Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) has extended the prequalification deadline for the finishing subcontract packages for the first phase of the Doha Metro.

The initial prequalification round for the architectural finishes, envelope, facades and hard and soft landscaping packages was announced in August.

The architectural finishes and facades are for the underground and elevated stations, while the hard and soft landscaping package involves streetworks.

So far, nearly 60 groups have been prequalified for three separate multi-discipline architectural works, and the list could further expand with the extension of the deadline.

Of these, 30 groups comprising mostly local firms have been prequalified for the station fit-outs. They include:

Twenty groups, including several of those prequalified for the fit-out, have also been prequalified for the public entrances, envelope and elevated structures package, while eight firms were selected for the landscape package.

Qatar Rail has indicated that those companies that were disqualified from the first prequalification round may resubmit their applications. The firm did not disclose the closing date for submissions for the new round of prequalification.

Expected to become operational by 2019, the first phase of the Doha Metro involves the construction of 37 stations and 63 kilometres of tunnelling work and about 18km of elevated and at-grade track.