During the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which ran from November 20 to December 18, 18.2 million people traveled on the Doha Metro and Lusail Tram networks, with 17.4 million and 0.8 million people traveling on the former and the latter, respectively, according to Qatar Rail.
This amounts to 600,000 Metro riders per day and 27,000 Tram riders per day.
More than 79,000 trips were made by Doha Metro trains, covering a distance of about 1.5 million kilometers, or two trips to and from the moon. During the competition, passengers traveled more than 200 million kilometers in total, which is 1.4 times the distance to the sun.
Throughout the tournament, metro and tram services witnessed a huge turnout, especially during the first thirteen days when the group stage saw four daily matches played across eight stadiums. With the tournament hitting the highest-ever attendance in FIFA’s history during group stages, Doha Metro & Lusail
Tram made an exceptional contribution to providing a safe and reliable travel experience to fans who attended up to four matches a day, in addition to carrying them to fan zones, event areas, and key destinations across the city. During this period, Doha Metro trains were amongst the busiest trains anywhere in the world.
Managing Director and CEO of Qatar Rail, H E Dr. Abdulla bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie, said: “This edition of the World Cup was undoubtedly an exceptional one, the successful hosting of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 represents a historical milestone for the state of Qatar and the successful delivery of this global event will shine a bright light, through which the world will see the State of Qatar.”
He added: “At Qatar Rail, we are indeed proud of the tournament’s success, which we attribute to the high level of preparedness and coordination among all key stakeholders. We highly prize the Ministry of Transport for its continuous support, the intensive preparations and the operational and strategic planning set into motion, and the expertise put forth by employees, which collectively played an instrumental role in our success and our ability to present an exemplary model for transport services during mega-events.”
Managing Director and CEO of Qatar Rail, H E Dr. Abdulla bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie addressing a ceremony at Al Rayyan Park to celebrate the success of Doha Metro & Lusail Tram’s operational plan for the tournament.
The network’s high demand during the World Cup also led to the breaking of several operational records. On November 24, 2022, the tournament’s 5th day marked a new record in daily metro ridership when 827,135 passengers were safely transported to and from stadiums and other destinations, exceeding the previous record patronage of 333,000 passengers who were transported on the Qatar National Day (QND) in 2019. The 2022 QND also saw an equally exceptional turnout, with a total of 810,000 passengers carried during the day.
Doha Metro’s busiest stations were Msheireb, Lusail QNB, and DECC, while Legtaifiya and Lusail Central were the busiest stops along Lusail Tram.
As for the network’s interchange stations, up to 400,00 passengers daily used Msheireb, which connects all three metro lines. Meanwhile, Al Bidda Station, where the Green and Red Lines intersect, received up to 150,000 passengers during the event.
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
Chief of Service Delivery at Qatar Rail, Eng. Abdulla Saif Al Sulaiti, said: “Throughout the tournament, Doha Metro provided the highest levels of operational performance, despite witnessing record attendance at stadiums and holding up to four matches per day. Our main objective during the World Cup revolved around delivering a safe and reliable travel experience, with a special focus on the implementation of our operational plans and crowd management systems towards boosting our capacity to accommodate this record patronage, especially during the group stage.”
Al Sulaiti added: “We also continued to focus on offering world-class customer service by providing travel information, facilitating passenger flow, and providing an integrated experience to fans and passengers.”
In addition to directly connecting fans to five of the tournament’s eight stadiums, Doha Metro proved to be a reliable mobility partner for fans and facilitated their access to activation areas, especially at the Corniche and its surrounding areas, including the FIFA Fan Festival at Al Bidda Park.
Due to the various events and activities’ popularity among fans, the seven metro stations in this area, namely Corniche, Al Bidda, West Bay Qatar Energy, DECC, Souq Waqif and Msheireb, welcomed up to 870,000 passengers per day starting or ending their journey, or transferring between lines. Lusail QNB Station was also popular among fans since it is located near the Darb Lusail Festival.
Thanks to the metro, fans and visitors were also able to easily access other event areas across the country such as the Arcadia Music Festival through Ras Bu Fontas station, the ARAVIA live music experience by MDLBEAST through Al Wakra station, the Fan Village Caravan City through Al Messila station, and Darb Al Saai festival through Al Rayyan Al Qadeem station.
Due to the compact nature of the tournament, and to cater for the high demand for its services during the tournament, Qatar Rail implemented special operational plans, where in coordination with key partners, the company’s preparations for the event translated into an integrated travel experience that contributed to making the Qatar edition of the World Cup among the safest and most secure yet.
