About 50 per cent of the 113-km-long tunnelling work for Doha Metro in Qatar has been completed with the help of 21 tunnel boring machines (TBM), a report said.

Doha Metro project is advancing according to schedule with QR60 billion ($16.47 billion) worth of contracts awarded to nine joint ventures, the The Peninsular Qatar report quoted Abdulla Abdulaziz Al Subaie, managing director of Qatar Rail, the developer of the project, as saying.

In executing the tunnelling works, the official said, the company has achieved a huge milestone by breaking the world record for the largest number of tunnel boring machines operating at the same time in one city.

"Qatar Rail is proud to have been entrusted with this unprecedented development of building a world-class, efficient public transportation system that includes three interconnected projects – the Doha Metro, the Lusail Light Rail Transit project and the Long Distance rail project," Al Subaie said, as he spoke at the three-day annual Qatar Transport Forum.

The Doha Metro system construction works are phased over two stages, the first of which will see the construction of three out of the four lines (Red, Gold, and Green) and 37 stations. The three lines are expected to open by late 2019, he added.

Construction work on the Lusail Light Rail Transit is also well under way. When completed, the project will enhance the capacity and efficiency of transport within Lusail.

Qatar is also proceeding with the development of the long distance passenger and freight rail network that will link into the GCC rail system, he said.

About $44 billion worth of transport projects currently under construction and $35 billion in projects are due to be awarded in Qatar over the next three years, Al Subaie said in the report. - TradeArabia News Service