(MENAFN- Arab News) The GCC nations are leading the region's current rail and aviation investment boom as they race to encourage more cross-border trade.

One of them Saudi Arabia is the largest goods exporter accounting for over 30 percent of the region's exports equivalent to $376 billion in 2013. However just 5.3 percent of these exports by value were destined for other nations within the region.

In this context Saudi Arabia is leading the charge with investment plans worth $45 billion in a bid to boost freight and passenger capacity followed by Qatar and the UAE with investment plans worth $37 billion and $22 billion respectively.

In fact railways are a much more efficient way of moving people and especially freight than road transportation.

The expansion of railway infrastructure will be of vital importance to the growth of cities and industries in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's North South Railway currently partially-operational links the capital with mining centers near the Jordanian border and ports on the Gulf and will eventually open to passenger services.

The Landbridge freight link is also set to go ahead connecting its east and west coasts and enabling fast cargo shipments between the Gulf and the Red Sea according to Economic Insight: Middle East Q3 2014.

The planned GCC Railway a 2177 km project which will link the networks of the six GCC countries represents the most ambitious aspect of the region's railway infrastructure plans.

Throughout the world railways have been an important development driver by bringing areas and communities along rail lines into the sphere of cost-effective connectivity. This will offer new options for locating land-intensive activities as well as manufacturing that can be undertaken more efficiently outside of population centers.

Railways can also with time influence attitudes about things such as commuting and potentially reduce the regional reliance on the development of big cities.

Additionally railway will offer environmental benefits by reducing the reliance on fossil fuels.

A rail network will be an important driver of regional integration through increased connectivity. It will offer more cost-effective transportation channels as well as new options for regional export-import trade as the rail lines will connect the region's main sea ports.

Qatar's Doha Metro and Lusail light rail projects are set to be followed by long-distance passenger and freight links integrating Qatar's network with those of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

If Qatar can have such ambitious plans why should the Kingdom lag behind In fact with the important status it enjoys in the GCC Saudi Arabia should consider projects that will not only help its own network for transporting freight but also pave the way for integrating the region with an efficient rail network.

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