A CONSORTIUM including French industrial groups Vinci and Alstom has signed a €2-billion ($2.72 billion) contract with Qatar Railways Company to build a tram system for the city of Lusail.

The contract won by Alstom and QDVC, which is 51 per cent owned by Qatari Diar and 49 per cent by Vinci’s major projects unit, was signed last month (June) at Paris’s Elysee Palace during an official visit by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. According to Vinci, the contract includes the construction of 25 stations and the electric infrastructure surrounding the four-line network.

Under its €750-million ($1 billion) share of the deal, Alstom said it will deliver 35 Citadis tramways along with power supply equipment, signalling and trackworks. The contract to supply a turnkey tramway system includes options for 32 additional tramways.

The tramway in Qatar’s newest planned city with a population of 200,000 is expected to open in 2018 with further lines added two years later. The four-line tram network will cross the city covering a distance of 33 km. The Citadis tram will be 32 m long.

Lusail City will also contain commercial districts including the $275-million Marina Mall project, 22 hotels, four islands and two golf courses.