Etihad Rail has received bids for Package D of the second stage of the UAE’s 1,200-kilometre federal railway network.

Package D involves the construction and design of 98km of mainline, plus a 29km line to Tawyeen in Sharjah and Fujairah.

Etihad Rail last week awarded the contracts for packages B and C of the federal railway’s stage 2 to a joint venture of China Railway Construction Corporation and local contracting firm Ghantoot Transport & General Contracting.

The total contract value for both packages is AED4.4bn ($1.2bn).

Package B runs for 216km while package C runs for 94km. The packages are part of the 605km line from Ghuweifat to the Port of Fujairah.

MEED understands Canada-based WSP is the design consultant for the team.

The client awarded the first civil works package to a team comprising China State Construction Engineering Corporation and South Korea’s SK Engineering in March this year. The contract is worth AED1.5bn ($409m).

That contract is for the construction of a 139km rail line in the Al-Dhafra region between Ghuweifat and Ruwais.

US-based Jacobs Engineering was selected last year for the stage two engineering design contract, and future routes of the railway network. In May, Etihad Rail awarded French engineering consultancy Egis Group the project management consultancy contract for the scheme.