DAMMAM, 29 May 2003 — An investment project for a monorail network that could link Saudi Arabia with Bahrain and Qatar was discussed on Tuesday in Bahrain.
A delegation representing IABG, a major German company, discussed with local businessmen and investors plans for a project to be called the Bahrain magneto express.
IABG is a leading services and consultancy company active across Europe and focuses mainly on technology-intensive sectors.
The meeting was held by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The project aims in its first stage to facilitate travel and goods transport between the Eastern Province and Bahrain. In the second stage, the track would be extended to Qatar.
According to initial economic studies, the project would cost between $360 million and $450 million for the single track, less, the studies claim, than the cost of a conventional rail link.
The railway could later be linked to a wider network to include Gulf Cooperation Council and other Arab states.
The studies also project that the total cost of this project could be recovered within eight years.
Sources at the Bahrain chamber said the German delegation had chosen Bahrain because it is most in need of this kind of project as a result of the increase in travel and commerce with its neighboring countries.
The sources pointed to official support from the Bahraini government. Sheikh Khalifah ibn Salman Al-Khalifa, the Bahraini prime minister, has emphasized the importance of the participation of the private sector in the development of the country.
