FCC has been awarded a contract by the Qatar Railways Company to build a section of Doha Metro red line (Qatar) for 506 million euro ($702 million).

The winning consortium led by FCC, the Citizen Services Group, also comprises Archirodon (Greece), Yüksel (Turkey) and Petroserv (Qatar).

A global leader in subway construction, FCC said this was the company's first major project in Qatar. The project will be executed in 31 months and will create more than 1,000 jobs.

In the bidding process, the FCC-led consortium competed with groups from Korea, Germany, Italy and India, among other countries, the Spanish company said.

The contract includes building three elevated stations (Barwa Village, Al Wakrah and Qatar Economic Zone) and a 6.97-km section, plus tunnelizing the road at the entrance to Al Wakrah.

The total budget for the Doha Metro project exceeds 20 billion euro.

This project win comes just six months after FCC obtained its largest international contract: the construction of three lines of the Riyadh Metro, for over 6 billion euros, the statement added.

In that project, FCC heads the FAST consortium, which comprises Samsung (Korea), Alstom and Setec (both from France), Strukton (The Netherlands), Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Typsa (Spain) and Atkins (UK).

The total budget for the Riyadh Metro is more than 16.3 billion euro.

As FCC executives discussed with Saudi authorities and the Spanish Development Minister, Ana Pastor, during an official trip, construction of lines 4, 5 and 6 will begin in the second quarter of the year, employing over 15,000 people from 15 countries.

Thus far, geological studies and terrain surveys have been completed, in line with the proposed calendar.

The consortium team in Riyadh numbers some 160 people, around 40 of whom are FCC employees from Spain. Another 220 people are located in Madrid, Paris, London, New Delhi and Dubai to provide support for the project. The execution period is five years.

The metro construction contract in Doha is FCC's largest project in the country, said the statement said the Spanish group.

It is currently building two pedestrian walkways in the new city of Lusail and is completing the second phase of the Barzan camp residential area in Al Wajba, 15 km from the capital city. FCC has a representative office in Doha, it added.-TradeArabia News Service