Qatar Rail will begin awarding contracts for the ambitious Doha Metro project, among others, “soon,” and excavation work for underground rail lines will start by the end of this year, a senior company official has said.

“Construction work for Qatar Rail project will begin by the end of 2013 and during the peak construction period, over 20,000 workers are expected to work daily until 2016,” Ahmed Nassar Al Kowsi, Logistics Director of Qatar Rail, told the Peninsula.

Tenders for the country’s planned metro system were pushed back last year when officials said they needed more time to review and evaluate the bids. In August, QRail did sign five contracts worth some $406 million for management of the lines and stations, as well as for enabling work and security.

Despite the delays and promises that project contracts would be awarded by the end of 2012, Al Kowsi told the newspaper “we are exactly on schedule.”

In a nod to the the enormity of the project, Al Kowsi added:

“Qatar Rail will need an amount of steel equivalent to a quantity from which about 200 Eiffel towers can be built. And the amount of excavation material generated from the tunnels will be capable of building seven pyramids of Egypt.”

Although the overall national network isn’t due to be completed until at least 2026, the Doha Metro Red Line, termed phase 1, is to be operational in time for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup.

The Msheireb station, which broke ground last October, is expected to serve as a hub for the Red line, as well as the metro’s Green and Gold lines.

Thoughts?

Credit: Rendering courtesy of QRail