Transport in Qatar

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Contents 1 Public Transport 2 Railways 2.1 Railway links with adjacent countries 3 Highways 4 Pipelines 5 Ports and harbours 5.1 Persian Gulf 6 Merchant marine 7 Airports 7.1 Airports - with paved runways 7.2 Airports - with unpaved runways 7.3 Heliports 8 See also

[edit] Public Transport

In 2002 the Qatari government launched Mowasalat, 100% owned, managed and operated by the government to ensure the smooth provision of "Integrated Ground Transport Services" for the entire country with a growing population of more than 1,400,000 people. 3,000 privately-owned orange taxi's used to rule streets of Qatar, but the government took them off the roads as they saw them as a threat to the new Mowasalat taxis, which are owned by the Royal family. There has been much controversy over this move, as now it is very hard to find a taxi in Doha.

Most of the drivers of Mowasalat, most hired from the Indian subcontinent, were said to be trained on roads, street names & destinations, but the results of this are debatable, as the quality of service is joke amongst citizens of Doha. Tehre are complaints of drivers not knowing even the basic knowledge of either Arabic or English languages, not knowing any of the main roads in Doha, and even basic hygiene.

Public buses now ply to over 35 routes covering most locations of Doha with very minimal fare making public transport in Qatar a thrifty solution against rush hours and parking difficulties.

Presently, Mowasalat, under the brand Karwa now operates about more than 3,000 new and well-maintained taxi sedans including the airport taxi's recently acquired spacious cabins using the 2007 Ford Freestars, and about more than 120 public buses and school bus and coaches. Added is its Doha Limousine Service which has 100 standard (unbranded, no Karwa logo) limousines and 200 (Jaguar XJ) VIP units that are mostly placed at the Doha International Airport and at major hotels.

[edit] Railways

0 km

[edit] Railway links with adjacent countries

• Saudi Arabia - no

[edit] Highways

total: 1,230 km
paved: 1,107 km
unpaved: 123 km (1996 est.)

[edit] Pipelines

crude oil 235 km; natural gas 400 km

[edit] Ports and harbours

[edit] Persian Gulf

• Doha
• Halul Island
• Umm Sa'id

[edit] Merchant marine

total: 24 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totalling 721,756 GRT/1,132,510 metric tons of deadweight (DWT)
ships by type: cargo 10, combination ore/oil 2, container 7, petroleum tanker 5 (1999 est.)

[edit] Airports

4 (2006 est.) Doha International Airport has recently undergone development costing over $1 billion US. The development was completed in mid-2005, and the new Doha Airport is set to be one of the largest in the world. With the first phase [terminal 1] set to be completed some time in 2008.

[edit] Airports - with paved runways

total: 2
over 3,047 m: 2 (1999 est.)

[edit] Airports - with unpaved runways

total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (1999 est.)

[edit] Heliports

1 (1999 est.)

[edit] See also

• Qatar

This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.