ENGINEERING firms mainly from Spain and South Korea are among the 12 leading contenders bidding for a contract to provide preliminary design consultancy services for the development of a national rail network in Oman, according to the Oman Observer.

The companies that have put forward their offers to the Tender Board include Sener, a leading Spanish-based international rail engineering services provider; Consultans, a Madrid-based transportation services engineering firm, part of the Imathia Group; Italferr, the engineering firm of the Italian state railways group; Saman Corporation, a major multidisciplinary engineering firm of South Korea; Dohwa Engineering, one of the largest engineering design firms in South Korea; and 3TI architecture and engineering consultants, a Dubai-based subsidiary of 3TI Italia, a specialist provider of international design and build integrated services.

Also in the fray are SNC Lavalin International, a leader in engineering
construction; Auding Intraesa, a Spanish rail engineering firm; Tecnicas Reunidas and Idom, both of Spain; Dar Al Handasah and Asie Etudes Engineering Consultants.

The selected preliminary design consultant shall be responsible for the provisional design of the complete infrastructure and systems covering all segments of the 1,061-km railway project, thereby securing the basis of a completed, fully functional, operating railway and inter-operable with the GCC network. The prequalification process for the design and build phase is also likely to be launched before the year-end, with the first segment to be awarded before the end of 2014.