Delivering rail success for the 2022 FIFA World Cup

The Metro was the preferred transport mode for 1 million visitors. Given this, management of network capacity was essential to a safe customer journey.

Objective: To provide a safe, reliable and customer-centric service for all fans during the World Cup.

The Qatar FIFA World Cup provided fans with the unique opportunity to watch up to four games live at different stadiums in one day. The Doha Metro has been internationally recognised as a “star” of the event, connecting 5 stadiums directly and through shuttle buses to the other 3.

This required extensive and integrated external crowd management plans, done in tandem with stakeholders, in order to optimise customer flow into the network, as well as to ensure a seamless customer journey to and from stadiums, fan festivals, fan zones, and accommodation.

Counting mats placed at all AFC gates, which enhanced the inbuilt passenger counting system, enabling “live” ridership updates.

A specialised team organised & managed the external queuing systems, supported by an app to track passenger count, that allowed for predictive & continuous flow in and around the network.

100% fleet availability achieved by performing risk assessments on all maintenance activities, then scheduling work either before/after events.

4000 additional staff were recruited and trained in customer service and way-finding.

Launch of translation apps for staff facilitated communication with fans.

Internationally recognised Command and Control Structure was active 24/7, and integrated with key stakeholders.

The successful delivery of the World Cup not only provided Qatar with the global recognition of hosting “the best World Cup ever”, it also gave us a record-breaking daily ridership total of 827,135 on the Metro & 33,000 on the tram.

All in all, the network experienced 5x its normal patronage and the robust plans in place helped deliver 18.2 million passenger journeys. As the first carbon neutral World Cup, the Doha Metro & Lusail Tram reduced car journeys by 119,000 a day, resulting in a reduction of 8,500 tonnes CO2 emissions over the length of the tournament.

The Metro received very positive exposure from fans, which drove both a local and global interest in the network. This has resulted in a steady increase of patronage following the tournament.