Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) has issued conditional letters of award to the two contracting groups competing for the estimated QR12bn-plus ($3.3bn-plus) deal to build Doha Metro’s Gold Line.

The letters will give contractors a final chance to submit their best commercial offers ahead of an expected award in early March.

The two groups competing for the contract are:

• Aktor (Greece)/Yapi Merkezi (Turkey)/STFA (Turkey)/Larsen & Toubro (India)/AlJaber Engineering (local)
• Hochtief (Germany)/Al-Jaber Trading (local)/Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) (Athens-based)/Marbu Contracting Company (local)/Lusail Hochtief (local/Germany)

Firms submitted fresh prices at the end of last year. Bids were originally submitted in early 2013, but after several months of evaluating bids, Qatar Rail decided to seek revised prices after it reduced the scope of some parts of the Doha metro scheme, including the Gold Line, so it could concentrate on the key elements of the network it needs in place for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

Despite the reduction in scope, the Gold Line is the largest contract to be tendered for Doha Metro. Valued at more than QR12bn, it is considerably more than the estimated QR8bn deals awarded for the Red Line North, Red Line South and Green Line in May last year.

Doha Metro was one of the region’s most active projects for contract awards last year. In late May and early June, Qatar Rail awarded construction deals for underground sections and two stations.

The estimated QR8bn Red Line South underground sections construction package were awarded to the consortium of the local/French QDVC, South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction, and the local Darwish Engineering.

A team of Austria’s Porr, Saudi Binladin Group and the local HBK Contracting Company won the estimated QR8bn contract to build the underground sections for the Green Line.

The estimated QR8bn deal for the Red Line North underground sections was secured by a consortium of Italy’s Impregilo, South Korea’s SK Engineering & Construction and the local Galfar al-Misnad Engineering & Contracting.

South Korea’s Samsung C&T, Spain’s OHL and Qatar Building Company won the estimated QR4bn contract to build two major stations at Msheireb and Education City.