With Qatar preparing to host football’s 2022 Fifa World Cup, the country has the most pressing reason within the GCC to fulfil its plans for a rail network. A total of 325 kilometres of mainline rail and 318km of metro and light rail are planned; most of this needs to be completed before the World Cup begins.

QRail reordered the construction phases of the integrated rail plan, prioritising the Doha metro project

The Qatar Integrated Rail Project incorporates plans for long-distance freight and high-speed passenger rail lines, as well as a metro network in Doha and a light rail system in Lusail. Qatar Railways Company (QRail) will also manage plans to connect Qatar’s railway with the planned GCC-wide rail network. The estimated cost of the whole project is $35bn.

The railway scheme began in November 2009, when Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company and Germany’s DB International set up a joint venture called Qatar Railways Development Company (QRDC).

In 2011, the responsibilities of QRDC were transferred to a new entity, QRail. Following the restructuring, QRail reordered the planned construction phases of the integrated rail plan, deciding to prioritise the 300km Doha metro project. The network will link all major areas of the city, and the first of four lines is due to be operational in 2019.

Each line of the Doha metro has been tendered as a separate package with its own project management consultant (PMC). The PMC contracts were awarded in mid-2012. Bids for tunnelling works on each line, as well as the station packages, were submitted at the end of 2012 and the contracts are due to be awarded in the second quarter of 2013.

Early plans for the two rail lines see the project broken down into three phases. The first phase will involve a 195km freight line linking Port Mesaieed to Ras Laffan, and eventually linking into Saudi Arabia through the planned GCC-wide network.

Phase 2 involves the construction of a 150km high-speed connection to Bahrain. Phase 3 will see the development of a 165km passenger and freight national network linking Dukhan to Al-Shamal and Doha. There are also plans for a light rail network in the Lusail City development in North Doha.