Jump to content

Transport in Oman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Elhady514 (talk | contribs) at 16:40, 10 October 2021 (→Timeline). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about transport in Oman.

Highways

Sultan Qaboos Street


total: 62,240 km
paved: 29,685 km (including 1943 km of expressways)
unpaved: 30,545 km (2012)[1]

Oman has two expressway grade highways, with the first 8 lane expressway set to open in 2017. Al Batinah Coastal Road runs along the Batinah Coast of the Sea of Oman. It forks near Shinas, with one leading inland to Wadi Hatta and another to Fujairah. The speed limit is generally 120 km/h. In the Muscat area, this highway is known as Sultan Qaboos Street, and it is the trunk road running through the city. Outside the Muscat area, the interchanges take the form of roundabouts spaced approximately 7 km apart. Each roundabout contains unique features to enliven the streetscape. The roundabouts are named for driver navigation.

The other highway is Muscat Expressway, a 54 kilometre[2] highway running from Al Qurum area of Muscat to Halban area on the outskirts of Muscat. Al Batinah Expressway is a 256 kilometre, 8-lane highway that continues from the Muscat Expressway in Halban up to the Oman-UAE border at Khatmat Malaha.[3]

Other roads in Muscat Governorate and some cities such as Sohar and Salalah are dual-carriageways, with four or six lanes each with a speed limit ranging from 60 to 120 km/h; while in the rest of Oman, the roads are mostly single-carriageways.

Maps

  • United Arab Emirates: Oman has several good road connections at Buraimi (Al Ain), Waddi Hatta (Wajaja), Khamat Mulahah (Fujairah) and Bukha.
  • Yemen: Route 47: Raysut to Sarfait in Oman - Yemen border. The road then goes to Hawf, Al Faydami, Al Ghaydah. Another road is from Thumrait to Al Mazyonah in Oman - Yemen border. The road then goes to Shisan, Al Kurah, Al Ghaydah.
  • Saudi Arabia: Desert road through Al Mashash. However, there is a new road under construction to link the two countries.

Railways

There are no mainline railways in Oman, but some are planned, including links to adjacent countries. The narrow gauge Al Hoota Cave Train takes tourists into the cave complex in a journey of 4 minutes and distance of 400m. The estimated total length of the future Oman National Railway network is 2,135 km. It will be divided into several segments linking Oman's borders with the UAE to Muscat, as part of the GCC Railway Network and also to the southern parts of the country - Port of Al Duqm, the Port of Salalah and the Yemen border.[4]

Timeline

2008

Joint Gulf Railway proposed to link gulf states at cost of $14 billion by 2014.[5]

2010

Bids are invited for construction of a rail network in three phases: The first phase would be a double-track electrified coastal route from Masqat to Suhar; the second phase would be an extension from Masqat to Daq; the third phase an extension from Suhar to Al Ain in the UAE.[6] Later, an extension to Salalah was considered. The construction was expected to start in 2012, and to be completed by 2018.

2011

In September, the Supreme Committee for Town Planning, which was in charge of the project since the beginning, handed it to the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC). Shortly, the Ministry of Transport began preparing for launching initial tenders for project design and consultancy.[7]

2012

In September, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, through the Government Tender Board, announced it will re-float its tender for the first phase into three stages: one to get the preliminary design, another for the detailed design and building, and third for the management consultancy and supervision services.[8]

2016

The GCC Railway project was suspended in 2016 after some partner countries decided to hold their rail plans due to the decline in oil price.[9] However, the government of Oman had announced that it will continue with its national rail network.[10][11]

Pipelines

crude oil 1,300 km; natural gas 1,030 km

Ports and harbors

Gulf of Oman

Arabian Sea

Merchant marine


total: 3 ships (1,000 GT or over) totaling 16,306 GT/8,210 tonnes deadweight (DWT)
ships by type: cargo 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1 (1999 est.)

Airports

Airports with scheduled air service

Airports - with unpaved runways


total: 136
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 56
914 to 1,523 m: 37
under 914 m: 35 (1999 est.)

See also

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.

References

  1. ^ "Middle East :: Oman — the World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". The World Factbook. CIA.
  2. ^ Parsons Corporation http://www.parsons.com/projects/Pages/muscat-expressway.aspx. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ "Oman's 8-lane Batinah Expressway to be ready by 2017". Times of Oman. Archived from the original on 2015-05-28.
  4. ^ https://www.omanrail.om/project.html
  5. ^ "Railways Africa".
  6. ^ "Railway Gazette: News in Brief". Retrieved 2010-07-20. Suhar to Al-Ayn in UAE
  7. ^ "Unwin, Sir Raymond, (2 Nov. 1863–1940), late Chief Technical Officer for Building and Town Planning. Ministry of Health", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2007-12-01, retrieved 2021-10-09
  8. ^ https://www.constructionweekonline.com/projects-tenders/article-18475-oman-rail-project-retendered-as-three-packages
  9. ^ "Oman rail 'still on track' say officials". Times of Oman. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  10. ^ "Oman suspends railway project". International Railway Journal. 2016-05-03. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  11. ^ "Oman's national railway ambitions chug on despite delay in GCC rail network completion". Al Bawaba.
  12. ^ The Hans India - India accedes to Ashgabat agreement
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Transport_in_Oman&oldid=1049229731"