Ministry of Transport - GCC Railway Network - Passenger and Freight Rail (Overview)

The Qatar Rail Development Program (QRDP) envisages development of a long distance passenger and freight rail network to connect major centres of population and industries in Qatar and to form part in planned Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) railway network linking the six countries in GCC (namely, State of Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kingdom of Bahrain and Sultanate of Oman). The QRDP long distance rail network also coincides with the national transportation objectives and requirements enunciated in the Qatar National Development Framework (QNDF) and National Vision 2030 planning framework.


Long distance passenger rail lines not only offer a quick and safe mode of public transport to communities and their citizens because of their segregated right-of-way; these also help in reducing Carbon and other Greenhouse Gas emissions. A single rail journey replaces several hundreds of private car trips, and uses efficient technology such as electricity. This produces less pollution and reduces fuel dependency. Within Qatar, most of the alignment shares right-of-way with highways reducing land acquisition requirements. Several alignment sections are mixed with freight traffic, which ensure maximum and efficient rail infrastructure utilization.

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