Consortium chosen for Doha automated metro system
Qatar Rail (All images are art impressions only. Concepts may change.)
On 20 February, a consortium consisting of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corporation, Hitachi, Kinki Sharyo and Thales received a ‘Letter of Conditional Acceptance’ from the Qatar Railways Company for a systems package for the Doha Metro, the first metro system to be constructed in Qatar.
The project is one of the world’s largest for a single metro system.
The launch of phase 1 of the Doha Metro is scheduled for 2019.
The Doha Metro will consist of 4 lines (Red, Green, Gold and Blue) in 2 phases. The network will cover a total distance of 241 kilometers with 106 stations, of which 123 kilometers will be constructed underground. It will connect the main areas of Doha, including the Hamad International Airport opened in April 2014, the Old City, and newly developing inner city areas such as West Bay and Lusail.
Turnkey construction of the system
Qatar Rail (All images are art impressions only. Concepts may change)
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.
The newly accepted 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 signaling, 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.
Vehicles, CBTC and maintenance
Mitsubishi Corporation and Kinki Sharyo will jointly provide the railway cars. Thales will supply the advanced communications based train control (CBTC) signaling, telecommunications & security, integrated operational control center 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.
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