The total number of passengers who used the Doha Metro during the FIFA Arab Cup 2021, hosted by Qatar from November 30 to December 18, exceeded 2.5mn with an average of 130,000 passengers daily, The Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) announced yesterday (December 19).
Doha Metro provided a world-class transportation experience for Arab Cup fans as Qatar Rail implemented unprecedented operational plans during the tournament, which is considered a trial version of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
According to Qatar Rail, the Doha Metro operated 50,000 trips during the tournament, totalling 885,000km. The average time between trains was 2.5 minutes in one line in one direction.
Around 250,000 passengers used the metro during the Qatar National Day, which also witnessed the holding of the finals and runner-up matches for the FIFA Arab Cup 2021.
Qatar Rail noted that one of the most important achievements in the preparations for the recently held tournament was the uploading and testing of 210,000 Haya cards (Fan ID) in three weeks. With all stakeholders’ effort, tournament fans enjoyed unlimited travel on Doha Metro during the tournament.
In a statement, engineer Abdulla Saif al-Sulaiti, chief of Service Delivery at Qatar Rail, said: “We are proud to participate in the organisational success system of the Arab Cup and its appearance in such an honourable way. We are proud that we succeeded in gaining the confidence of 2.5mn passengers throughout the tournament. This clearly reflects the growing confidence of residents and visitors in the Doha Metro, and confirms our operational readiness to receive and serve the guests of the World Cup Qatar 2022”.
He added: “Qatar Rail has dedicated its efforts before and during the tournament in order to address all operational challenges and successfully led a very efficient crowd management plans to ensure the safety of all fans on the metro network. We also worked on pushing out customer information on a regular basis to help the fans to plan their journeys. Thanks to these measures, fans were able to travel to stadiums via the metro network with ease”.
The number of staff working around the clock in the metro network and stations reached more than 2,500, including customer service staff and stations staff responsible for running the daily operations at the stations and helping the fans.
In addition, 283 directional signages with stadium names were placed inside the stations in coordination with the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) to provide the fans with guidance.
Qatar Rail said it released a digital guide to provide information about the lines and station that is connected to the tournament stadiums. In parallel, it implemented precautionary and operational measures in cooperation with the Ministries of Public Health and Transport. This is in line with its plans that put the safety of users at the top of its priorities, where no incidents were recorded during the tournament, which is considered a key achievement for the Doha Metro.
Ajlan Eid al-Enazi, chief of Strategy and Business Development at Qatar Rail, said: “There is no doubt that this impressive organisational and operational success during the tournament is a result of joint efforts with our partners especially the tournament’s organising committee, SC, and other stakeholders. All these efforts played an instrumental role in delivering a successful tournament. This kind of sports tournament represented an important opportunity for us to test the operational readiness and preparations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
“The Arab Cup was also an exceptional opportunity to build the expertise of national talents and the know-how of Qatari competencies at the company, which contributed to giving them experience in crowd management and operational during major events.
“The tournament also emphasised the importance of the pivotal role that Doha Metro is now playing in enhancing the integrated public transport system by providing an effective alternative for transportation, facilitating the movement of individuals and dealing with crowds, in addition to providing multiple transportation options such as buses and vehicles within the first and last-mile strategy”.
Throughout the tournament, Qatar Rail implemented a thorough crowd management plan, which ensured that the flow of passenger traffic at each station was managed effectively, starting from the train platform until they leave the station.
As part of its unprecedented preparations, Doha Metro extended its operational hours, as it was 21 hours a day throughout the week, except for Friday, when the working hours were 18 hours.
During the 2022 World Cup and beyond, Doha Metro is expected to provide an easy and safe way to transport visitors of Qatar across the country, as well as being a convenient mode of transport for five of the eight stadiums that will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup matches.
According to Qatar Rail, the Doha Metro operated 50,000 trips during the tournament, totalling 885,000km. The average time between trains was 2.5 minutes in one line in one direction.
Around 250,000 passengers used the metro during the Qatar National Day, which also witnessed the holding of the finals and runner-up matches for the FIFA Arab Cup 2021.
Qatar Rail noted that one of the most important achievements in the preparations for the recently held tournament was the uploading and testing of 210,000 Haya cards (Fan ID) in three weeks. With all stakeholders’ effort, tournament fans enjoyed unlimited travel on Doha Metro during the tournament.
In a statement, engineer Abdulla Saif al-Sulaiti, chief of Service Delivery at Qatar Rail, said: “We are proud to participate in the organisational success system of the Arab Cup and its appearance in such an honourable way. We are proud that we succeeded in gaining the confidence of 2.5mn passengers throughout the tournament. This clearly reflects the growing confidence of residents and visitors in the Doha Metro, and confirms our operational readiness to receive and serve the guests of the World Cup Qatar 2022”.
He added: “Qatar Rail has dedicated its efforts before and during the tournament in order to address all operational challenges and successfully led a very efficient crowd management plans to ensure the safety of all fans on the metro network. We also worked on pushing out customer information on a regular basis to help the fans to plan their journeys. Thanks to these measures, fans were able to travel to stadiums via the metro network with ease”.
The number of staff working around the clock in the metro network and stations reached more than 2,500, including customer service staff and stations staff responsible for running the daily operations at the stations and helping the fans.
In addition, 283 directional signages with stadium names were placed inside the stations in coordination with the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) to provide the fans with guidance.
Qatar Rail said it released a digital guide to provide information about the lines and station that is connected to the tournament stadiums. In parallel, it implemented precautionary and operational measures in cooperation with the Ministries of Public Health and Transport. This is in line with its plans that put the safety of users at the top of its priorities, where no incidents were recorded during the tournament, which is considered a key achievement for the Doha Metro.
Ajlan Eid al-Enazi, chief of Strategy and Business Development at Qatar Rail, said: “There is no doubt that this impressive organisational and operational success during the tournament is a result of joint efforts with our partners especially the tournament’s organising committee, SC, and other stakeholders. All these efforts played an instrumental role in delivering a successful tournament. This kind of sports tournament represented an important opportunity for us to test the operational readiness and preparations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
“The Arab Cup was also an exceptional opportunity to build the expertise of national talents and the know-how of Qatari competencies at the company, which contributed to giving them experience in crowd management and operational during major events.
“The tournament also emphasised the importance of the pivotal role that Doha Metro is now playing in enhancing the integrated public transport system by providing an effective alternative for transportation, facilitating the movement of individuals and dealing with crowds, in addition to providing multiple transportation options such as buses and vehicles within the first and last-mile strategy”.
Throughout the tournament, Qatar Rail implemented a thorough crowd management plan, which ensured that the flow of passenger traffic at each station was managed effectively, starting from the train platform until they leave the station.
As part of its unprecedented preparations, Doha Metro extended its operational hours, as it was 21 hours a day throughout the week, except for Friday, when the working hours were 18 hours.
During the 2022 World Cup and beyond, Doha Metro is expected to provide an easy and safe way to transport visitors of Qatar across the country, as well as being a convenient mode of transport for five of the eight stadiums that will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup matches.
