Source: www.gulf-times.com
Qatar Railways Company, which is building a $35bn metro and railway system in the state, plans to award contracts for the elevated metro sections in the second quarter of next year.
Track contracts, currently scheduled to be awarded in the first quarter of 2014, may be brought forward to next year, deputy chief executive officer Geoff Mee said at a conference in Doha.
He declined to give the value of the contracts, while saying they will be financed from government revenue.
The company had to advance the first phase of the project by 18 months to ensure key parts of the metro will be ready should Qatar be awarded the 2020 Summer Olympics, Mee said on February 6. Qatar is hosting the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament and will use the metro to transport fans to matches.
The first phase of the project, including metro lines linking the airport to planned sporting venues, is scheduled to start operating by the fourth quarter of 2019, Mee said.
The company is evaluating bids submitted by 18 groups for five packages of work that include digging tunnels and constructing stations, and contracts for those projects will be awarded in the fourth quarter, he said.
Drilling work for the metro will start at the beginning of 2013, Saad al-Mohannadi, Qatar Railways chief executive officer, said on February 15.
The company is co-ordinating with the Qatar Development Bank and global consultancy firms to identify investment opportunities for the private sector in the country’s railway project. More info
