Qatar Rail aims to lay down all Doha Metro tracks by year-end

With tunneling complete and less than three years to go before the Doha Metro launches passenger operations, Qatar Rail is expecting to meet a number of milestones in 2017.

By the end of this year, the company said it aims to finish 70 percent of the public transport project. This entails:

• Completing track installation works;
• Taking delivery of the first four of its 75 driverless trains in Doha; and
• Awarding key operator contracts.

In a statement, Qatar Rail CEO Saad Al Muhannadi said, “We are about to embark on the most critical phase of the Rail Development Program; we will be soon transitioning from a rail developer to a rail operator.”

Qatar Rail is also focused on ensuring a “cost-effective” project completion and looking at ways to use property development, retail and advertising to help sustain its operations in the future.

What’s happening

Currently, some 37 stations are under construction as part of the first phase of the Metro.

In the second half of last year, Qatar Rail began focusing on installing electrical equipment and completing the structure of these stations.

They are expected to open to passengers in late 2019/ early 2020 in three lines: red, green and gold.

The metro will also connect to two other separate rail projects:

• The Lusail light-rail line, which contractors say will be operational by 2020; and
• A long-distance passenger and freight service linking to the GCC rail, whose timetable remains unknown.