Qatar Rail has announced a temporary closure of Doha Metro services on Fridays and during the Eid al-Adha holidays due to a system upgrade across the network.
In a statement Saturday, Qatar Rail said Doha Metro services will be suspended on Fridays between July 9 and August 13, and during the Eid holidays between July 21 and 24.
The closure comes due to an "essential system upgrade across the network", the statement noted. The upgrade will allow Doha Metro to increase the network capacity, allowing more trains to operate and providing more frequent services to customers in the future.
"In order to minimise the inconvenience to our customers, we have chosen dates that historically carry the fewest passengers," Qatar Rail added.
Doha Metro had resumed operations on Fridays and Saturdays, at 30% of the capacity, during Phase 1 of the gradual lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in May. Before that, weekend operations had remained suspended for a while due to the restrictions put in place by the authorities.
Entry to the Metro facilities is only allowed to those with the green status on the Ehteraz app and who wear face masks, while smoking areas are closed and eating and drinking are prohibited.
Also, Qatar Rail recently announced the resumption of services on some metrolink feeder bus routes: Al Wakra (M132), Oqba Ibn Nafie (M123), Umm Ghuwailina (M139) and Al Doha Al Jadeda (M114), while the on-demand, ride-sharing metroexpress feeder service now connects passengers to Fox Hills South in Lusail.
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