With tunneling complete and less than three years to go before the Doha Metro launches passenger operations, Qatar Rail aims to finish 70 per cent of the project by 2017-end
According to Doha News, 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.
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.
