Transport in Qatar - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Public Transport

In 2002, the Qatari government launched Mowasalat, a company 100% owned by the Royal family, managed and operated by the state authorities 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. Previously, 3,000 privately-owned orange taxi

Taxicab

A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

s used to rule the streets of Qatar but the government took them off the roads as they saw them as a threat to the new Mowasalat taxis. There has been much controversy over this move, as it is now very hard to find a taxi in Doha

Doha

Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...

.

Most of the drivers of Mowasalat—many hired from the Indian subcontinent—were said to be trained on roads, street names & key destinations, but the results of this are debatable, as the quality of service is disparaged amongst the citizens of Doha. There are complaints of drivers not having even a basic knowledge of either Arabic or English languages. However they are seen to be more hygienic than the drivers of the orange-white taxis, which were found around Doha until early 2000s.

Public bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

es now service over 35 routes covering most locations of Doha with very minimal fares making public transport in Qatar a thrifty solution to the problems of rush hours and parking difficulties.

Presently, Mowasalat, under the brand-name 'Karwa', now operates more than 3,000 new and well-maintained taxi sedans including the recently acquired airport taxis with spacious cabins using the 2007 Ford Freestars, and more than 120 public buses, school buses and private-hire coaches. In 2009, the Mowasalat created a world record for the largest parade of buses numbering 300 in all. In addition, its Doha Limousine Service 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.

However, those who are with no own transportation still face difficulties to move around since the number of taxis are much less compared to the actual need of the increased population. All the line buses operate only through the assigned specific lines based to the Central Bus Stations at Al-Ghanem area of the old city.

Railways

There are currently no railways in Qatar.

In August 2008 Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment

Qatar Investment Authority

The Qatar Investment Authority is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, specializing in domestic and foreign investment. It was founded in 2005 to manage the oil and natural gas surpluses by the Government of Qatar...

appointed Deutsche Bahn

Deutsche Bahn

Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...

of Germany to plan a railway network in Qatar.
On 22 November 2009 Deutsche Bahn and Qatari signed a contract to build high-speed railway lines and underground transport networks in Qatar and Bahrain. The contract creates a new company called Qatar Railways Development Company (QRDC).

The planned metro lines within Greater Doha are for 354 kilometres (220 mi), and the planned national railway is for a total distance of 345 kilometres (214.4 mi). Construction of the metro, which was originally planned to start in the first quarter of 2010, is planned to begin in 2011 and be completed in 2022.

Standards

Gauge:
Brakes: Air
Couplings (freight): TBA
Electrification: 25kV AC

Highways

total:
1,230 km

paved:
1,107 km

unpaved:
123 km (1996 est.)

Merchant marine

total:
24 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totalling 721,756 GRT/

ships by type:
cargo 10, combination ore/oil 2, container 7, petroleum tanker 5 (1999 est.)

Airports

4 (2006 est.)
Doha International Airport

Doha International Airport

Doha International Airport is the only commercial airport in Qatar. It has three mosques, free Wi-Fi, a duty-free area, a few eateries and 42 parking bays for aircraft. There are also 60 check-in gates, 8 baggage claim belts and over 1,000 car parking spaces.The airport suffers from...

has recently undergone development costing over $1 billion US. The development was commenced in mid-2005, and the New Doha International Airport

New Doha International Airport

New Doha International Airport is an international airport currently under construction in Doha, capital of Qatar. NDIA was slated to replace the old Doha International Airport as Qatar's only international airport in 2009. Current estimates have a completion date of 2011/2012...

is set to be one of the largest in the world. With the first phase [terminal 1] set to be completed some time in 2012.

Airports - with unpaved runways

total:
2

914 to 1,523 m:
1

under 914 m:
1 (1999 est.)