The Christmas song “Driving Home For Christmas” is currently playing on the radio everywhere. Mohamed Elnour is the one who makes sure that his passengers get home safely at Christmas. He gets on the Flex bus every evening at 10 p.m. and brings home night owls or people who work unusual hours until 6 a.m. Although other people are about to go to bed at this time, Elnour can’t think of a better time to do his work. “I really enjoy driving at night. Passengers are more talkative than during the day and there are no traffic jams.”
Since the introduction of the new service in October, Elnour has served various stops in the southern district of Munich. He drives his minibus between Ostbahnhof, Neuperlach Süd and the rural districts of Oberhaching. Users can also request it in Unterhaching and Taufkirchen and get off at one of the specified stops if they have a valid MVV card. Previously, Elnour was used in the call shared taxi in Fürstenfeldbruck. In addition to the driver, five to six other people fit in his current vehicle.
According to Elnour, more and more young people use the Flex bus on the weekends. “At least half of the young people are drunk,” says the bus driver with a smile. “Sometimes they want to sing, dance or listen to music while driving.” But Elnour pays attention to the regulations of the MVV and does not grant them such wishes. He has to concentrate while driving. Driving at night is very dangerous, especially in winter: “Even though it’s dark, I always have to keep an eye on everything. Snow and ice make the work difficult.”
Nevertheless, the bus driver occasionally listens to the conversations of his passengers. He remembers one thing particularly well: “Once I met a drunk couple. They argued while driving and broke up on the bus. Although the situation was very strange for me, I tried to comfort them both.”
In the series “My number” the SZ presents people every day until Christmas, in whose life a number has a special meaning – from 1 to 24 like in an advent calendar.