Qatar Railways Company has awarded a contract to German group Herrenknecht for supply of 15 tunnel boring machines for its upcoming Doha metro project.

Qatar is pursuing a large and ambitious vision destined to provide the highest standards of living to the country and its citizens by the year 2030. An important component for this is a modern transport infrastructure.

Consequently the capital Doha, chronically plagued by congestion, is to receive a completely new, very efficient metro system, said Qatar Rail officials .

The motto for the construction of the new Metro Doha in Qatar says it all: "Accomplishing a Vision". Each of the 15 machines made by Herrenknecht for this huge expansion project will take this motto with it while building the tunnels beneath the capital of Qatar, they said.

Minister of Transport Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti visited the Herrenknecht plant in Germany to inspect the first tunnel boring machine being made for this major project

He was accompanied by the former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

Al Sulaiti led a delegation comprising senior representatives of Qatar Rail and the joint venture QDVC / GS Engineering & Construction / Al Darwish Engineering as well as the Consul of Qatar to inspect the first ready for use machine.

“Qatar holds its hopes and aspirations for the future in accordance with the Qatar National Vision 2030.  One of the most important elements in fulfilling this Vision is the infrastructure of the country itself. As such, we have allocated tremendous resources and a generous budget for upgrading Qatar’s infrastructure, to which Qatar Rail’s Doha Metro project is also included," he stated.

Abdulla Abdulaziz Turki Al Subaie, the managing director of Qatar Rail, said: "The budget allocated to us will allow us to deliver a state-of-the-art rail system that will give confidence to citizens and residents alike that the network will be unquestionable when it comes to security, comfort, and reliability."

Qatar Rail CEO Saad Ahmed Al Muhannadi said these tunnel-boring machines were important to the Doha Metro project as with this there will be minimal interference in the day-to-day life of people working and living in Doha as a vast majority of work is done underground with only one point of entry.

"In addition, the environmental impact is also minimal, with almost no pollutants released into the air or into the groundwater," he added.

Martin Herrenknecht, the founder and board chairman thanked the government for their confidence in top German technology. "With our high-tech tunnel boring machines and absolute reliability we will contribute everything possible to ensuring Doha gets a metro tunnel system to the highest global standards," he added.-TradeArabia News Service