MUSCAT: Oman has made progress in terms of railway infrastructure, leading to hopes that the national project will be revived, the Oxford Business Group said in its new report.

“In July last year the government unveiled plans to construct a Muscat metro that will connect the districts of Ruwi and Muttrah with Muscat International Airport and the coastal town of Al Seeb to the north,” the report stated.

Elsewhere in the region, there is hope that the revitalisation of the GCC Railway will reignite other dormant domestic rail plans.

“For example, the government of Oman has long had plans to construct its own national railway network, a proposed 2100-km link starting at the UAE border and passing through Sohar and Muscat in the north, before linking up with the key port towns of Duqm and Salalah on the east coast.

While tenders were issued in 2013, the project was suspended in 2016 as the country faced fiscal challenges associated with a drop in oil prices,” the report said.

The development of the railway would significantly improve regional connectivity by reducing transportation times and costs between major GCC cities and ports, improving trade flows across the bloc and attracting investment.

Business figures in the Gulf have noted that the shorter travel times could help bolster the tourism and entertainment sector, an area that a number of Gulf countries are looking to grow in line with wider efforts to diversify their economies.