Travelling by Doha Metro is set to get costlier from today for those commuters who use paper tickets. Qatar Rail has decided to increase the prices of paper tickets by 50 percent.
The price revision is aimed at reducing environmental impact of paper tickets. Travelling cost will not change for commuters who use travel cards.
Single journey paper ticket in a standard class that was priced at QR2 earlier, will now cost QR3.
The day pass that was priced at QR6, will now be available for QR9. Single journey Gold class paper ticket will now be QR15, which was priced at QR10 earlier and for a day pass that was priced at QR30, will now be available for QR45.
The price of Standard and Gold club travel cards will remain unchanged. Travel cards are available at all Doha Metro stations and licensed retailers.
“Effective from tomorrow (February 21st) there will be a pricing change for Limited Use paper tickets.
In line with the desire to minimise the usage and the enviromental impact of disposable paper tickets, Doha Metro is introducing revised pricing on limited use paper tickets for both Standard and Gold Class,” said Qatar Rail yesterday.
The price revision will not affect those travellers who use Doha Metro frequently, such as office goers or students. Most of the frequent travellers carry traveller cards because it saves them from standing in queue.
Many residents believe that it is a right decision as it will discourage commuters to use paper tickets.
“Many commuters who use paper tickets have tendency to throw the tickets outside Metro Stations after finishing their journey. It is a good decision as it will encourage more people to use travel cards instead of paper tickets. It is an environmentally friendly step,” a resident told The Peninsula.
Data from Qatar Rail have confirmed the popularity of trains. For example over 185,000 passengers chose Doha Metro to reach different destinations on this year’s Qatar National Sport Day. Similarly, over 333,000 passengers had used Doha
Metro network on December 18 last year to reach different destinations holding Qatar National Day celebrations.
One of the main factors which have made Doha Metro popular among residents is the convenience and affordability. Doha Metro has started Metrolink service which connects different locations to metro stations.
Metrolink is a feeder bus network providing first and last mile connectivity to Qatar Rail customers within 2 to 5km radius of the Doha Metro stations.