FCC, a world leader in underground rail and subway construction, has been awarded a contract by the Qatar Railways Company to build a section of Doha Metro red line for €506 million ($705 million), its first major project in Qatar.

The FCC-led consortium comprising Archirodon (Greece), Yüksel (Turkey) and Petroserv (Qatar) expects to execute the project in 31 months.

The contract includes building three elevated stations at Barwa Village, Al Wakrah and Qatar Economic Zone; and a 6.97-km section, in addition to a tunnel at the entrance to Al Wakrah.

FCC is currently building two pedestrian walkways in the new city of Lusail and is completing the second phase of the Barzan camp residen-tial area in Al Wajba, 15 km from the capital city.

The project follows the Spanish company’s largest international contract in its history, for the construction of three lines of the Riyadh Met-ro, for more than €6 billion ($8.36 billion).

FCC leads the FAST consortium, comprising Samsung (Korea), Alstom and Setec France), Strukton (The Netherlands), Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Typsa (Spain) and Atkins (UK) to execute this Saudi metro project.

Work is expected to start by the second quarter for completion in five years.

The group, which has been operating in Saudi Arabia, has also secured a contract to optimise Riyadh’s water supply network which runs over a distance of 6,000 km.