Doha metro project seen as a boon
Published on Jul 8th, 2009 by internetcont in Press with
Doha - Opinion is divided in the Qatari community over whether the metro railway project is viable and can actually see the light of day.
A major challenge facing the proposal is Greater Doha’s geology, which can make the ambitious venture difficult to launch. This is the opinion of a prominent Qatari engineer, Yusuf Al Hammadi.
But the challenges apart, the worsening traffic situation on Doha’s roads indeed calls for an underground or over-ground railway network covering Greater Doha, which includes the near and far-flung suburbs.
Considering the worsening traffic situation, there are many in the local community who are supportive of the project and think it should be launched before the situation turns worst.
“We must learn a lesson from Dubai where, due to traffic woes, the planners have decided to build a metro rail network,” said Ahmed Jolo, head of the Qatari Engineers’ Association in remarks to a local Arabic daily.
According to Al Hammadi, the digging work will be the most challenging and expensive aspect of the proposed project because one can come across ground water barely two meters deep from the surface.
He said during excavations for major public works in and around the city, many a time in the recent past, sinkholes (huge water reservoirs) have been discovered barely two meters deep from the surface.
So, digging may account for at least a third of the project cost, he said in remarks to a local Arabic daily.
However, the increasing population and busy roads do call for such projects to ease congestion on the city roads. One way to solve the problem is make a network of flyovers and subways, he suggested.
The project can be partly underground and partly over-ground, suggested Jolo. “But whatever the case, we do need a local rail network in Doha and we need it before the traffic situation turns worse,” he said.
