05 Apr 2018 – 7:59
By Sanaullah Ataullah | The Peninsula
DOHA: Qatar Rail has completed 77 percent work of Doha Metro Project, including 81 percent of construction work and 59 percent works related to installation of various systems, said a Qatar Rail official yesterday.
The official was speaking at a workshop organised by the General Directorate of Civil Defence in collaboration with Qatar Rail on the safety of Doha Metro at its headquarters. Security system of metro project, emergency plan and evacuation procedures were discussed at the event.
He said that proposed date for inauguration of Doha Metro phase one Red Line from Al Qassar to Al Wakrah is October 31, 2018.
Doha Metro Red Line, also known as the Coast Line, runs for about 40km from Al Wakrah in the south to Lusail in the north. The line also connects Hamad International Airport at Terminal 1 to the centre of the city. It has 18 stations with the Legtaifiya Station allowing passengers to transfer over to the Lusail Tram.
The other 17 stations are Al Bidda ( Interchange station), Corniche, West Bay, DECC, Al Qassar, Katara, Lusail, Hamad International Airport T1, Qatar University, Al Wakrah, Ras Bu Fontas, Economic Zone, Oqba Ibn Nafie, Al Matar Al Qadeem, Umm Ghawalina, Al Doha Al Jadeda, and Msheireb ( Interchange station).
Speaking on the passenger handling capacity of Doha Metro Stations, the official said that the main Msheireb station will have the highest capacity with 100,000 passengers per hour.
Other stations were divided into two categories with the capacity of 60,000 and 30,000 passengers per hours. “The event is part of series of workshops being organised by Qatar Rail with Civil Defense officials to ensure the security of metro project,” said Eng Abdulla Al Subaie, Qatar Rail’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
The General Directorate of Civil Defense (GDSD) is cooperating with other authorities concerned to ensure the safety and security of the country by implementing the highest security measures, said Brig Hamad Othman Al Duhaimo, Deputy Director of GDSD. He said that Doha Metro Project is considered one of key project of the country as the time for commencing metro is coming closer so such workshops are needed to know the role of civil defense and Qatar Rial to discuss the requirements of coming phase.
The safety measures of Qatar Rail is meeting the requirements of the civil defense which is the best safety procedures, said Al Duahimo.
The safety of Doha Metro is top priority of civil defense as it is public transport and will be used by big number of people on daily basis, said Captain Ahmad Khalid Al Ghanam, Director of Prevention Department at GDSD.
Various topics including the percentage of the completion of Doha metro, passenger handling capacity, emergency condition, entrances for civil defense personnel, equipment for rescue in tunnel, fire fighting, system for feeding electricity to the stations, accident response teams during construction and operation were discussed at the workshop.
