Managing Director and CEO of Qatar Rail, H E Dr. Abdulla bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie (center) and Chief of Service Delivery at Qatar Rail, Eng. Abdulla Saif Al Sulaiti (left) with other officials during a ceremony at Al Rayyan Park to celebrate the success of Doha Metro & Lusail Tram’s operational plan for the tournament.
In this context, Qatar Rail and its partners and stakeholders developed an ecosystem of integrated skillsets, systems, plans, and procedures to strategically implement an effective crowd management system that optimizes passenger flow and provides rapid response when needed.
To this end, Chief of Program Delivery at Qatar Rail, Eng. Jassim Al Ansari, commented: “Every decision by the team at the ICC was made to improve our passengers’ experience after having a full overview of the network. This enabled us to react in a timely manner, for instance by bringing trains on hot standby into service in the busy times and therefore, minimise the impact on the passengers’ journey.”
“Meanwhile, our maintenance team ensured a rapid response time by allocating resources in strategic locations across the network and scheduling maintenance activities intelligently. This allowed us to achieve 100% fleet availability during the tournament despite the limited engineering hours available,” Al Ansari further said.
Accordingly, Qatar Rail mobilized more than 5,000 additional staff to support its operational plans for the World Cup and manage crowds at the stations in collaboration with RKH Qitarat, the operator of Doha Metro & Lusail Tram. Qatar Rail also coordinated with the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy to install over 560 wayfinding signages across stations in order to make it easy and convenient for fans to access stadiums and other destinations in Qatar.
Qatar Rail’s crowd management plans and ongoing efforts included the enhancement of Doha Metro’s operational capacity, with the network’s entire fleet of 110 trains serving the World Cup, operating at headwyas as low as 165 seconds across all three metro lines.
In parallel, advanced systems played a key role in providing real-time information on passenger flow at stations, which enhanced the ability to deal with various scenarios related to crowd management safely and effectively.
Station capacities were also increased with 20 additional ticket machines and 35 additional passenger gates installed at strategic locations across the network to accommodate the growing demand for Doha Metro’s services throughout the event. in addition, Qatar Rail has raised it security readiness to ensure providing safe travel experience to the fans specially with having large number of crowds at the network during the tournament.
“Our multi-faceted plan provided the World Cup fans with a safe and secure experience onboard our networks. This extended beyond the stations and included critical systems infrastructure protection and was augmented by the Railway Conditions of Carriage and User Regulations for passengers, which achieved an exceptional level of compliance throughout the tournament. We’ve also achieved the highest standards of environmental sustainability during this period. Moreover, and despite the record patronage, no major incidents were reported, thanks to our security preparedness for the event,” Abdulrahman Ali Al Malik, Senior QSHESE Director at Qatar Rail explained.
Complementing their in-station experience, customers also enjoyed access to 5G Wi-Fi services at all stations, as well as a unique shopping experience through more than 250 retail shops that offer a multitude of products and services across the Doha Metro and Lusail Tram networks.
Qatar Rail’s commitment to constantly enhancing its customers’ experience also translated into another feat, as 97% of incoming calls answered by the customer service center within 15 seconds of receiving them, which complemented the comprehensive customer communication plan put in place in coordination with partners and stakeholders.
In this connection, the metro amassed the attention of international journalists and fans alike, who praised the metro network, its cleanliness, modernity, and safety during the tournament. Fans’ comments also highlighted the trains’ interior design and comfort as well as the stations’ distinctive architecture and spaciousness, which helped accommodate the influx of visitors and maintain a steady flow of passengers across the network.
By the same token, Qatar Rail’s worldwide media coverage featured a large number of articles published in international newspapers underpinning Doha Metro’s central role in the success of the World Cup and how it became a melting pot for cultural exchange among fans from all countries and walks of life.
The Metro was also a huge hit on social media platforms, where many videos and fan experiences went viral the world over.
Qatar Rail’s journey with the World Cup culminated with a special ceremony at Al Rayyan Park to celebrate the success of Doha Metro & Lusail Tram’s operational plan for the tournament.
The event was held in the presence of H E Dr. Al Subaie, who attended alongside the senior and executive management officials of Qatar Rail and RKH Qitarat. Qatar Rail and RKH Qitarat’s staff were honored during the event, in recognition of their exceptional efforts and valuable contributions to the success of this international mega-event.
