The Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and South Asia hold the largest selection of freight and urban transport projects across the globe, with over $642 billion worth of planned railway investments, according to Terrapinn Middle East, organizer of Middle East Rail, which will be held from March 7 and 8 in Dubai. “Within the next 10 years, we will see a complete reform of mobility across emerging markets,” said Jamie Hosie, event director of Middle East Rail 2017, the biggest and most established transport and logistics event in the region. In terms of overall expenditure on rail, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the UAE remain atop all of the GCC. There are a number of obstacles facing new rail projects apart from project finance, such as operational structures, technological expertise and political dynamics of cross-border networks. Last year, following a lead secured during Middle East Rail, Xrail Group was awarded a key contract to undertake the installation and testing of a remote conditioning monitoring system which will be used for Dubai Metro.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 28, 2017 19:41 UTC