Monday, Feb 06, 2012
--Phase 1A of the Doha Metro will be ready by 2019, says QRail deputy CEO
--RFP contracts on enabling works were launched Monday
--More work contracts to be offered in 2012
By Alex Delmar-Morgan
Of ZAWYA DOW JONES
DOHA (Zawya Dow Jones)--Work on the Doha metro project will be accelerated due to Qatar's bid to host the 2020 Olympics, an executive at the company overseeing the Gulf Arab state's $40 billion rail network said Monday.
Phase 1A of the Doha Metro will be ready by 2019, in time for the Olympics if Qatar is successful in its bid, Qatar Railways' Deputy Chief Executive Geoff Mee said at a conference in Doha. Phase 1B of the project will be completed in time for the 2022 soccer World Cup, which Qatar will host, he added.
"We're having to push this ahead very, very quickly," Mee said.
A senior executive at Qatar Railways Co., or QRail, the operator of the Gulf state's planned rail network, had said late last year that the company will tender the first contracts on the Doha Metro in early 2012.
Qatar is spending tens of billions of dollars on infrastructure projects over the next few years as it gears up to host the world's most watched sporting event. It plans a $40 billion national integrated rail network together with a new $11 billion airport and a $5.5 billion deep water seaport.
Request for proposal, or RFP, contracts on enabling works were launched Monday, Mee said, adding that four tunneling RFP contracts worth $2-$3 billion each will be put out to the market in April this year and awarded in October. "The starting gun has gone and you're going to be very busy getting these bids ready to go," Mee said.
Contracts for Musheireb and Education City, two of the metro's biggest stations, will have a value of around $1 billion each, the Qatar Railways deputy CEO said.
Firms will be invited to lodge expressions of interest on systems and rolling stock contracts later in the year, he added.
-By Alex Delmar-Morgan, Dow Jones Newswires; +974 6659 9818; alex.delmar-morgan@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-02-12 1446GMT
