Al Mayeda broke through at Msheireb Station on June 11.

Qatar Rail said the work at the Doha Metro line was progressing well with the tunnelling phase on track for completion by 2017.

It announced the successful relaunch of its tunnel boring machine (TBM), Al Mayeda, at the Corniche station of the Doha Metro’s Red Line following repair work after a flooding incident.

Hamad Ibrahim Al Bishri, the deputy chief executive of Qatar Rail, said: “Al Mayeda, belonging to the Doha Metro Red Line, was deployed at Al Corniche station in November last year and it achieved breakthrough at Msheireb having dug 1.6 km of tunnel.”

Al Mayeda is one of 21 TBMs imported from Herrenknecht, the German world market leader in mechanised tunnelling technology, for the Doha Metro project. The breakthrough of the TBM was delayed at the end of its journey, he stated.

“Shortly before breakthrough the machine unexpectedly encountered a water source which had to be dealt with properly and safely prior to its appearance into the open air at Msheireb,” he added.

Tunnelling works, initially five months ahead of schedule at the Corniche station, are still respecting the assigned timetable after spending three months on rehabilitation works.

Msheireb, the flagship station which will be the central hub of Doha’s public transportation system, will be the major interchange for the Red Line, Green Line, and Gold Line. Excavation at Msheireb is approximately 40 m below ground.

Construction works there are scheduled for completion by 2018. According to him, all Qatar Rail TBMs are currently operational and have completed about tunnelling work of 30 km out of a total of 113 km. This represents strong progress from when it last reported on tunnelling progress in April when just under 20 km had been achieved.