Plans for trains in Qatar are going ahead at full speed, according to Railway Gazette. Some expats have been sceptical of the trains programme proceeding, especially after the end of the Asian Games. Indeed some plans do never seem to take place - an obvious one being the new National Library, which was marked on the map when I arrived here three years and a half years ago but has yet to be built.
However, Qatar has now chartered Deustche Bahn for the preliminary stages of developing the railway i.e. planning. Plans include a railway link into Doha from the airport, an East coast rail link to Ras Laffan and Messaieed, a link to Saudi Arabia, "people movers" in some areas of Doha such as Lusail and possibly even a high speed link to Bahrain.
I don't know how many times people have said that Qatar really needs to develop its public transport system. Now it seems that they are really going to do it. Unfortunately, there are likely to be many years of worsening traffic congestion before the development is finished!
Also see our website article: Qatar Transport.
Image by Ben Harris Roxas
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