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Bombardier may build train plant in Qatar Canadian firm is bidding for the emirate's light rail project and also eyeing the Doha Metro system planned for the 2022 World Cup
Canadian train maker Bombardier , a unit of the world's third-largest civil aircraft maker, is set to build a plant in Qatar if it wins a billion-dollar rail contract it is bidding for, a company executive said. The company is bidding for the US$1.8 billion Lusail Light Rail Project, a planned rail system linking parts of Qatar's yet-to-be-built Lusail City, director of marketing and business development Mickey Raviv said, declining to disclose the value of Bombardier's proposal. "If we do win the project, we will build an assembly plant here for the vehicles. The government here can offer many incentives to manufacturers able to set up here, such as free land, taxation. These incentives are quite attractive," Raviv said. Raviv said the plant would take about six to eight months to assemble, and would be done during the project's design process so as to not delay delivery. He said the company was also considering bidding for the $41 billion Doha Metro project, a planned four-line rail system linking stadia for the 2022 World Cup and expected to go to tender in the first quarter of next year. The firm is also awaiting a decision about whether it can submit another tender for the $1.4 billion West Bay Automatic People Mover, which was canceled last week but kept the door open for another bidding opportunity. "We assume they are just cancelling the technology they chose three years ago, which is an underground people mover. They might retender it in a different way," he said. Raviv said he expects a decision on the Lusail Light Rail project by the end of this year, but that there are indications it may be delayed until early 2012. "Qatar is a prominent market, but there is no experience yet in terms of rail projects. It's not rare that you'd see delays. It happens also in big countries with lots of experience." The tiny Gulf Arab state, which last December won the rights to host the 2022 soccer tournament, has allocated 40 percent of its budget between now and 2016 to infrastructure projects, including $45 billion on rail projects. It will also spend $11 billion on a new international airport, $5.5 billion on a deep-water seaport and $1 billion for a transport corridor in the capital, Doha.
