Bus service to Marsascala

Marsascala residents are wondering how long we are going to be taken for a literal ride on our public transport service.

Our locality has over 10,000 residents, which is further increased by holiday residencies and tourists during the summer months, yet we are still without a direct public transport route to Mater Dei Hospital and to the Junior College and University. It is pitiful to see elderly residents having to “carry on up the buses” by having to wait ages for a bus that never arrives on time and then have to stop in Żabbar, come rain or shine, and get on another bus which is the 300 to Mater Dei. This state of affairs has been going on for too long now and is bordering on the ridiculous!

Over three years ago, a petition was collected for a direct bus service from Marsascala to Mater Dei and the Junior College and University with no improvement being registered. To add insult to injury, other smaller localities are provided with a direct bus route to these institutions.

Then we have the usual farcical “merry-go-round” on the buses, where residents get on a bus at a stop and then are forced to get off again at the playing field as the driver decides to change the route. An example: A resident got onto bus 19 from near the Cerviola Hotel which passed at 8.25 p.m. but the driver told them to get off at the playing field as they had to get on to another bus which was going to leave soon. The bus parked just behind another which left at 8.32 p.m. and drove off without the passengers who had been made to get off at the stop! A different bus 19 then left at 8.45 p.m.

What about the total disregard for schedules? There should be a bus to Valetta every 20 minutes – ask any Marsascala resident who uses the buses how often the buses arrive on time – sometimes they do not even arrive at all! A common scenario is to see two buses arrive right after each other. Forget the 20 minutes schedule.

If the new Arriva transport reform maintains the same goings-on, then we residents are in for more of the same. Trying to call the ATP after office hours connects you to a fax machine, so where exactly are residents supposed to complain if the buses do not keep to their schedules? Residents often miss their appointments or arrive late for work/school involuntarily simply because the buses turn up late or drivers decide to drop passengers off at another stop to “get the next one”.

It is high time our local councillors took the bull by the horns and put pressure on the authorities to ensure that Marsascala residents are no longer treated like second- class citizens and that our locality gets the public transport service it needs for the benefit of residents, summer residents and tourists. They can rest assured that residents will be behind them all the way.

Fellow residents are also urged and encouraged to voice their concerns to the relevant authorities in the hope that this disgraceful situation is rectified for the benefit of our community.