Qatar invites companies to build Doha Metro

Qatar invites companies to build Doha Metro

A statement from Qatar Railways Company (QRail) gave no value for the project, but a company official said in June the total cost of the railway project, with 100 stations, would reach 130 billion Qatari riyals ($35.7 billion).

July 31, 2011 4:02 by Reuters

Qatar, host of the 2022 soccer World Cup, invited local and international companies on Saturday to signal their interest in building the Doha Metro, to include 22 km (13.8 miles) of tunnels and 15 stations in its first phase.

“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 22 km 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, which has not seen popular unrest like that elsewhere in the Arab world this year, 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 works which include roads and utilities diversion will be particularly critical and the Qatar Railways Company 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 driven its bold ambitions.

The tiny Gulf state has allocated 40 percent 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 spend $20 billion on roads.

(Writing by Firouz Sedarat in Dubai; Editing by Catherine Evans)