Qatar Rail has made significant progress in the construction of the Doha Metro project, with more than 50 per cent of the total works on the four lines having been completed following the recent successful tunnelling of the entire 53.25-km stretch, said a report.

The operations contract of the project is likely to be awarded in the second quarter of 2017 and the first train would start running in the last quarter of 2019, reported The Gulf Times, citing a senior official.

Nearly 61.4 per cent of the work has been completed in the 13.6-km underground stretch of the Red Line from Lusail to Wakrah, and 66.5 per cent of the work on the 8.9-km Red Line South elevated route is now over, Markus Demmler, senior director of the Qatar Integrated Railway Project (QIRP), was quoted as saying in the report.

Work on the Lusail Light Rail Transit, comprising 32 km of lines and 35 stations, is slightly behind schedule with 44.8 per cent of the overall work done so far, he revealed.

“But we are very confident that the work would be ahead of the schedule shortly as it is fast catching up in different areas of the project,” added Demmler.

The total distance covered by the Doha Metro is a little more than 111 km. This is apart from the nearly 38 km of mainly underground light transit rail being developed in Lusail.