Transport Tenders issued for high speed Abu Dhabi-Dubai rail link By Gavin Gibbon January 16, 2025, 5:28 PM Alamy via Reuters One of the planned railway stations will be on Yas Island, home to the Ferrari World amusement park Tenders have been issued for the design and construction of central components in a high-speed rail link between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Etihad Rail, the national rail company of the UAE, has sent out tenders for designing and constructing civil works and station packages for the line connecting the two cities as part of the first phase of the development. The rail link would cut commuting times between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Previous reports suggest travel between proposed stations at Al Jaddaf and Yas Island would take just 30 minutes. Trains running on the network will have an operating speed of 320km/hr. The 150km mega-project will have a further three stations, at Al-Zahiyah, Saadiyat Island and Abu Dhabi airport. The tender was issued on January 10 and bids should be submitted by May 7, according to Dubai-based news site Meed. Iraq expects road and rail project to provide 20,000 jobs Morocco’s rail project secures $14bn funding Dubai awards $5.6bn metro contract to Turkish-Chinese consortium The proposed programme will be built in four phases. The Abu Dhabi-Dubai leg is planned to be operational by 2030, the report indicates, and links to other emirates will be added later. The cost of the first phase was not disclosed. Etihad Rail operates freight trains across a 1200km network in the UAE. Construction work started last year on a line that will connect the UAE with Oman. It is being developed by Hafeet Rail, a joint venture of Etihad Rail and Oman Rail.