The Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) announced the readiness of Doha Metro for the upcoming FIFA Arab Cup™ 2021 football tournament.
Doha Metro service hours will be extended from 30 November to 18 December, from 6 am until 3 am, Saturday to Thursday, and from 9 am to 3 am on Fridays.
To meet the additional demand for the service, six car trains will be operating on the Red Line for the first time. The Doha Metro train fleet, which includes 110 trains, will also be fully operational. The Doha Metro will provide football fans with a seamless transportation experience that will take them to the stadiums with ease, away from traffic congestion, which usually constitutes a significant obstacle in large public events.
Metro Stations are expected to witness a large turnout of the public, especially in stations located near the stadiums where the tournament will be held. There are three stadiums conveniently located at walking distance from Metro Stations: Stadium 974 through Ras Bu Abboud Station; Education City Stadium through the Education City Station; and Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium through the Riffa Station.
The tournament’s organising committee will provide shuttle services to transport fans from stations to stadiums that are not directly connected to the metro network. Fans can also use the Doha Metro when going to Al Bayt Stadium (through the Lusail QNB station), Al Thumama Stadium (through the Free City station), and the Al Janoub Stadium (through the Al Wakra station). Fans will be able to avail themselves of Doha Metro services using their Hay’ya card (Fan ID) to travel throughout the tournament in Standard class between 29 November and 19 December.
Metro Travel Guide
Qatar Rail has also recently released a Metro Travel Guide to the stadiums, which is a digital guide that provides information on how to reach the stadiums by metro. The guide is done based on the dates of the matches according to the schedule. The guide can be obtained by scanning the QR code in Metro stations and on the digital screens inside the stations.
Qatar Rail aims to provide a seamless travel experience with First Mile and Last Mile transport solutions such as Metro Link and Metro Express, which facilitate the public’s access to metro stations. This is in addition to providing Park and Ride facilities around metro stations, which allow the public to park their cars and continue their journeys on the metro at stations where these services are available.
The final match of the Arab Cup coincides with Qatar National Day and this was considered when developing operational plans to ensure the ease of movement of fans and transportation during that day, which is expected to witness a wide demand for metro services.
The Arab Cup represents a very important opportunity to measure the operational readiness of the network in light of the presence of large numbers of fans who will look forward to going to the matches and to key destinations in Doha where they can have an enjoyable experience.
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