Al Nahda commuters seek more feeder buses during evening peak hours

Dubai: Commuters are seeking greater frequency of buses serving the routes from Stadium metro Station to Al Nahda 1 and Al Ghusais Industrial, during the evening peak hours.

The Stadium metro station has turned out to be a hub for Sharjah passengers, apart from serving Al Nahda and Al Ghusais areas of Dubai.

Hundreds of commuters from Sharjah use the feeder routes — F22, F23 and F24 — that serve the bus stops behind Sahara Centre on the Dubai side of Al Nahda, offering connectivity to residents from the Sharjah side of the border.

However, over the last few months the demand for the services is increasing with more people opting for the feeder routes to travel between Dubai and Sharjah.

This has resulted in the bus stop near the Stadium metro station witnessing heavy rush during evening peak hours.

“For the last two years, I have been taking the feeder bus from Stadium metro station to a stop behind Sahara Centre, but in the last few months I have seen that more people are commuting on this route and we have to wait for at least 15 to 20 minutes to get on the bus,” said Mohammed Suhail, a resident of Al Nahda Sharjah.

Feeder buses serving these routes arrive at Stadium metro station on an average of every four to 12 minutes during the evening peak hours, bur commuters are seeking greater frequency or more buses serving these routes.

“Earlier I could board a bus immediately after coming out of the metro station, but now I have to let several packed buses pass, before I get a chance to hop on,” said Sumit Narayan, another resident who uses the feeder routes and before walking to the other side to catch the connecting Sharjah bus service.

The rush has also affected the residents of Al Nahda Dubai and Al Ghusais.

“The buses are packed with all these people coming from Sharjah and that has left us with no space, it is hard to get on these buses sometimes,” said Noorain Jahan, an elderly resident of Al Nahda 1.

Responding to the demand, a senior Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) official told Gulf News that a study is being conducted to assess the situation.

“Currently we are doing the performance evaluation of Q1 2018. Based on the findings of this evaluation, we will take a decision according to the need and growth potential,” said Mohammad Abubaker Al Hashmi, Director of Planning and Business Development, PTA

The Stadium metro station bus stop is served by eight routes, out of which three routes originate from the stop, while the rest of the routes pass through it.

According to the RTA, around 26,000 passengers use the feeder routes — F22, F23 and F24 — daily, served by 25 buses covering these routes.

Apart from the feeder routes the stadium station is also served by an intercity bus route E301 to Al Taawun area of Sharjah, which is also very popular.

Launched in 2016, the route E301 has come as big relief to thousands of commuters who can now directly access Dubai Metro, rather than getting a connecting bus service from Sahara Centre.