With the announcement of high-profile railway projects in 2023, Kuwait has taken significant steps towards improving its internal and external transport infrastructure. While fluctuations in oil prices could potentially pose challenges moving forwards, positive political and economic dynamics in and around the Gulf region bode well for Kuwait’s plans.
Connecting Kuwait
In January 2023 the Public Authority for Roads and Land Transportation (PART) issued a request for proposals (RFP) for phase one of the Kuwait National Rail Road (KNRR) project. The RFP detailed the comprehensive scope of the KNRR, which includes a railway network covering a total of 565 km across different tracks.
The first track, which will eventually connect with the future GCC railway network, will span 111 km from Nuwaiseeb Port on the Kuwait-Saudi border in the south, to a main node in Shadadiya in Kuwait City. This node will comprise facilities to serve passengers and freight transport. The second track will extend 154 km from Shadadiya to Mubarak Al Kabeer Port, while the third track will cover smaller lines: a 38-km-long track to Port Abdullah and Shuaiba Port; a 29-km line to Shuwaikh Port; a 130-km track to Al Naayem; and two tracks leading to the Iraq border: a 43-km track to Umm Qasr and a 60-km track to Abdali.
The first phase of the rail project covers only consulting services for feasibility studies and design works for the KNRR, whereas construction and implementation will take place in subsequent phases. In November 2023 the Central Agency for Public Tenders gave the green light to finalise the bidding process of the RFP, with nine proposals submitted to the tender after a protracted submission period. The Ministry of Finance originally intended to allocate $3.3m to the consulting contract, but in 2022 it halved the allocation to $1.6m on the grounds that there was already in place a previous study and the task of the new consulting company was to review and amend it.
In addition to the KNRR, in September 2023 Saudi Arabia granted authorisation for the construction of a high-speed railway that will stretch from Riyadh to Kuwait City. SYSTRA, a French engineering consulting firm, has been commissioned to conduct a feasibility study for the project, which is expected to take around six months and to cost around $10.6m, with payment split between the two countries.
Momentum
Success in the development of the GCC Railway project, and by extension the KNRR, will to a certain extent depend on global oil prices. While the IMF estimated in 2022 that the region’s economies could receive $1.4trn over the next four to five years due to high oil prices and low inflation, global economic woes and higher inflation could impact negatively Kuwaiti finances in the short term and lead to project delays or cancellations. The scrapping of Kuwait’s $20bn metro project in 2023 on the basis of financial constraints is a case in point.
The KNRR project will complement the GCC Railway project. The latter has been gathering considerable momentum in recent years, particularly after the signing of the Al Ula declaration by the six GCC member countries in January 2021. The establishment of the GCC Rail Authority in January 2022, with its core mandate of overseeing policy and coordinating member states for smooth operation of the scheme, has solidified this progress. Several critical milestones have marked this journey. Notably, the 25th meeting of GCC ministers of transport and communications in Muscat endorsed the target date of December 2030 for the operation of the GCC Railway and approved the 2024 budget for the authority.
The KNRR project stands to benefit from this positive momentum, as it signifies increasing commitment towards integrated and effective rail networks. The KNRR project and the Saudi-Kuwait link might also benefit from the positive precedent set by cooperation between the UAE and Oman through Etihad Rail.
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