Abu Dhabi: The UAE will invest Dh25 billion to Dh30 billion to build a strategic, countrywide network of railways spread over 1,100 kilometres, newly appointed chairman of Etihad (Union) Railways Company Hussain Jasem Al Nowais said on Wednesday.

"The investments in the project will be spread over a period of five to seven years and will be construction linked. These are preliminary estimates. The first tenders will be floated in the first quarter of 2010," Al Nowais told Gulf News in a telephone interview, shortly after his appointment by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan through a federal decree.

Decree No 75 of 2009 formulated the board of directors of the Etihad (Union) Railways Company. The board will serve for a three-year term and is renewable, the decree stipulated. The decree takes effect from the date of issue.

"We will have a railway line connecting Al Ghweifat on the border with Saudi Arabia to Fujairah and another from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain all the way to the border with Oman," Al Nowais said.

According to the decree, Mohammad Mattar Al Tayer will be deputy chairman of the board. Other members of the board include Mohammad Saeed Al Danhani, Falah Mohammad Al Ahbabi, Dr Abdullah Bel Haif Al Nuaimi, Dr Nasser Saif Al Mansouri, Abdullah Mohammad Al Zari, Mohammad Hareb Sultan Al Yousuf, and Jamal Majid Bin Theniyah, the new board chairman said.

Al Nowais said the key emphasis of the national railways would be on freight and the linking of the UAE with other countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

"There will be increased economic cooperation which will help our industries," he added.

"We now need to build the organisation, recruit experts with proven track records and also train our young nationals for this strategic and important project," said Al Nowais.

In July it was decided that the UAE would establish a railway company with a capital of Dh1 billion to build a countrywide network of railways following a decree by Shaikh Khalifa.

Etihad (Union) Railways Company is wholly owned by the UAE federal government. Its mandate includes building a modern network of trains connecting all parts of the UAE and carrying passengers and cargo.

The company will own, lease, rent, buy and sell trains of various types and will also be responsible for their maintenance.

The network, was approved by the Ministerial Council for Services earlier this year.