The incredible new £196bn railway project that's one of the world's largest 1,350 miles

Six Middle Eastern countries have teamed up to build an incredible new train line costing an estimated £196 billion that will become one of the world’s biggest construction projects.

The Gulf Railway is a proposed railway that will connect the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The 1,353-mile line will link Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Each state will be responsible for implementing the portion of the project that lies within its territory and will construct its own lines and branches, stations and freight terminals. The project’s eyewatering cost will be shared in proportion to the network length in each country.

As a result, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are expected to pay the most as they are expected to have 425 and 412 miles, respectively, while Bahrain is set to have just 22 miles.

Diesel trains are set to be used for the railway, with passenger trains operating at speeds of 137 mph, while freight locomotives will be limited to maximum speeds of 75 mph.

The Gulf Railway was first approved by the GCC member states in December 2009, at which point Saudi Arabia was the only member with railway infrastructure.

The planned network would begin in Kuwait City, pass through Dammam and Al-Batha Port in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain in the UAE, and then enter Oman through Sohar before terminating at Muscat.

From Dammam, branches will link to Bahrain through the proposed King Hamad Causeway and to Qatar via Salwa port. The proposed Qatar–Bahrain Causeway between Bahrain and Qatar will provide additional connectivity.

The project aims to boost free movement in the GCC by providing unhindered travel from Kuwait to Oman, as GCC nationals have visa-free entry to each other’s countries. The railway is also expected to boost intra-GCC trade by providing freight transport services.

It was scheduled to be completed by 2030, but as of 2023, construction work has yet to start due to several financing challenges.

Among the problems encountered are volatile oil prices and a lack of agreement of interests between the six states.

In May 2016, Oman announced that it was putting the project on hold, but the Minister of Transport, Ahmed al-Futaisi, clarified that "has not cancelled the project, only delayed it as other Persian Gulf countries have decided to stop work on the project".

Instead, the country focused on constructing its own domestic railway network, linking the ports of Salalah, Sohar and Duqm.

In April last year, Etihad Rail and Oman Rail announced a new joint venture, Hafeet Rail, to construct a 190-mile railway to connect the former’s network at Abu Dhabi with the Sohar port in Oman, passing through Al Ain. If built, this would be the first international link of the Gulf Railway.

The Gulf Railway comes second to the incredible Saudi Arabian megacity project NEOM, which is spread over 10,000 square miles and set to be filled with wonders, including a 105-mile city in a straight line. The ambitious £370 billion project is being promised by the country’s leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as the beginning of a "journey to a greener future".