Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a sovereign Arab emirate occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the north-eastern coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. It has a population of almost 2.1 million people. With huge natural gas and oil reserves, Qatar was named the richest country by Forbes magazine in 2012.
Challenge
Qatar needed to upgrade its infrastructure in order to attract businesses to the region and prepare for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The country had a modern highway system, but no rail network. Qatar approved construction of the Qatar Integrated Railway Project, encompassing four metro lines, a people-mover system, light rail, high-speed rail and mixed-traffic lines.
The broad goals of the Qatar Rail Development Program are to deliver a world class, environmentally friendly, safe and reliable rail network for Qatar, and support the "Qatar 2030 Vision" for achieving the highest economic, social and environmental development standards for the Qatar community through a sustainable urban development plan.
Solution
The WSP (Formerly Louis Berger) Egis Rail joint venture (LBERJV) in association with the Qatar Program Management Company (QPM) provides project management, construction management, design management and commercial management for at-grade, above grade and underground metro corridors and multi-modal station structures.
LBERJV was selected in August 2012 to provide project management services for the Gold Line and the major stations. More recently, LBERJV also was commissioned to provide project management consultancy services for the Red Line North, Red Line South and Green Line, which have a combined length of approximately 16 kilometers.
The first phase of the project is expected to be finished by 2019. It will include four new metro lines, totaling a length of 86 kilometers, and 38 stations in Qatar's capital, Doha.
When completed in 2026, the network will have 230 kilometers of rail lines and 95 stations. Long-term plans include connecting the network to the 32-kilometer Lusail Light Rail, now under construction, and to the proposed people-mover system in the West Bay area. Additional connections to other Qatari cities and neighboring countries will be explored using electrified mixed-traffic lines and a causeway.
