Much ado over 'lost' wallet as passengers fret in bus

Dubai: A packed bus was detained mid-journey for more than an hour on Tuesday evening after one of the passengers complained he had lost his wallet.

Passengers on a bus on Route No 10, on its way to Deira from the Trade Centre roundabout, were stranded from around 6.30pm-8pm as the driver decided to wait till the police arrived.

One of the vexed passengers called Gulf News and said her children were crying at home and the insensitivity of the people involved was causing unnecessary hardships to the passengers.

Gregory, another passenger, said the old man who claimed he had lost his purse called the police. "It seems the police instructed the driver to wait. To our utter dismay, they turned up only after an hour and 20 minutes," he said.

According to Gregory, the man had started complaining even before he got on the bus. "As soon as he boarded the bus from the Trade Centre roundabout, he complained someone had lifted his purse. There was no chance he could have lost his purse in the bus. [But] He called the police and by the time we reached near Maktoum Bridge, the driver was instructed to stop the bus," said Gregory, who works in Dubai Media City.

He said all passengers, particularly those who had boarded the bus from Al Quoz, were at their wits' end when the police finally arrived around 8pm. "The police did not even check the passengers. The man concerned was told to go to the police station and file a complaint. We were left wondering why we were made to wait for so long for no fault of ours," said Gregory.

Sharjah Route No 8

Sharjah Route No 8, the second bus route in Sharjah, is expected to be launched by the end of next week with a fleet of six buses, officials confirmed on Thursday.

"The second route will start operating within two to three days after the Sharjah Municipality gives its approval for installing the new bus stop signs," said Fahad Al Awadi, general manager of KGL Passenger Transport Service - the Kuwait-based company responsible for managing the fleet of buses for Sharjah Public Transport.

The new route will start from Ittihad terminal, next to Ittihad Park, and stop at Shaikh Saqr Bin Al Qasimi Street, Al Wahda Street, Ittihad Street, Al Ta'awun and Al Nahda.

There is currently only one bus route, Route No 14, operating in Sharjah, from Al Sharq Terminal to Sharjah Airport.