The Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb are testing the resilience of Middle Eastern trade routes. Attacks on shipping, threats to energy infrastructure and doubts over maritime security are pushing operators to rethink their routes, vessel availability and insurance exposure.

For containerized and general cargo, trucks are doing most of the immediate work. Rail can carry larger volumes of containers on established corridors, yet missing links and limited port integration keep it from absorbing much of the diverted traffic across the region.

In the UAE, Etihad Rail Freight has redirected intermodal capacity to east-coast ports. In September, it launched a Fujairah to Abu Dhabi service covering roughly 200 kilometres, with three departures per week. In Saudi Arabia, the railways carried 3.9 million tons of freight and 46,300 containers in the third quarter of 2026. SAR has also opened a 1,700 km container corridor from Gulf ports to the Jordanian border, with trains carrying more than 400 containers each.

Construction alone will not create a seamless logistics system. Compatible technical standards, coordinated customs procedures, adequate terminal capacity and reliable port-to-rail connections are equally important.