Karwa, the monopoly bus and taxi service operated by Mowasalat, the State-owned transport company of Qatar, has incorporated its first compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle into its fleet. The Volkswagen-manufactured VW Passat TSI EcoFuel car was received on behalf of Karwa by the government public transport firm’s director of Taxi and Limousine Abdulla Ali Bahzad, reports the Gulf Times.
This is just one of several initiatives by Mowasalat to address a directive by HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani that calls for greater emphasis on CNG as a fuel for transportation in Qatar. The company is has commenced trials of a CNG-powered bus and reportedly has plans to introduce 70 CNG buses for Doha operations this year.
Furthermore, once conversion facilities and efuelling infrastructure are established, Mowasalat has expressed intention to convert its entire fleet to natural gas fuel. Doha already has one CNG filling station.
The Passat Estate TSI EcoFuel is powered by a 1.4 litre TSI 110 kw (148 hp) engine running on either natural gas or gasoline, and has a CNG range of 210km.
