It’s fast. It’s driverless. It has a Gold Class for premium passengers. And it’s one of the most advanced metro train systems ever built.
This is the Doha Metro, a gleaming transportation system that will carry fans to their destination in next year’s soccer World Cup and, it’s hoped, will go on to revolutionize transport in Qatar.
Constructed mostly underground and across the Qatari capital and its suburbs, the network has been operational since 2019, providing a reliable transportation alternative in a rapidly expanding city where residents have long relied on cars and traffic is frequently gridlocked.
Phase one of the project saw the creation of 37 stations, with three lines — Red, Green and Gold — running along a 76-kilometer (47-mile) network. The fully automated, 60-meter-long trains have a 416-passenger capacity and are divided into three sections: Standard, Family (for lone females and males or females commuting with children aged 11 or younger) and Gold (Goldclub Travel Card holders) class.
Clean and spacious, the trains can cruise at up to 100 kilometers per hour (60 mph) and are fully equipped with CCTV and public Wi-Fi systems. They even have USB ports so that Gold class travelers can charge mobile phones and tablets while in transit.