Bahrain and Qatar Agree to Revive Causeway Project Linking Both Countries

Bahrain and Qatar have decided to revive the planned Bahrain-Qatar Causeway Project and directed concerned authorities to complete the necessary plans to initiate the implementation of the project.

This was agreed upon during a meeting between H R H Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani in Manama. The two leaders also reviewed the Bahrain-Qatar partnership and ways to further bolster cooperation.

The causeway will link Zubarah in the northern region of Qatar to the eastern coast of Bahrain near Manama. Once completed, the approximately 40 km Qatar-Bahrain Causeway will reduce the travel duration between Bahrain and Qatar from five hours to 30 minutes.

The causeway will have a dual two-lane highway, accompanied by a rail platform, featuring a total of four lanes.

The project was planned to be built during the last decade but was stalled following a regional crisis in 2017 when Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Qatar accusing the latter with interfering in their internal affairs. These five countries even imposed a land, air and sea blockade on Qatar.

During the crisis, Saudi Arabia even planned to cut off the road link with Qatar and even invited bids for the project. However, senior leaders from Kuwait and Oman worked behind the scenes to bring a rapprochement among the five countries in 2021. The Saudi Arabia’s plan to cut off Qatar was also shelved following normalisation of its relations with Qatar.

The two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2005 to take up the project and formed a joint institution, which was entrusted with managing, maintaining and operating the causeway and investing in its facilities. The construction of the causeway at a cost $2.9 billion was to start in 2009

The project holds a significantly positive impact in promoting the ties between the citizens of the two countries and it will achieve their aspirations for rapprochement and ease of travel, the two leaders said.

About half of the causeway will consist of bridges and the rest of a highway built on reclaimed land. Flyovers will be as high as 40 m above sea level at one point to allow ship crossings.

Second Causeway

Bahrain has already constructed a 40 km causeway – King Fahd Causeway – linking with Saudi Arabia through an estimated 50,000-60,000 residents of Saudi Arabia visit Bahrain every week-end. The new causeway with Qatar will be its second linking a GCC member nation.

Qatar, which is surrounded by seawaters all three sides, has a road link only with Saudi Arabia at present.

This causeway also generates income for Bahrain as thousands of tourists visiting Saudi Arabia also visit Bahrain. Even the UAE, Oman and Kuwait have road links with Saudi Arabia.