50% share within the new firm
In an interview with Gulf Information, Alistair Gordon, CEO of Keolis UK, Center East, and India, outlined the plans for the three way partnership, which is able to function underneath the model Etihad Rail Mobility, with Keolis holding a 50% share alongside Etihad Rail.
“Keolis and Etihad Rail have signed a three way partnership to run Etihad Rail Mobility, the passenger companies for this area. So, Keolis has a 50% share within the new enterprise, which is collectively owned by Etihad Rail,” Gordon mentioned.
He highlighted the transformative potential of rail connectivity:
“We’ve operated railways in Europe for a few years, and if you join cities and areas with railways, you see financial advantages. Individuals can journey for work, sporting occasions, hospitals, and colleges. Sturdy transport infrastructure all the time helps a rustic and a area.”
Excessive-speed rail ambitions
Gordon added that preliminary passenger companies will launch subsequent yr, specializing in commuter visitors between key cities. The community will develop progressively as extra trains, drivers, and employees are added.
“We are going to launch the service someday subsequent yr and develop it slowly, ranging from a few cities. Over time, as we purchase extra trains, prepare extra drivers, and get extra employees, we’ll enhance service. However we anticipate it to be very fashionable. Roads on this space, notably round Dubai, are very busy.”
Trying forward, he pointed to the long-term imaginative and prescient of a high-speed GCC rail system.
“Etihad Rail is formidable to have a railway within the Gulf connecting all of the nations within the area. I’m assured we’ll see enlargement of rail right here within the subsequent few years.”
Abdullah Rashid Al Hammadi is an completed Emirati journalist with over 45 years of expertise in each Arabic and English media. He at the moment serves because the Abu Dhabi Bureau Chief fo Gulf Information.
Al Hammadi started his profession in 1980 with Al Ittihad newspaper, the place he rose by way of the ranks to carry key editorial positions, together with Head of Worldwide Information, Director of the Analysis Heart, and Appearing Managing Editor.
A founding member of the UAE Journalists Affiliation and a former board member, he’s additionally affiliated with the Common Federation of Arab Journalists and the Worldwide Federation of Journalists. Al Hammadi studied Data Techniques Know-how on the College of Virginia and accomplished journalism coaching with Reuters in Cairo and London.
Throughout his time in Washington, D.C., he reported for Alittihad and have become a member of the Nationwide Press Membership. From 2000 to 2008, he wrote the broadly learn Dababees column, identified for its essential tackle social points.
All through his profession, Al Hammadi has performed high-profile interviews with outstanding leaders together with UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and key Arab figures such because the late Yasser Arafat and former presidents of Yemen and Egypt.
He has reported on main historic occasions such because the Iran-Iraq battle, the liberation of Kuwait, the autumn of the Berlin Wall, and the institution of the Palestinian Authority. His work continues to form and affect journalism within the UAE and the broader Arab world.
