Feasibility studies for the new $4-billion King Hamad Causeway, linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, have already been completed.

The funding will be secured from the private sector, Bahrain’s Transportation and Telecommunication Minister Kamal Ahmed said.

Preliminary designs will begin soon and it will be part of the GCC Railway project, serving both passengers and freight.

Ahmed said that 36 per cent of all cargo to and from Bahrain would be carried by rail by 2050. “We have finished the technical and financial viability study and we estimate it will cost around $4 billion. We’re working with Saudi colleagues to (decide) how we move from here to execution,” he said.

However, he said research showed the private sector would be required in developing the causeway. “Over the next two to three months we’ll be interacting with the private sector and going on a road show. It’s a very complicated and big project, as it makes up 70 to 75 km of links between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia – 25 km of onshore links in Saudi, 22 km to 23 km offshore and 25 km in Bahrain, linking it to Khalifa Bin Salman Port. We have to make sure we have the right approach to deliver this project.”