Head of Land Transport Policies and Regulations Section at the Ministry of Transport, Najla Al Jabir said during her speech at the World Cup Qatar 2022 Idea, Legacy and Sustainability symposium that the focus was on achieving harmony with hosting requirements, preparing the infrastructure and ensuring its readiness, which enabled the Ministry of Transportation to achieve its goals and upgrading the infrastructure.
She added that the arrival time between regions has changed significantly, and this goal served the hosting process greatly, and visitors to Qatar and the World Cup were able to attend four matches per day, as only 40 minutes separate one stadium from another.
Al Jabir noted that great care was taken to make the means of transportation available to the public, and to use them in a flexible and accessible manner.
She said that the partnership with the responsible authorities was a milestone, in addition to testing the transport system and operating the public transport system, which achieved a unique experience, as well as benefiting from the experiences of other countries by attending similar tournaments after sending a team to the World Cup in Russia in 2018.
She explained that the comprehensive transportation plan targeting the year 2050 has been launched, and the development of the transportation system and the increase in capacity achieved by the State of Qatar has achieved a kind of comfort and reduced traffic congestion, and studies have indicated that more than 50 percent of the World Cup visitors relied on commuting using the metro.
Al Jabir concluded that the Ministry of Transportation is looking forward to further development of the logistical system and the movement of heavy transport, diversifying means of transportation for all types of users, and ensuring continuity of the sequence and being integrated and comprehensive.
For his part, Vice President of Operations in the Passenger Terminal and Central Area at Hamad International Airport, Abdulla Ali, said that the preparations began about nine years before the start of the World Cup through many experiments with the latest operational means, in addition to the expansion of the airport and the complete renovation of Doha Airport in order to accommodate the large numbers of fans, as well as many trips during the tournament period.
In the same context, Director of Highway Projects Department at Ashghal, Eng. Badr Al Darwish confirmed that the past 10 years have been busy at all levels. He added that Ashghal constituted the main arm of the state in infrastructure operations during the World Cup hosting, and there were great challenges in terms of project implementation, high level of performance, as well as the massive urban renaissance.
He concluded that the best standards have been used to maintain transportation in all regions of the country.
At the end of the symposium, all the speakers and participants were honored by HE CEO of the Qatar Media Corporation Abdulaziz bin Thani bin Khalid Al Thani and HE Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Press Center (QPC) Saad bin Mohamad Al Rumaihi.
Source: Qatar News Agency