[9] 264 km (164 mi) long Stage One of Etihad Rail connecting the inland gas fields of Liwa and Shah to the port town of Ruwais, became operational in January 2016.

[3] Construction of 605 kilometres (376 mi) long[3] on Stage Two, which runs from Ghuweifat, on the border of Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah, on the UAE's eastern coast, began in 2020.

[1] Stage Two opened on February 28, 2023 [1] The network, when complete, will be approximately 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) in length, will connect all seven of its emirates, and will link the UAE to the KSA via Ghuweifat in the west running to Fujairah on the east coast.

[13] Stage One utilises seven locomotives from U.S.-based Electro-Motive Diesel, equipped with the ETCS Level 2 in-cab European signalling system and international standard safety features.

[3] Stage Two PMC & Engineering Contracts were awarded in 2018 to Egis Group and Jacobs Solutions Inc respectively, for development and supervision of the next phase from Ghuwaifat in the west to Fujairah on the east coast.

[15] Package A running for 139 kilometres (86 mi) from Ghuwaifat to Ruwais (where the route links with Stage One of the network), will become the first rail connection between the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

[3] Packages B and C of the network, which connect Stage One to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, have been awarded to a joint venture between the China Railway Construction Corporation and the Ghantoot Transport & General Contracting Company.

[3] Package D includes the construction of 35 bridges to span road systems, valleys and wadis, 32 underpasses and 15 tunnels, totaling 16 kilometres (9.9 mi), through the Al Hajar Mountains using blast-tunneling technology.

[citation needed] Under the terms of the contract, the two companies will be jointly responsible for the surveying, design, construction, equipment installation, testing and pre-commissioning of each facility.

[23] Etihad Rail aims to provide transportation links between the UAE and its Gulf Cooperation Council neighbors,[1] and Stage Two of the railway is planned to connect to the border of Saudi Arabia.

[8] A senior fellow at the Middle East Institute suggested that the progress on the project has been stunted by a high degree of sovereignty maintained by the UAE's individual emirates.

[citation needed] Based on traffic volume forecasts, the Etihad Rail network will reduce greenhouse gases by more than 2.2 million tonnes annually: the equivalent of taking up to 375,000 vehicles off the roads.

[citation needed] The cost savings made by businesses that transfer their freight via rail will enable them to be more commercially successful and therefore contribute more to economic growth.

[citation needed] Estimated total benefits of emissions savings, accounting for truck freight and passengers moving from road to rail, is approximately AED24Bn over the next 50 years.