Doha Metro: A Network Sized for the World Cup
This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.
19 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.
How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page
Forecast at 640,000 riders a day, Doha's metro came close only during the 2022 World Cup — when, by Qatar Rail's own count, it ran at about five times a usual day.
what does this mean?
The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,181 documented projects · 🏙️ 5 more in Doha · 🚌 Public transport guide · 🚲 Mobility projects
Doha Metro began carrying passengers on 8 May 2019 on the southern Red Line between Al Qassar and Al Wakra, and the network was completed on 10 December 2019: three lines — Red, Gold and Green — over 76 km and 37 stations, interchanging at Msheireb. The 40 km Red Line runs past Katara, the Souq, the Corniche and Hamad International Airport. Trade press describing the completed network reported Grade of Operation level 4, unattended train operation, with trains starting and stopping automatically and doors working without any on-train staff; Thales supplied the CBTC signalling, the operations control centre and the automatic fare collection system. Qatar Rail owns the system and RKH Qitarat, a joint venture of Hamad Group (51%) with RATP Dev and Keolis (49%), runs it under a 20-year contract that also covers the Lusail tram. Passengers pay with reusable contactless Travel Cards that can be registered in the Qatar Rail app to see journey and transaction history.
📊 Impact
When Qatar Rail awarded the operating contract in 2017, traffic was expected to reach 640,000 passengers a day from 2021. Daily ridership came close to that only during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, when the metro averaged 600,000 passengers a day — by Qatar Rail's own account about five times its usual average — and set a one-day record of more than 827,000 on 24 November 2022. Counting every journey, the metro passed 100 million passengers in January 2023 and 200 million by December 2024. It was still carrying event crowds in December 2025, with 4,712,758 metro passengers during the FIFA Arab Cup and Intercontinental Cup. Qatar Rail reports 99.85% service reliability and 99.64% punctuality from May 2019 to November 2024; these are the operator's own figures.
🎓 Lesson
Capacity bought for a tournament is a different question from everyday demand. Doha's metro carried 51% of World Cup fans to the stadiums, yet Qatar Rail's own account puts that tournament's daily average at about five times a usual day, and the 2017 forecast of 640,000 passengers a day sat close to the World Cup average rather than the normal one.
Sources
Show 5 more sourcesShow fewer
📅 How old is the evidence?
Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2019. 10 of 10 sources carry a publication date, from 7 December 2017 to 20 December 2025.
When the sources were published
- Railway Gazette International · pressRailway Gazette, operating contract awarded (7 Dec 2017) (media)
- Gulf Times · pressGulf Times, Doha Metro begins service (7 May 2019) (media)
- Railway Gazette International · pressRailway Gazette / Metro Report, Red Line passenger service begins (8 May 2019) (media)
- Keolis · operatorKeolis, network complete (11 Dec 2019) (operator)
- Railway-News · pressRailway-News, Doha's metro network now complete (13 Dec 2019) (media)
- Qatar Tribune · pressQatar Tribune, Doha Metro back on track after pandemic suspension (1 Sep 2020) (media)
- Qatar Tribune · pressQatar Tribune, Qatar Rail World Cup ridership statement (22 Dec 2022) (media)
- Qatar News Agency · pressQatar News Agency, Doha Metro records 100 million in ridership (18 Jan 2023) (media)
Show 2 more dated sourcesShow fewer
- The Peninsula · pressThe Peninsula, Doha Metro records 200 million ridership (8 Dec 2024) (media)
- Gulf Times · pressGulf Times / QNA, metro and tram ridership during the FIFA Arab Cup 2025 (20 Dec 2025) (media)
Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 19 claims with their sources · the forensic record
Evidence Passport · public beta 19 addressable claims, 10 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The passport is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.
Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 19
The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.
clm-9dbc52855db6eae1
quantitative
began carrying passengers on 8 May 2019 on the southern Red Line between Al Qassar and Al Wakra
Sources carrying this claim
clm-17911f3cd603e474
quantitative
the network was completed on 10 December 2019: three lines — Red, Gold and Green — over 76 km and 37 stations
Sources carrying this claim
clm-e9418cba3471cf91
descriptive
interchanging at Msheireb
Sources carrying this claim
clm-8104b215132f7c46
quantitative
The 40 km Red Line runs past Katara, the Souq, the Corniche and Hamad International Airport
Sources carrying this claim
clm-151abf925c4ab6be
quantitative
Grade of Operation level 4, unattended train operation, with trains starting and stopping automatically and doors working without any on-train staff
Sources carrying this claim
clm-b24e16e1f18a4cb7
descriptive
Thales supplied the CBTC signalling, the operations control centre and the automatic fare collection system
Sources carrying this claim
clm-f3b84bd3045121ac
quantitative
RKH Qitarat, a joint venture of Hamad Group (51%) with RATP Dev and Keolis (49%), runs it under a 20-year contract that also covers the Lusail tram
Sources carrying this claim
clm-303a0cd9d1cf88ba
descriptive
reusable contactless Travel Cards
Sources carrying this claim
clm-c831a76ca65c2971
descriptive
registered in the Qatar Rail app to see journey and transaction history
Sources carrying this claim
clm-99d2c9920df359d2
quantitative
traffic was expected to reach 640,000 passengers a day from 2021
Sources carrying this claim
clm-0b08210a696eeb04
quantitative
the metro averaged 600,000 passengers a day
Sources carrying this claim
clm-bf0d8bcc0b261467
descriptive
about five times its usual average
Sources carrying this claim
clm-311e3cf1e5e6db36
quantitative
set a one-day record of more than 827,000 on 24 November 2022
Sources carrying this claim
clm-1ecafe4963ef370d
quantitative
Counting every journey, the metro passed 100 million passengers in January 2023 and 200 million by December 2024
Sources carrying this claim
clm-f6db3c0aac6a4a4f
quantitative
4,712,758 metro passengers during the FIFA Arab Cup and Intercontinental Cup
Sources carrying this claim
clm-7ab2736986954572
quantitative
Qatar Rail reports 99.85% service reliability and 99.64% punctuality from May 2019 to November 2024
Sources carrying this claim
clm-258f588e105ea133
quantitative
carried 51% of World Cup fans to the stadiums
Sources carrying this claim
clm-2a47caa488113a02
descriptive
puts that tournament's daily average at about five times a usual day
Sources carrying this claim
clm-73d58080883e60b6
quantitative
the 2017 forecast of 640,000 passengers a day sat close to the World Cup average rather than the normal one
Sources carrying this claim
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders
This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.
Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.
sha256:2ca7c249dae603672279ac0179f0a6c9ed7cb00389503542d12c49bc0a79e9a0
- 19
- of 19 claims mapped
- 10
- source dossiers
- 10
- publication dates recorded
- 0
- archives linked
- 0
- exact locators
- 0
- content captures hashed
Governance facts carried by the record
- Operator
- RKH Qitarat (Hamad Group 51%, RATP Dev and Keolis 49%) for Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail)
- Actor types
- national-government, private
- Funding model
- public
- Funding description
- State-owned by Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail); operated under a 20-year operation and maintenance contract awarded in December 2017
- Cost
- Operation and maintenance contract (metro and Lusail tram) expected to be worth €3bn over 20 years
- Ownership
- Not recorded
- Decision rights
- Not recorded
- Exit conditions
- Not recorded
10 source dossiers
Railway-News, Doha's metro network now complete (13 Dec 2019) (media)
- Stable source ID
src-11542c786175f3b6- Publisher
- Name not classified · railway-news.com
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2019-12-13
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-04
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-04
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Trade press report of network completion on 10 December 2019 (76 km, 37 stations; Red Line first section 8 May, Gold Line 21 November) stating that the system features 'Grade of Operation level 4, which means unattended train operation (UTO)', with doors operating 'without any on-train staff'.
- Claims linked
Railway Gazette / Metro Report, Red Line passenger service begins (8 May 2019) (media)
- Stable source ID
src-66a7c9a7707c812a- Publisher
- Name not classified · railwaygazette.com
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2019-05-08
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-04
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-04
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Report of the soft launch on 8 May 2019 on the Red Line between Al Qassar and Al Wakra (13 stations), the interchange of all three lines at Msheireb, the operator joint venture split, the 110 three-car trainsets from Kinki Sharyo, and Thales's scope: CBTC, telecoms, security, an operations control centre and an automatic fare collection system.
