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| People staying in Al Khor, Rayyan, Al Wakrah and Industrial Area say they find it difficult to travel to their destinations after 9pm as there are no bus services in the evening |
Bus passengers, particularly those residing outside the Doha city limits, have sought the resumption of services operated late in the evenings from the main bus station, which Mowasalat did away with at the beginning of last year.
Speaking to this newspaper, passengers pointed out that the late evening services, especially those operated by Mowasalat to such locations as Abu Hamour, Industrial Area and Rayyan used to provide a lot of convenience to those coming to the city in the evenings. “The closure of those services has resulted in passengers finding it difficult to travel to locations lying in the outskirts of the city, particularly after 9pm,” said a passenger residing in Al Wakrah.
The passenger said Mowasalat withdrew the late services even though most retail outlets and other similar establishments in the city and even outside are open until 10pm. “In fact, the outskirts like New Yanna and Muaither are more active in the evenings as more people are coming out for shopping and similar
purposes,” he added.
While making an appeal to Mowasalat authorities to consider operating buses at least until 11pm, passengers have sought resumption of bus services to such routes as Al Khor, Rayyan, Al Wakrah and Industrial Area.
Inquiries at the bus station found no bus is operated from the station to most routes after 9:30pm. Perhaps the only exception were those services going to certain areas of the Industrial Area, to which buses are available until 10pm.
Earlier buses were operated until 11:30 pm, including to far-flung areas as Madinat al-Shamal.
The passengers have also made an appeal to the Mowasalat to consider introducing more circular buses in the late hours so that more travel access could be given to passengers residing in the city limits and its immediate neighbourhood.
Bus travellers have also suggested operating more buses in the weekend afternoons from different city locations to Al Wakrah’s Barwa Village considering the gaining prominence of the place as a commercial area.
When contacted, a Mowasalat official said a few services are operated late in the evenings.
