Skip to main content

Mitsubishi consortium receives letter of conditional acceptance for Doha Metro

A consortium of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corporation; Hitachi, The Kinki Sharyo and Thales has received a Letter of Conditional Acceptance from the Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) for a systems package for the Doha Metro, the first metro system to be constructed in the State of Qatar. It is said to be one of the world’s largest projects for a single metro system. Construction is scheduled for completion by October 2019. Qatar Rail is the owner and manager of Qatar’s rail network and respo
February 23, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
RSSA consortium of 4962 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corporation; 2213 Hitachi, The Kinki Sharyo and 596 Thales has received a Letter of Conditional Acceptance from the Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) for a systems package for the Doha Metro, the first metro system to be constructed in the State of Qatar. It is said to be one of the world’s largest projects for a single metro system. Construction is scheduled for completion by October 2019.

Qatar Rail is the owner and manager of Qatar’s rail network and responsible for the design, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the entire rail network and systems. Phase 1 of the Doha Metro network will be launched in 2019; it will be implemented by multiple joint ventures involving renowned local and international contractors.

The new package calls for turnkey construction of a fully automated driverless metro system. Included are 75 sets of three-car trains, platform screen doors, tracks, a railway yard and systems for signalling, power distribution, telecommunications and tunnel ventilation. The package is also expected to include maximum 20-year maintenance services for the metro system after its completion.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the leader of the consortium, will supply the power distribution system, platform screen doors, tracks and tunnel ventilation work, and will also undertake
overall project management and system integration. Mitsubishi Corporation and Kinki Sharyo will jointly provide the railway cars. Thales will supply the advanced communications based train control (CBTC) signalling, telecommunications and security, integrated Operational Control Centre and automatic fare collection systems. Hitachi will perform some project management duties and also handle facilities maintenance, including the supply of special maintenance vehicles that comprehensively inspect the safety of infrastructure such as railway tracks and electric train lines.

The metro will run through the city of Doha and will consist of four lines in two phases, covering a total distance of 241 kilometres with 106 stations, of which 123 kilometres will be constructed underground. The new metro system will connect the main areas of Doha, including the Hamad International Airport which opened in April 2014, the Old City, and newly developing inner city areas such as West Bay and Lusail.

"The Doha Metro ongoing works are being done according to our timeline that we set at the beginning of the project,” Qatar Rail's CEO Saad Ahmed Al Muhannadi said. “In 2013 and 2014, we signed many agreements that reached a remarkable value promising to deliver the best standards of metro railway in the near future. Today, with the five-member Japan
Consortium led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, we look forward to add more value to our project knowing the international expertise of the Japanese fellows and provide Doha with a fully secure and automated driverless metro system.”

Related Content

  • April 16, 2012
    Pöyry to provide technical assistance for Panama Metro
    Pöyry's Urban & Mobility Business Group has been awarded a US$3 million contract to provide specialised technical assistance to the consortium in charge of project management for the design and construction of Line 1 of the Panama Metro. Pöyry's services are related to the implementation of the whole metro system. The project began in July 2011 and is expected to be completed by June 2014.
  • July 27, 2012
    LB Foster wins $60 million Honolulu rail contract
    Pennsylvania-based LB Foster Company has been awarded the company’s largest rail products contract, valued at approximately US$60 million, by contractor Kiewit/Kobayashi, a joint venture for the county-wide construction of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) passenger transit system. LB Foster rail, concrete ties, direct fixation fasteners, third rail with accessories and special trackwork will be installed throughout the Honolulu Rail Transit project’s new elevated railway system and mai
  • January 20, 2014
    Santiago metro contract awarded
    Spain’s Isolux Corsán has been awarded a US$100 million contract for the construction of a section of line 3 of the Santiago Metro in Chile. The project, part of the Metro Project, aims to improve the entire underground network in Santiago includes the construction of a 3.7 kilometre tunnel under the Chilean capital and includes the construction of three stations, five circular shafts and two rectangular shafts over a period of 28 months. It is expected to start operating in 2018.
  • September 5, 2013
    Thales scoops Hong Kong signalling contract
    Thales has been awarded a contract by Hong Kong’s metro operator, MTR Corporation, to provide signalling technology for Shatin to Central Link Phase 1 segment of the Hong Kong metro using a communications-based train control (CBTC) system. To provide fully automatic train operation the contract includes the modernisation of the Ma On Shan Line and West Rail Line lines, where Thales previously installed its CBTC solution in 2003/04.