Germany’s Siemens has been awarded a contract to provide 19 trams for Qatar Foundation’s Education City campus, located on the western edge of Doha.

Siemens will provide Qatar Foundation with 19 Siemens Avenio trams, which will operate on a 11.5 kilometre-long route within the Qatar Foundation campus. The trams will operate without overhead contact lines and will receive electric power from the planned 25 stations.

The tram system is scheduled to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2015.

The trams will be equipped with Siemens’ Sitras hybrid energy storage (HES) system, which will result in the trams consuming up to 30 per cent less energy year and producing less CO2 emission than standard trams.

Siemens will also supply signaling and communication technology, as well as depot equipment, and will equip four stations with platform screen doors.

Qatar Foundation’s Education City development will be linked to the multibillion-dollar Doha metro project. In April, Qatar Railways Company (QRail) invited contractors to submit bids for the first five major contracts on its multibillion-dollar Doha metro scheme.

The first four contracts are for tunnelling packages on the Red Line North, Red Line South, Green Line and the Golden Line. The station package consists of the two major terminals planned for the Msheireb Downtown Doha development and Education City.