United Arab Emirates, a land of innovations, is mulling an underwater rail network to connect the nation with India. The futuristic mode of transport will be built between Mumbai and Fujairah, an emirate on UAE east coast, lying along the Gulf of Oman.
The network will facilitate transit of passengers as well as exchange of goods and oil between the two nations. It is still in the ‘concept’ stage and a feasibility study of the project will be done in near future, but this is “a cool project to look at,” says Abdulla Alshehhi, founder, MD and chief consultant of National Advisor Bureau Limited, a consultancy firm based in Masdar (UAE City).
Alshehhi highlighted that this project would be beneficial for both the countries, as freshwater can be flown in to the UAE from India, in exchange of oil. There will be export of oil to India from Fujairah port and import of excess water from Narmada River, north of Mumbai, he said, adding other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) partners can also improve export and import.