Qatar hopes to have a full-fledged railway system in Doha and outside the city, with links to other countries as well, by the year 2026.
A company named Qatar Railway has been launched with an initial capital of $100m. “This is just the initial capital. More funds will flow in as time passes by .… The entire railway project has been assigned to Qatari Diar,” the company’s CEO, Ghanem Saad Al Saad, told reporters on Tuesday.
Work on the mega railway project is expected to begin in 2012 and last until 2026. In the first phase, the towers area in West Bay is to be linked to a monorail system comprising soft passenger trains.
Subsequently, work on the metro rail project will begin and once this venture is completed, plans for long-distance trains will be launched.
The metro rail project will cover Greater Doha. In the last stage, express cargo trains will be launched.
Answering questions at a news conference to announce a syndicated Islamic loan facility of QR4bn for Qatari Diar, Al Saad said this was an ambitious rail transport venture and the details would be announced soon.
According to him, an international consultancy firm has already been appointed and it is expected to start work within two weeks.
“The firm will begin the preliminary consultancy work within a fortnight,” said the CEO.
The express cargo rail project will link the Industrial Area to other parts of the country.
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