Saudi Arabia Opens Tender for 672km Railway Linking GCC Network's Final Gap

Saudi Arabia has issued tenders for a 672km railway line running from Al-Khafji on the Kuwait border to Al-Batha on the UAE border, with a bid deadline of June 30. The segment represents the last major unbuilt link in the 2,186km GCC railway network, which is now more than 50% complete.

Current state of the GCC rail network

The UAE completed its 900km Etihad Rail line in 2024, according to Etihad Rail's Stage Two completion announcement (November 2024). The system is operational and moving freight. Saudi Arabia has 1,418km of its own network running under the Saudi Railway Company (SAR). Oman has 2,135km under construction. Kuwait and Bahrain have signed agreements for their respective segments, according to the Gulf Railway Authority's GCC Rail Network Progress Report (2025).

The 672km Saudi tender covers the connecting segment between the UAE's finished line and Saudi Arabia's existing network. Completion would create a continuous freight corridor from Kuwait to Oman without requiring port transfers.

Scale of the construction pipeline

The construction contracts associated with the GCC rail network exceed $15B, encompassing steel, signalling systems, stations, and supporting infrastructure. Tier 2 and tier 3 procurement, including MEP, HVAC, trackside electronics, platform equipment, and safety systems, is expected to generate sub-contracts over multiple years, according to MEED Projects' GCC Rail Contracts Tracker (Q1 2026).

Implications of an operational cross-border rail corridor

Six GCC states currently move goods between each other primarily via maritime shipping around the Arabian Peninsula. A completed rail network would enable customs pre-clearance at origin and ground freight speeds of up to 120km/h, consolidating six separate logistics markets into a single connected corridor without port transfers.

Coordination across six states

The GCC rail project requires coordination among six sovereign states on standards, customs integration, and construction timelines. The current status of the network, with over half built and the critical connecting section now out to tender, indicates that coordination has advanced further than in previous multilateral GCC infrastructure efforts.

Sources: Saudi Railway Company (SAR), Al-Khafji-Al-Batha tender announcement (May 2026); Etihad Rail, Stage Two completion announcement (November 2024); Gulf Railway Authority, GCC Rail Network Progress Report (2025); MEED Projects, GCC Rail Contracts Tracker (Q1 2026); Construction Review Online, "Saudi Arabia issues tender for 672km GCC railway link" (June 2026).