TUNNELLING work on the Doha Metro is expected to start in the third quarter of this year.

Germany’s Herrenknecht, which is building 15 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) for the project, delivered the first machine late last month at a ceremony at its plant in Schwananu which was attended by Qatar’s Minister for Transport Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti, Germany’s Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, and Qatar Rail CEO Saad Ahmed Al Muhannadi.

The Gulf Times newspaper quoted  Qatar Rail’s business development manager Sara Al Muhannadi as saying that  work is progressing on 21 stations with delivery of the first train in the third quarter of 2017, followed by the power-on for the first test section in the fourth quarter of the same year.

Completion of all stations and tunnels will be in the fourth quarter of 2018 with the metro opening in late 2019.

Qatar Rail senior programme director Markus Demmler was quoted as saying that 130 trains were to be brought initially. “We have awarded four contracts; the fifth one is about to be awarded. We have three elevated sections to be awarded and the system contract will be awarded soon,” he told the paper.

Meanwhile, about eight underground stations are being constructed for the Lusail Light Rail Transit with work on four nearly finished and tunnelling complete. The delivery of the first train for this line will be in the second quarter of 2017.  The yellow line will start operating in the second quarter of 2018. The three other lines will start in the second quarter of 2020.