Kuwait’s Public Authority for Roads & Transportation (Part) is aiming to tender the main contract for its planned Kuwait National Rail Road (KNRR) project before the end of this year, according to industry sources.

The contract is expected to have an estimated value of KD300m ($973m), sources said.

Earlier this year, the design contract for the project was issued to Turkiye’s Proyapi Muhendislik ve Musavirlik Anonim Sirketi.

One source said: “Proyapi is being pushed very hard on the design for this project. They are preparing tender documents now and Part has made it clear that it wants the invitation to bid issued before the end of the year.”

Originally, Part had wanted to use a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model for the contract, but it has now decided that an engineering, procurement and construction contract will be used.

One source said: “In the end, it was decided that this contract was just too big to be tendered using the BOT model and it would limit the number of companies that wanted to participate in the tender process.”

The scope of the main contract will include civil works, the installation of tracks and the provision of trains.

The KNRR forms part of the GCC rail network. GCC railway projects have been progressing with renewed impetus following the signing of the Al-Ula declaration by the six member states in January 2021.

One source said: “A lot of work has been done on the wider regional project and Kuwait is coming under increasing pressure from its neighbours to move this project forward.”

The GCC railway network is expected to be completed by 2030.

Once completed, the Gulf railway network will span 2,177 kilometres, linking Kuwait City in the north to Oman in the south, passing through several other Gulf countries.

In November 2024, MEED reported that Kuwait’s Central Authority for Public Tenders had received five offers for the tender, and that Turkiye’s Proyapi Muhendislik ve Musavirlik Anonim Sirketi had submitted the lowest bid with a price of KD2.4m ($8m). This was less than half the price of the KD6.7m bid submitted by China Railway Siyuan Survey & Design Group Company.

The other two bidders were Spain’s Sener, with a price of KD8.8m, and France’s Systra, with a price of KD9.7m.