Parsons announced that the Etihad Rail Stage 1 project won the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Project of the Year award and was also named UAE Mega Project of the Year as part of the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) Quality Awards for Projects 2016. The project owner is Etihad Rail PSJC, and Parsons provided project management services for Stage 1 in a joint venture with Aecom.
Etihad Rail, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) national railway network, is a 1,200‑km freight and passenger railway network that will serve the entire UAE and form part of the GCC rail system connecting the UAE to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
“Etihad Rail is strategically important to the UAE and the entire GCC,” said Gary Adams, Parsons Group president. “Our team successfully delivered Stage 1 on schedule, meeting the challenges associated with such a large-scale rail project, and it is very rewarding to see the project recognized with additional awards.”
The GCC Project of the Year and UAE Mega Project of the Year awards are the third and fourth awards the Etihad Rail Stage 1 project has received. Engineering News-Record magazine also recognized the project with the Award of Merit in the Rail category for its Global Best Project Awards, and Construction Week magazine selected the project as its Infrastructure Project of the Year.