Kuwait’s Arab Times reports, unfortunately without a date,
Italian railway experts due
An Italian technical delegation specialized in railway projects will arrive in Kuwait next week to meet with officials at the Ministry of Communications to discuss ways to link the country’s railway project with the Iraqi railway network, reports Al-Watan. The Italian delegation, which is responsible for operating the Iraqi railway network, will meet with Communications Ministry Undersecretary Eng Abdul Aziz Al-Osaimi and Assistant Undersecretary for Transport Sector Nabeel Al-Tarkeet.
The delegation had earlier visited the country and met with the Transport Sector officials to review the technical figures, statistics and data as a prelude for preparing an integrated technical concept to be referred to the Ministry to discuss the possibility of linking the railway networks in Iraq and Kuwait. Sources said Kuwait’s railway project is still in the evaluation and study phase in preparation for inviting international consultancy offices to provide bids for this major national project.
Club Feroviar has something similar dated 29 November 2007:
Possible rail line between Irak and Kuweit
Next week, an Italian delegation, responsible for the operability of the railway trasnport network in Irak will meet the State Subsecretary of the Communications Ministry in Kuweit, Eng Abdul Aziz Al-Osaimi, to discuss the unification possibilities of railway networks in Irak and Kuweit. The Irakian Transport Ministry’s officials analized the statistics and information given in the process of unification through railway networks of the two countries. This particular project will be handed in to the Minsitry.
The railway line Kuweit project is in the study and evaluation phase, as to announce the participation in tender.
There are currently no “conventional” railways in Kuwait (unless you know differently?), though there is reported to be a railway in the Entertainment City/Al-Madina Al-Tafrihi theme park.
I think this is the theme park:
View Larger Map
It had a Crown Metal Products 3ft gauge 4-4-0 loco, but it seems this was taken to Baghdad during the 1991 conflict. Severn-Lamb Ltd supplied a replacement. This aerial photo appears to show a narrow gauge train in Zarwa park in Baghdad, perhaps the one stolen from Kuwait?
There has been some talk of building a metro in Kuwait, though this may not be too serious. There have also been rumours of plans to build a freight line between the docks and a US military base, taking trucks off the roads.
