The government and Arriva have reached an agreement which will ensure that buses will not use newly-pedestrianised Bisazza Street in Sliema.

"A number of short-and long-term measures have been agreed to that will permit the immediate and permanent deviation of all public transport services away from Triq Bisazza and instead to pass through Qui-si-Sana and the Tigné tunnel on their way to their onward journey towards several destinations," the ministry said.

"In view of the measures being adopted buses will not pass through Triq Bisazza, even on a temporary basis."

"The significance of the change should not be underestimated. Although the diversion
signifies the lengthening of eight routes, each by just less than a kilometre, the accumulated significance can perhaps be illustrated by pointing out that in a day the aggregate additional mileage will be equivalent to the distance between Malta and Rome; in a month the additional distance to be covered by the bus service will be approximately equivalent to the distance between Malta and Sydney," the ministry said.

Transport Malta and Arriva Malta have agreed on the following measures:

On a temporary basis:

· Until such time as all on board computers on buses have been updated with the
electronic maps of the new routes, the electronic sign boards of all buses will
show timetabled information rather than real time information. This is being
done to ensure that waiting passengers are not misled by wrong estimates of
arrival made by computers that assume that Triq Bisazza is part of the buses'
route – and the timings which have a knock-on effect across the network. It is
estimated that this temporary measure will last until the end of August 2011.

· For the duration of the first summer schedule, service number 21 that departs
from Valletta and passes through Sliema will not terminate at Tarġa Interchange
(as advertised) but will instead stop short at the Nicolo bus stop on Triq Il-Kbira
around the corner from the Rotunda Interchange, and depart on its inbound
journey from there. This is expected to have very little impact on the users'
experience given that they may use the alternative route 23 that has an identical
route up to Tarġa and proceeds after that point on its onward journey to Golden
Bay every 30 minutes. Passengers can also use route 31 which operates every 10
minutes, and routes 41 and 42 which run every 15 minutes, between Rotunda
and Tarġa.

· Until the completion of the refurbishment programme of 28 low floor buses that
are in service in the old network and will transfer to Arriva for use as agreed in
the contract with Transport Malta, 17 Euro V buses will be temporarily put on
the network to ensure the smoothest transition possible and minimise any
delays caused by the lengthening of the Sliema routes. These 17 temporary
buses are not airconditioned and in this respect do not comply with the contract
standards. They also will not carry the bi-lingual signage on the bus required by
the contract. It is expected that this transition will be completed by the end of 2011.

On a permanent basis:

· Arriva Malta will procure and roll out an additional three buses to compliment its
existing fleet and recruit 10 additional drivers to its existing cohort to be able to
drive them to reflect the additional resource required further to the Triq Bisazza
change.

· By the start of the schedule for winter 2011/2012 (currently planned for 16
October 2012), all schedules, timetables and duty plans for buses and drivers will
be planned and published taking into account the longer route through Tigné
tunnel. Except for the slightly longer journey time experienced by users of the
routes passing through the area, the change will be imperceptible from the
perspective of bus users.

· Arriva Malta will be making an effort to establish an earlier date for the
commencement of the winter schedule for this year to be able to normalise the
service as early as possible. The commencement date will be announced in due
course after the matter is studied in further detail.

· A bus lane will be introduced to gain back some of the lost journey time due to
the deviation away from Triq Bisazza. The lane will start at the south exit of the
Tigné tunnel up to the Ferries interchange at the Valletta-bound bus stop across
from Triq Bisazza which will in part compensate for the delay created by the
deviation. The bus lane will be implemented immediately. The change will signify
the removal of 62 parking spaces presently occupying the space that will be used
as a bus lane.

The diverted routes will call at the following bus stops on the diversion: 'Hallet'
and 'Locker' in Triq Ix-Xatt Ta' Qui-Si-Sana, and a new stop, 'Tigné', at the bottom
of the steps from 'The Point' shopping centre, before arriving at Sliema 'Ferries'
bus stop.

The ministry warned that passengers may initially experience delays in the service from advertised schedules even in routes unconnected with Sliema or Triq Bisazza since buses and drivers that on a part of the day may be on duty on this route may be prevented by delays there from delivering on time services on later duties on other routes.