Doha, Qatar - Six years in the making, Qatar's first-ever underground railway system has opened to the public, as the Gulf nation prepares to host the 2022 football World Cup.

In the second quarter of 2019 Doha Metro Red Line commenced passenger operations, running along the coast from al-Qassar district in the capital, Doha, to the southern city of al-Wakrah.

In June 2015 E-Consult was appointed as Design Verification Engineer for the for Doha Metro rolling stock by Kinki Sharyo Company Limited, a partner in Doha Metro Consortium comprising Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited, Mitsubishi Corporation, Hitachi, Kinki Sharyo and Thales (MMHKT) who delivered the Railway Systems for the Manufacture, Supply and Install Contract of the Doha Metro project.

Kinki Sharyo (KS), is responsible for delivery of the Rolling Stock portion of the Project scope of supply.

In August 2015 E-Consult was appointed Independent Software Assessor for Doha Metro rolling stock by KS. The rolling stock subsystem software within the scope of Independent Assessment is Air Conditioning, Auxiliary Power Supply, Brake Control, Door Control, Obstacle & Derailment Detection, Traction Power Supply and Train Control & Monitoring.

Subsequently E-Consult was appointed Independent Software Assessor for Doha Metro Infrastructure Systems by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in particular for the Tunnel Ventilation System which is installed in all underground locations of the railway (i.e. tunnels, equipment rooms and stations).

Assessments of rolling stock and tunnel ventilation software were progressively conducted up to and including May 2019) when the first section (Red Line) of Doha metro was opened to Passenger Service, following E-Consult’s declaration in Software Assessment Reports that “the software is of the defined software safety integrity and is fit for its intended purpose, according to EN50128-201, as specified in the Doha Metro contract “.

Assessment of the rolling stock design, RAM, Safety Assurance and Safety Case development through Concept, Design Stage 1, Design Stage 2 and As Built design were certified by E-Consult DVE team, confirming compliance with the Employers Requirements and International codes and standards. All requirements were verified using the Qatar Rail web-based requirements management package, providing traceability through to the project validation stage.

In May 2019 E-Consult’s Lead Design Verification Engineer declared that the rolling stock contractor’s documents for all work on Section 1 of the Doha Metro Contract met the Employers Requirements and complied with the relevant codes and standards.

Throughout 2019, further sections of the new railway were completed and commenced passenger operation, culminating in the opening of Green Line and interchanges with Red, Blue and Gold Lines in January 2020.

In March 2020, passenger services were suspended due to Covid-19 travel restriction but the driverless trains continue to operate as of June 2020.

E-Consult Software Assessment and DVE teams continue to support Doha Metro Project Rolling stock and tunnel ventilation contractors, involved in updates during the first full year of operation.

For up-to-date information on the status of Doha Metro, please follow the links below:

https://corp.qr.com.qa/English/Projects/Pages/DohaMetro.aspx