Abu Dhabi-Haifa Railway Line In Advanced Stage, Paving Way For Indo-Europe Corridor

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israeli media outlets, including i24 and Yedioth Ahronoth, disclosed that work on a secret railway project linking the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel has continued even during the war on Gaza. The reports confirmed that construction of the railway line had reached advanced stages and was carried out covertly throughout the conflict.

This past weekend, an Israeli delegation led by the Minister of Transport landed quietly in Abu Dhabi to discuss the project. The high-speed rail line is intended to link trade between the Gulf states and Israel. A large portion of the railroad already exists and talks are in progress for the concluding

Goods will leave India’s Mundra Port by ship to the UAE, then continue overland by rail through Saudi Arabia and Jordan, ultimately reaching Haifa, from where they can also be shipped on to Europe.

The “Peace Railway” plan, formulated in 2018 by the United States, has since expanded into the IMEC economic corridor, which will connect India, the Middle East and Europe. The project is expected to reshape relations between Israel and the Gulf states and reduce Israeli concerns about dependence on a limited number of economic partners and an increasingly insular market.

In addition to rail transport and maritime shipping routes, the corridor is also planned to include communications cables and pipelines for transferring energy.

Last week it emerged that Minister Regev had flown secretly to Abu Dhabi, seemingly without an obvious reason. It has now become clear that a delegation from the Transport Ministry traveled for meetings with Emirati officials, and that the “airshow” taking place in Dubai at the same time served merely as a cover story for part of the delegation.

The delegation was dispatched urgently after it became known that France and Turkey were trying to push Israel out of the “Peace Railway” equation, seeking to reroute the line from Jordan into Syria and onward to a port in Lebanon, bypassing Israel entirely.

So what has to happen for fresh pineapple from the East to reach Israel within 12 hours? Agreements with Saudi Arabia and approval from the Emiratis. According to sources familiar with the details, these hopes are likely to materialize in the foreseeable future, a development that would impact the entire Middle East, Israel–Saudi relations, and the expansion of the Abraham Accords.

The Transport Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.