The Doha Metro Red Line South will start its initial operation for the public from Wednesday, the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) has announced.
The line extends from Al Qassar to Al Wakra, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The initial operation includes 13 out of 18 Red Line stations: Al Qassar, DECC, QIC West Bay, Corniche, Al Bidda (Interchange station), Msheireb (Interchange station), Al Doha Al Jadeda, Umm Ghawailina, Al Matar Al Qadeem, Oqba Ibn Nafie, Free Zone, Ras Bu Fontas and Al Wakra.
The operational hours will be from 8am to 11pm, Sunday through Thursday.
Qatar Rail also made an announcement on its Twitter page last night, saying: "We are pleased to announce the soft opening of section 1 of Doha Metro Red Line this Wednesday. Stay tuned!"
The Metro system will be built in two phases: the first will see the construction of three out of the four lines (Red, Gold and Green) and 37 stations. These lines are expected to be open to the public by 2020, according to information available on the Qatar Rail website.
The future phases will involve the introduction of an additional line (Blue) and expansion of the existing ones, with more than 60 additional stations, and the first expansion will be completed by 2026, the website states.
The Red Line runs for about 40km from Al Wakra in the south to Lusail in the north, while the Green Line runs east from Al Riffa to Al Mansoura in the west. There will be 11 stations along this line. The east-west Gold (Historic) Line extends from Ras Bu Aboud to Al Aziziya. Eleven stations will run along the Gold Line.
The Metro will link stadiums where the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be played.
Qatar Rail has also signed agreements with companies such as Mowasalat and Careem Qatar to offer taxi fare promotions to Doha Metro passengers.
State-of-the-art trains will be used for the Doha Metro.
