TENDERS for the Doha Metro will be issued in the second quarter of this year, following a second delay in tendering the $41-billion rail project, according to Qatar Railways.

“It will be in April or May,” group director Ghanim Al Ibrahim said.

In October, the company said it would delay tenders until the first quarter of 2012 in order to complete more detailed studies on the project. Qatar Railways, which had originally planned to issue the first tender by the end of 2011, said in October it had received bids from around 60 consortiums with at least two contractors each.

The project will include four rail lines and will link stadiums for the 2022 Fifa (Federation Internationale de Football Association) World Cup which Qatar will host, with an underground component in the centre of the capital Doha. It is expected to employ more than 20,000 workers during the peak of construction.

Doha-based sources said that plans for the underground component were in question. “They’re seriously considering whether this will be something people in Doha actually use after the (2022) tournament. An underground metro takes a very long time to build,” they said.