Keolis, network complete (11 Dec 2019) (operator)
- Stable source ID
src-d42144565809c15e- Publisher
- Name not classified · keolis.co.uk
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2019-12-11
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-04
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-04
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Press release of Keolis, a partner in the operating joint venture: the green line and the second Red Line section opened, completing the driverless network; the 40 km Red Line covers Katara, the Souq, the Corniche and Hamad International Airport; the network uses CBTC with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries trains and Thales signalling.
- Claims linked
Railway Gazette, operating contract awarded (7 Dec 2017) (media)
- Stable source ID
src-93e681c845cfbe9c- Publisher
- Name not classified · railwaygazette.com
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2017-12-07
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-04
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-04
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Trade press report of the contract award: Qatar Rail awarded RKH Qitarat (RATP Dev and Keolis 49%, Hamad Group 51%) a 20-year contract to operate and maintain the Doha metro and the Lusail light rail, expected to be worth €3bn; the 75 km driverless metro would serve 37 stations on three lines, 'with traffic expected to reach 640 000 passengers/day from 2021'.
Gulf Times, Doha Metro begins service (7 May 2019) (media)
- Stable source ID
src-976ebfbedd777b7f- Publisher
- Name not classified · gulf-times.com
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2019-05-07
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-04
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-04
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Opening-eve report: three card types (Standard, Goldclub, Limited Use), launch fares of QR2 a journey, free Metrolink feeder buses, and the Qatar Rail app, in which registered travel cards show journey and transaction history.
- Claims linked
Qatar Tribune, Doha Metro back on track after pandemic suspension (1 Sep 2020) (media)
- Stable source ID
src-7913034cac92507e- Publisher
- Name not classified · qatar-tribune.com
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2020-09-01
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-04
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-04
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Qatar Rail announcement relayed on the metro's return after the pandemic suspension, with trains limited to around 30 percent capacity; reusable contactless Travel Cards, top-ups by debit or credit card through the website or Qatar Rail app, and single-use paper cards withdrawn.
- Claims linked
Qatar Tribune, Qatar Rail World Cup ridership statement (22 Dec 2022) (media)
- Stable source ID
src-4bbb3079e9f205cb- Publisher
- Name not classified · qatar-tribune.com
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2022-12-22
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-04
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-04
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Qatar Rail's World Cup figures: 17.4 million metro passengers between 20 November and 18 December 2022, an average of 600,000 a day.
- Claims linked
Qatar News Agency, Doha Metro records 100 million in ridership (18 Jan 2023) (media)
- Stable source ID
src-8f2185ea1406a3b8- Publisher
- Name not classified · qna.org.qa
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2023-01-18
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-04
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-04
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
State news agency report of Qatar Rail's 100-million milestone: the record day of more than 827,000 passengers on 24 November 2022, 51% of World Cup fans travelling to stadiums by metro, and a tournament daily average 'about 5 times the usual average'.
The Peninsula, Doha Metro records 200 million ridership (8 Dec 2024) (media)
- Stable source ID
src-5c7dd477aae031ee- Publisher
- Name not classified · thepeninsulaqatar.com
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2024-12-08
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-04
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-04
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Qatar Rail statement relayed: more than 200 million riders since May 2019; the first 100 million took about 3.5 years (to January 2023), the second just under two years; self-reported 99.85% service reliability, 99.64% punctuality and 99.75% customer satisfaction from May 2019 to November 2024.
- Claims linked
Gulf Times / QNA, metro and tram ridership during the FIFA Arab Cup 2025 (20 Dec 2025) (media)
- Stable source ID
src-1f132ff5888288ef- Publisher
- Name not classified · gulf-times.com
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2025-12-20
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-04
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-04
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Qatar Rail figures for 1-18 December 2025: 4,712,758 metro passengers during the FIFA Arab Cup and Intercontinental Cup, with Msheireb among the busiest stations.
- Claims linked
Known limits of this passport
- Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
- Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
- A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
- The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.
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📎 Cite this project
1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Doha Metro: A Network Sized for the World Cup” — Doha, Qatar. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/doha-metro-driverless/ (last verified 2026-10-04). Data: CC BY 4.0.
The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.
