Neighbouring Qatar, host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, has invited local and international companies to signal their interest in building the Doha Metro to include 22km of tunnels and 15 stations in the first phase of a massive rail project which will eventually offer direct rail links to Manama.
The project is just part of Qatar’s impressive rail plans. The government is planning a metro network for central Doha and a high-speed line running from Mesaieed through Doha and Ras Laffan onto Bahrain across the proposed Qatar-Bahrain causeway.
A statement from Qatar Railways Company (QRail) gave no value for the latest plans, but a company official said in June the total cost of its railway project, with 100 stations, would reach around $35.7 billion.
“This invitation is a major opportunity for local contracting companies to join in consortia with large international contractors to design and build six urgent construction packages that include 22km of underground tunnels and 15 underground stations in the first stage,” QRail CEO Saad Ahmed Al Muhannadi said in a statement.
The world’s top liquefied natural gas exporter plans to spend over $125 billion in the next five years on construction and energy projects. The OPEC member’s economy is forecast to grow strongly.
“QRail is extending this invitation to all contractors with experience in the design and construction of railways, including both major underground and elevated civil works, to help build Qatar’s planned railways and create a metro system for Doha,” the statement said.
“Enabling these works will be particularly critical and the QRail is looking to partner with contractors who can showcase relevant capabilities and experience in this area.”
The six Gulf Arab states plan to spend more than $100 billion on a rail project linking them up by 2017, with long-range plans to extend the high-speed network as far as Yemen in the south of the Arabian Peninsula.
Qatar’s copious natural gas reserves have turned it into an economic powerhouse and the world’s richest country per-capita, and have also driven its bold ambitions.
The Gulf state has allocated 40 per cent of its budget between now and 2016 to infrastructure projects. These include $11 billion to be spent on a new international airport, $5.5 billion on a deep-water seaport and $1 billion for a transport corridor in the capital, Doha. It will also spend $20 billion on roads.
As reported earlier in GulfWeekly, there are plans for high-speed trains to transport thousands of visiting football fans from Bahrain to Qatar over the proposed Friendship Road & Rail Bridge when the World Cup Finals are staged in 11 years time bringing a massive tourism boost to the kingdom.
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