Qatar Starts Work on Railway

I love public transportation, when it is good. When it is modern and clean and orderly, it is good for citizens, good for the community, good for the country and good for the environment. Woo HOOO on Qatar, and on an Emir who says (I paraphrase) to let nothing stand in its way, to remove all obstacles. Wooo HOOOOO!

Work starts on railway projects
Web posted at: 2/25/2010 6:51:1
Source ::: THE PENINSULA/ By MOHAMED SAEED

DOHA: Preliminary work on the ambitious multi-billion dollar metro and ground rail projects has begun and once the networks are ready trains could be moving at speeds of 80 to 350km per hour.

The projects are to be completed in phases between 2010 and 2016 and will take into consideration Qatar’s bid to host the football World Cup in 2022.

The three mega railway projects (the metro network within Greater Doha, the over-ground railways covering entire Qatar and eventually linking it to the rest of the GCC region and cargo trains) are expected to cost an astronomical QR133.5bn.

This was disclosed by the Qatar News Agency yesterday. It said the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani, briefed the Heir Apparent, H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on the railway and various Ashghal projects at the Emiri Diwan yesterday.

Senior Qatari Diar officials handling the railway ventures and Ashghal (Public Works Authority) functionaries made the presentations.

According to QNA, the Premier briefed the Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, on these projects on February 2 and was asked to refer them for review to the Heir Apparent.

The Emir also asked the PM to remove any obstacles facing these ventures and added that the projects be forwarded to the Advisory Council and the Central Municipal Council (CMC) as well for revision.

Qatari Diar officials told the Heir Apparent that the metro rail project will cover a total distance of 354km and the trains will run at speeds of 80 to 160km per hour.

The ground rail network will, on the other hand, cover a total distance of 345km and traverse the entire country and passenger electric trains will be running at between 220 and 350km per hour.

This network will be linked to the GCC railways by 2017. Cargo trains covering major economic centres in Qatar will be running at 120km per hour.

Ashghal officials briefed the Heir Apparent on current and future infrastructure projects.

They put the total cost of the various road, sewage and groundwater collection projects at a whopping QR70bn and said the ventures are to be ready in five to eight years.

The possibility of hiring international consultants to handle key public projects was also discussed so that smooth traffic flow on arterial roads was ensured during the execution of these ventures.

A pipeline is to be installed that would collect rain water from the north and other parts of the country and bring it to a reservoir in the south.

And the capacities of the three major sewage water treatment plants are to be increased, said Ashghal officials.