Updated - The new bus service – Have your say

Anthony Borg

Aug 14th 2011, 08:52

Friday 2nd July 2010 – Letter by Austin Gatt to “The Times” entitled: Subsidies on Public Transport
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"All neighbourhoods of the country, even if thinly populated or on the periphery of our built-up areas, would be served by (NOTE!) regular service."

NB. Austin Gatt is the Transport Minister responsible for Transport Malta.

Mario Desira

Aug 10th 2011, 10:26

Can Arriva kindly advise what seems to be the problem with Route 72 (Qrendi).
I have been complaining like other people but the incompetence shown in handling this route persist.

Today 10th August –more than one month after the service started, no 72 bus operated at 0630 hours and at 0700 hours as legally bound to do.

Before July there used to be departures at 0630 0645 0700 0715 0730 for the benefit of people goimg to work. Not only have these been removed (unfairly in my opinion) but even operating two simple journeys departing at 0630 and 0700 on time seems to be a problem!

Then TWO buses bearing number 72 appeared at 0720!
This keeps on happening regularly.

Whoever is responsible for this route is showing gross incompetence because this has nothing to do with lack of drivers or buses but the inability to organise buses that leave on time. Arriva and Transport Malta please check !

Ryan Agius

Aug 9th 2011, 10:21

Ghalhekk l qawl Malti jajdlek kemm kona sewwa meta konna ghar

ramona zerafa

Aug 9th 2011, 09:16

I agree with A. Caruana. Arriva so far ignored the more urgent need for Route no 91 to pass from Triq il Qaliet in Marsascala to Valletta. Please bring back the old route asap.

Mr Paul Borg

Aug 9th 2011, 08:12

August is half way through and the bus service is still slow , erratic and incompitent. Passengers are still having ti wait too long at the Valletta terminus. This has caused business to drop to a record low. Maybe after the T shirt "ARRIVA ASPETTA BETTER ON FOOT, now comes the website " I hate Arriva .com"

Mr FRANS H SAID

Aug 9th 2011, 07:02

Unless they re-install the old routes, people will not be satisfied. If this happened in another country, even in a dictatoriat, heads would have rolled, but it seems in Malta the Tail commands the Donkey!

Nigel Spiteri

Aug 8th 2011, 20:50

I think that Mr. Delia is still having lectures from his idol Dr. Gatt on how to be arrogant and insensitive towards the Maltese people.

A Caruana

Aug 8th 2011, 12:47

Unbelievable but true: Yesterday an advert detailing change to route 124 now startibng from Birgu to Marsascala, no doubt following the hunger strike and the PM's visit, so i phoned up Arriva this morning asking them if route 124 will pass from triq il Qaliet like the old Bus 22, and the customer care lady told me they don't anything about this route!! Mela first they advertise and their own employess know nothing about what they are doing? Arriva has also so far ignored the more urgent need for Route no 91 to pass from Triq il Qaliet in Marsascala to Valletta, Get your priorities right Arriva, the Cospicua buis is heavily used on Tuesdays for the market, the valletta bus is needed DAILY from Siberia!

Ms ANNA GRECH

Aug 8th 2011, 11:55

How about having a survey sent to all households like they did with the time-table and inform us with the feedback received

Mr Paul Caruana

Aug 8th 2011, 08:09

The biggest bugbear of the old system was its unreliability. Now that one month has passed since Arriva has started providing the service, do we have any percentage figures as to what extent Arriva Malta is keeping to its own published timetables?

As I recall, Transport Malta, before the start of the new service, made a big fuss on how it was allocating a dozen or so of its people to ensure that the contract terms will be honoured.

So let us have some statistics....one month after the start of the new service, what is its % reliability?

Catherine Caruana

Aug 8th 2011, 06:29

I can say that there has been improvement since the introduction of Arriva buses in Malta.The fact that with just a 50 eurocent ticket -karta anzjan-you can catch as many buses as you want for a day is already a point in their favour. Even the air conditioing system that dries you -after having a sweat bath up -till your arrival at your destination is another good thing.However we Kalkara residents who live in St. Liberata street are still complaining about the eradication of the old route that used to pass from this road and has now been removed.Please Arriva Authorities give our plea priority when it comes to changing some routes come September. Thanks.

