Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) has awarded Finland’s Kone a contract to supply 149 elevators, 82 escalators and eight horizontal autowalks for the Lusail light rail system.

The under-construction 38.5-kilometre tram system will have four lines, 25 at-grade stations and seven underground stations.

The system is expected to enter commercial service in stages from 2018 as the transport backbone of the Lusail development, located 23 km north of Doha. Lusail is expected to eventually house 260,000 people.

A consortium of the local/French QDVC and France’s Alstom was awarded a $2.7bn contract for the design and build of the second phase of the tram scheme in 2014.

That contract comprises construction of 25 stations and a depot, architectural and electro-mechanical works packages, the supply of 35 trains equipped with catenary-free technology, track-laying and energy supply.

QDVC has awarded France’s Thales a contract to supply and maintain the supervision, telecoms, security and automatic fare collection systems for the future tram network, including contactless ticketing.

In May, a joint venture of US-based Hill International, Italy’s Italferr and the local Astad Engineering Consultancy & Project Management Company won the contract to provide project management consultancy services for the tram scheme.

The Lusail tram is part of Qatar Rail’s national development programme, along with the Doha Metro and the proposed long-distance passenger and freight network.