Abdulla Al Shehhi at The National Advisor Bureau Limited (NABL) claims the Dubai-Mumbai underwater railway project is still in the “conceptual phase,” and has yet to be proposed. Al Shehhi explained this remark to Khaleej Times after media outlets in India started speculating on an actual concrete plan for www.the railways.
Al Shehhi’s statement came to pass after Khaleej Times, alongside other international dailies reported the initial proposal of this futuristic railway project in 2018. Indian media recently reignited interest around the promising project, however, Al Shehhi has yet to affirm the idea saying it is only still in the exploratory phase and has no official clearances of any sort.
“We are still in the initial stages of analysis, which includes studying the feasibility of the project,” Al Shehhi said. “We are assessing all the elements that may shape the outcome.” He explained also that discussions on funding cannot be approached without prior formal approval, which in his words, makes it “challenging to ascertain the approval date.”
The underwater railway aims to trade and travel between the UAE and India, extending to the Indian Subcontinent. Other potential routes also include Muscat and Karachi, constituting a transit network with an estimated 1.5 billion population across Bangladesh, Pakistan India.
As per Al Shehhi, the rexal goal is to add an option of transport that is easier for people in the region to use and, train is more favorable compared to a plane. “It will be easier for them to use the train instead of the plane,” he noted.
Widespread speculation does not change the reality that the Dubai-Mumbai underwater rail system is still on the drawing board. Further studying will continue in hopes of attaining official approvals and announcements, but the remaining proposals still leave much to be desired. If these bold ideas do come to reality, then it would certainly send waves of transformation across the region.
