Qatar Rail awards $406 mn first phase metro contract

Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) on Sunday signed contracts worth $406.4 million for execution of the first phase of its planned $36 billion metro project in Doha as part of the country’s preparations to host the 2022 soccer World Cup.

The company awarded a contract for consulting and engineering services and project management with the US firm Jacobs Engineering Group to manage the metro’s Red Line.

A team of US-based Louis Berger and France’s Egis Rail will manage the Gold Line and main stations, and US firm Hill International will manage the Green Line, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Qatar Rail Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Subae told a news conference in Doha. The three contracts are worth QR1.14 billion ($313.1 million), he said.

An enabling works contract worth QR288 million ($79.1 million) was also signed with PORR-SBG-HBK Group, a division of Qatari firm HBK Contracting Co. Britain’s Lloyd’s Register was awarded a contract for independent safety assessment worth QR55 million ($15 million).

Qatar’s planned metro project will include four rail lines and will link stadiums for the 2022 tournament, with an underground component in the centre of the capital Doha. It is expected to employ more than 20,000 workers during the peak of construction.

Subae said that a logistics coordinator contract for the project would be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2012. “The tender has been floated, and it will be awarded in the fourth quarter,” he added.

The contract for design on tunnel work will be awarded in the first quarter of 2013, he said, adding that the total cost of the project was expected to be in line with previous projections of $36 billion. “The metro will begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2019,” he said.

source: Qatar Tribune

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