Chris Vella

Aug 8th 2011, 06:13

Arriva are causing a lot of problems at paceville by not letting me in first place a minibus driver alight and boarding my clients. And this is so because MT never made an appropriate parking place for the minibuses. The only place available is for weekends as if we live only on weekends. One of the Arriva officers (I’ve been told he’s ex police officer) called the police or MT to clear all minibuses from the area and fines have been issued. So now we have the situation where we can’t operate at paceville during the week.

Do you know what I’ve been told by the policemen when I asked them where can I park my minibus while I’m waiting for my clients to return?

In a very arrogant way He said that he doesn’t care and that every time I will get there I will get another thicket (fine) and to ask the question to my authority guess he was referring to MT because they asked him to get there and do so. To tell the truth they were quite pissed off.

So as you can see it’s not a matter of being lazy or trying to help. Should Arriva improve their service well good for the public in general?

The problem is that it’s two ways two measures, now even involving the police what sort of competition and free market is this?

The government removed a monopoly and created an even worse one full of mismanagement by Arriva because they knew what type of contract they signed and what was being asked from them. The blaming of the old ATP drivers doesn’t stand anymore. They got the drivers from other countries so this is a pathetic excuse.

And also don’t keep saying some of you that who use the bus has seen an improvement because of the air-condition on the bus should the old operators had the fares at €1.30 instead of €0.47 I’m sure they would have had no problems changing the buses and turning the AC on.

John Formosa

Aug 7th 2011, 22:28

Fortunately, I got my driver's license a month before Arriva started so I can't talk from first-hand experience but from what I'm reading and hearing, I would prefer spending 30-40mins (including waiting at the bus stop) in an old "dirty" bus to get to my destination instead of spending 1hr or more taking a tour of Malta in a comfortable airconditioned "supposedly clean" Arriva bus.

So whoever is saying the service has improved from the old one ... i'm sorry but in my opinion, the disadvantages (long waiting times, unreasonable routes etc ) are much greater than the advantages (polite drivers, a/c [if working] etc) regarding the new service.

Joseph Attard

Aug 7th 2011, 21:42

Arriva will get better and come December no one will point more fingers. Were Maltese, we all moan over anything. But with due respect to Arriva much more was expected. Pull up your pants real fast. Your a very credible organization when it comes to large places but it seems that in a small island youve gone topsy turvy.

Arriva will perform and within a few months the past will be forgotten. Change is never easy, even if its for the better or in this case the worse, but come on we could never hang on to the old bus system. And lest we forget, ATP brought this by their own good hands. So many times in the past Government/s gave them a helping hand but you never delivered. You were never proactive. lets move on history is history and thats where it should remain. Arriva...go for it....

chris tuckley

Aug 7th 2011, 16:07

Obviously the old service was 100 times better than Arriva will ever be, Why the old busses and Arriva cannot run side by side. The routes which Arriva cannot cover run with the old busses. This will serve 2 purposes, give Malta a decent bus service and show Arriva that you cannot run busses on Malta like you can in London without knowledge of the island, routes and the people.

Josephine Calleja

Aug 7th 2011, 14:39

I am a resident of G'Mangia. With the old bus service it was very easy for us to go to Valletta while now we have to go either to Hamrun or to Msida which are quite a long way to go. Hope that they will do something about this route.

Mario Pace

Aug 7th 2011, 10:39

Can Mr Delia answer why the CEO of Arriva said that there were no routes when in actual fact there were over a hundred routes all working perfectly well. We got to our destination on time and had no problems, swiftly as well.

We were better off with the old buses

John Visanich

Aug 7th 2011, 10:18

I rarely use the buses so am not in a position to comment on the service in general. Suffice to say that on the few occasions that I used the no.71 bus from Zurrieq to Valletta or vice-versa I found the service competely satisfactory, possible faster than before by a few minutes. My only complaint is that once I waited approx. 32 minutes at Zurrieq for the bus to arrive. Clearly there was something wrong there.

One positive point I would like to make concerns the no. 201 bus that does a circular route from Bahrija to the Airport. I have only two words regarding this route: try it! This is probably the route that offers the most spectacular views of Malta and is definitely worth taking every now and then just for the ride.

Alessandro Bruno

Aug 6th 2011, 19:18

I quote the MITC:

"Ferries and Water taxis as part of the transport system.

The possibility of ferries and water taxies forming part of the radical reforms being undertaken in public transport was also discussed during the National Conference on Public Transport.

