Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) says it will complete the entire 131-kilometre tunnelling works required for the first phase of the Doha Metro by 2016.

Completing the entire tunnelling work will equate to completing 50 per cent of the total work required for phase 1 of the metro.

This would give Qatar Rail enough room to complete the remaining work particularly for the construction of 37 stations by 2019, when the initial phase of the metro is expected to become operational.

Based on this timeline, the first phase of the metro will be completed three years prior to the staging of the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

All mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) contracts are expected to be awarded in 2016, along with the operator and facility management contracts for both the Doha Metro and the Lusail Light rail transit (LRT).

Qatar Rail managing director and chairman Abdulla Abdullaziz al-Subaie and CEO Saal al-Muhannadi discussed these milestones during the company’s recent town hall meeting.

Neither executive indicated if the long-distance passenger and freight rail will be tendered or awarded in 2016.

Nearly 60 per cent of the planned 486km long-distance rail will link to the planned GCC railway, which is expected to be completed by 2018, a timeline that is becoming increasingly unlikely due to the delay in the award of construction work for the domestic spurs of the planned regional railway.