UAE rail operator Union Railway will call tenders for civil engineering contracts for its $11bn proposed railway network in March.
Construction will commence in mid-2011 following the selection of the winning bidder for the deal.
Upon completion, the railway will stretch 1,200km.
The company is pre-qualifying bidders to begin the implementation of the first phase of railway network, a 270km Shah Habshan Ruwais section, known as Stage 0.
The Shah Habshan Ruwais section work includes earthworks, laying down track, building railway bridges, installing communications and signalling systems, as well as the construction of a depot and project offices at Mirfa.
The next two phases of the project include the establishment of a network in Abu Dhabi and Dubai (Stage one), and a network in the Northern Emirates (Stage two).
Union Railway has appointed Atkins as the preliminary engineering services consultant to oversee the execution of the three stages of the railway network, with a project management consultant soon to be reselected.
Atkins has began work on the project and will complete the preliminary design for the line by February 2011.
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