The contracts for the tunnelling works for Doha metro’s North and South Red Line is expected to be awarded in March, according to the chief executive officer of Qatar Railways Company.

Speaking at a conference in Dubai, Saad al-Muhannadi said bids were at a “final stage of commercial evaluation”.

The contracts for the Green and Gold lines are due by the end of the second quarter.

Both the rolling stock and systems packages are due to be floated in April. Qatar Railways has already received expressions of interest and will be collecting prequalification documents next week.

The contract awards are not expected until the first quarter of 2014.

Qatar Railways will be holding a workshop soon for potential contractors interested in  bidding for the systems and rolling stock packages.

Other forthcoming tenders include three packages covering the elevated sections of the metro. This is due to be released in the first quarter of this year.

A contract covering track work is due to be floated in August 2013 and to be awarded in the second quarter of 2014.  An operations and maintenance contract is expected to be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2015.

With the deadline of the 2022 FIfa World Cup placing pressure on the metro project, Al-Muhannadi confirmed the metro remains on target for completion by October 2019.