Thousands of travellers started streaming out of Kigali this week as the festive season travel rush reached its peak, with long queues forming at designated bus stations across the city. Under a special transport reorganisation plan activated on December 23 and 24, the City of Kigali redirected upcountry-bound passengers to specific boarding points in an effort to ease congestion and manage the surge in holiday travel. ALSO READ: PHOTOS: Passengers in Kigali scramble for upcountry-bound buses on Christmas Eve While the reorganization into specific zones—such as Kigali Pelé Stadium and Nyabugogo bus park—has reduced the congestion, many travellers are still facing long wait times. Passengers reported delays extending several hours as demand for up-country routes exceeded the available fleet capacity. At Kigali Pelé Stadium in Nyamirambo, which is currently serving travellers heading to the Southern and Western Provinces, the atmosphere is a blend of holiday anticipation and logistical challenges. “It’s a struggle,” said Asiyete Niyigena, who was waiting to travel to Ruhango, “The wait times here are way too long. I probably will not get home until 10p.m. It would be better if the city authorities availed extra buses from other parts of the country where the holiday rush is not as intense.” Fabrice Mugisha, another traveller waiting at the stadium, arrived at 12:30 p.m, but was only able to secure a 7:00 p.m ticket for Muhanga. “The demand for up-country travel is huge right now, and the fleet simply cannot keep up,” Mugisha observed, “They should have deployed more buses to handle this kind of crowd.” Despite the delays, some passengers noted that the new system has successfully managed the disorder typical of the holidays. Modeste Uwurukundo, who was traveling to Karongi, noted that while the lines are moving slowly, the situation is much less congested than the usual holiday scenes at Nyabugogo. However, the change in locations has caused confusion for some. At Nyabugogo bus park, Mariam Dusabimana was unsure of where to find a bus to Kamonyi. “I’ve been here for two hours. It would be of help if they used a public address system to announce where people should go for specific destinations,” she said, stating that all people cannot access social media platforms for announcements. Transport officials say they are working around the clock but are simply overwhelmed by the volume of people. Alain Butesile, the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Kivu Belt Express, explained that buses are being dispatched every 30 minutes. “This is the peak season; this level of demand isn’t an everyday occurrence. While our agency is fully operational, the volume of travellers is currently exceeding our capacity,” Butesile said. At Horizon Express, the Customer Care Officer, Bonaventure Itangishatse, noted that Southern Province is seeing the highest volume of travellers. “The holiday surge is exceptional,” he said, “We are committed to getting everyone home, even if it means operating until midnight. As of 5:00p.m, our Huye buses are booked through 6:00 p.m and Muhanga to 8:30p.m.” Kigali activates special transport plan for festive rush The City of Kigali introduced a temporary transport reorganization plan to streamline travel during the peak of the 2025 festive season. This schedule is specifically active on December 23–24 and will return for the New Year rush on December 30–31, 2025. This aims to decentralize boarding points to better manage the high volume of people heading upcountry. Under the new arrangement, passengers are directed to four primary boarding hubs based on their destination. Those heading to Southern Province and some districts in the west including Muhanga, Huye, Rusizi, and Karongi —must board from Pelé Stadium in Nyamirambo. Meanwhile, the Nyanza-Kicukiro bus park was designated as the exclusive departure point for all travellers heading to Bugesera. For routes heading to the east, including Rwamagana, Kayonza, and Nyagatare districts, the city moved operations to Kabuga bus park. The northern route, covering destinations such as Musanze, Rubavu, and Nyagatare through Gicumbi, continues to operate out of Nyabugogo bus park.
