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, the President of the UAE, established the new company to develop a freight and passenger system throughout the seven emirates, the state news agency WAM reported.

The planned system has been reported as a dual-track line stretching from the Ruwais oil and chemicals centre in Al Gharbia to the northern emirate of Fujairah.
The company will be fully owned by the Government and engage in “the owning, leasing, renting, purchasing and selling of trains, as well as in investing in the transporting of passengers and goods and all businesses related to a modern railway network”, WAM reported.