Qatar Rail officials at the meeting.
Building on the milestones in 2016, Qatar Rail has set ambitious goals for 2017 that will focus on its continuous, timely and cost-effective project completion.
In its third all-staff town hall meeting attended by management and employees yesterday, Qatar Rail highlighted the achievements of the last 12 months and looked forward to the milestones to be delivered next year, said a press release.
Last year witnessed a few significant milestones where Qatar Rail recently celebrated the completion of viaducts on the Doha Metro project; and a few months earlier the company celebrated the completion of all tunneling works.
Moreover, the 37 stations of the Doha Metro project are under construction with more than 41,000 workers on site. The metro project has so far worked a total of 202 million man hours and achieved one of the lowest Accident Frequency Rates (AFR) in construction in the world.
This year’s more notable milestones for the Doha Metro project will be hitting the 70% mark on project progress rate, the arrival of the first four trains in Doha, dynamic testing of the first train in Japan, awarding the Rail and FM operator contracts, as well as advancement of operational readiness preparations and the development of revenue generating capabilities.
The construction focus has now shifted to the more complex phase of installing tracks and the railway control systems, as well as the installation of mechanical and electrical plant and equipment, and carrying out architectural fit-outs. It is expected that the track installation works will be completed by the end of 2017.
Inaugurating the town hall meeting by launching the Business Transformation Program, Eng. Abdulla Abdulaziz Al Subaie, Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Qatar Rail, said: “We are about to embark on the most critical phase of the Rail Development Program; we will be soon transitioning from a rail developer to a rail operator. Furthermore, we are implementing every possible measure to accelerate our progress and accomplish Qatar Rail’s vision. Accordingly, we have launched a Business Transformation Programme that rests on four pillars: delivery of the programme on time, budget and quality, financial and operational Sustainability, organizational efficiency and building Qatari capabilities.”
On top of its priorities, Qatar Rail is also focusing on the development of a long-term business development strategy that involves property development, and retail and advertising to achieve operational and financial sustainability. In collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Communications, works on the implementation of transport demand management measures to support the integration of the different public transport systems and the safe and efficient interchange with other travel modes are also in progress.