In the next few months more water borne services will be introduced, as well as water taxis, as existing in other countries. The ferry services will commence in the next few months in Grand Harbour and Marsamxett. However it is intended that more ferries will operate in other areas in Malta."

those few months are many months overdue.. so what about a regular ferry service? it could help all cities facing the grand harbour, especially now that bus service in all southern Malta became less frequent and reliable

Joseph Bonnici

Aug 6th 2011, 17:03

As a citizen from Zabbar I have many complaints to make but the most important ones are about ex rout 20 which was to cover Marsascala Bypass to Valletta. Now we do not have this service any more and one have to make a connection trip to go to valletta. In such a small place like Malta connection trips are not efficient because of time lost. Zabbar residents who live in the vicinities of Xghajra Road and Baron Confectionery used to use of the bus stop in Convent street when using rout 91 now this bus stop has been abolished and we have either to go to triq Wied il Ghajn Bus stop or else stop near the Local Counsil. Residents living in The Housing Estate and in Fgura have a small chance to get on a 91 Rout bus because they will be full up from Marsascala. Why not introduce a rout from Zabbar like our ex rout 18. Is rout 91 going to cover triq il Qaliet? It is most important to cover triq il Qaliet and get trough triq il Gardiel. What happened to our Rout 17 which used to cover Zonqor Housing Estate and goes trough triq is Salini and goes back trough triq il Qaliet.

Mr Lawrence Fenech

Aug 6th 2011, 15:22

Mr. Delia, hello, are you there?

JOE ZAHRA

Aug 6th 2011, 12:00

When will Emanuel Delia start clarifing points posted. I posted on this page the lack seating in the new bus stops . The Roman Villa stages got no seating, people with disability are not being looked after. This point has been mentioned to the highest office in politics, but still nothing from transport Malta

Maurice Cini

Aug 6th 2011, 11:38

Can Mr Emanuel Delia please answer my mail dated July25th 2011/4th August 2011 and also WHY the Kalkara/Xghajra bus on Sundays and Public holidays is running every HOUR. We use to have this service every half hour by the old system. Instead of having frequent bus services as advertised,we are having to wait longer and longer.This problem is creating heavy traffic due to(1) the long distances that one has to travel by bus before reaching his destination and (2) the less frequent service and waiting time. Can someone please inform and advice for any improvements, at least by having the same frequencies asthey were beforeif not better.Thanking you for your consideration. Maurice Cini

Mr Paul Caruana

Aug 6th 2011, 10:52

I am sure that Emanuel Delia, if he ever bothers to contribute to this column, would need to answer very many aspects that have been brought up!

One thing that needs to be clarified urgently, from reading some of the comments below is when the published timetables will become relevant. It is simply ridiculous to expect people to move out of their private cars into Arriva buses, when regular commuter, at least on some routes (e.g. route 72 below) are still complaining that the published timetables do not reflect the actual bus schedule.

For the umpteenth time, keep to the published schedules! If this is not possible, THEN CHANGE THEM, but if you are actually interested in gaining the public trust, do not promise one thing and then do something completely different.

Vincent Zerafa

Aug 5th 2011, 20:00

The first bus from Zurrieq to Valletta, should be at 5:30am. Otherwise, I will still arrive at 7hrs. With the old buses, I repeat again, I used to get the first bus at 5:30am and punch at work at half six exactly. If you continue like this, than you should never have come. Amen.

Robert Grixti

Aug 5th 2011, 18:21

My two-cents thought on how to improve the service...

As a bus user I principally commute on the 31 route. This like other lines pass via Mater Dei. No objection about that. But I noticed (I stand to be corrected of course) that other than the bus interchange in front of the hospital, very little people make use of the other hospital stops. Standing in the blistering heat waiting on one of them doesn't make any sense... Additionally, the entry and exit route to/from the hospital could be shortened.

I suggest that as an interim solution, buses head towards the main entry, and exit from there as well, without circumnavigating the hospital. Arriva could then set up a circular bus (perhaps by utilising an electric vehicle) to act as a regular shuttle around the hospital. Arriva might also think in introducing small electric cabs (like the ones in the airports) to assist the elderly inside Mater Dei's premises.

Such a solution could reduce commuting by some 10 minutes. My thought anyway.

Mario Desira

Aug 5th 2011, 16:33

TO ARRIVA -

I would like to know please what remedy/action is being taken against whoever is in charge of route 72 from Valletta terminus to Qrendi. What happened today has been taking place frequently during the past month.

I was on the stage at Floriana under the arches around 1350. I spent over an hour waiting for bus number 72 when there should have been one at 1400 hours and another at 1430 hours. These never came.
To add insult to injury over FIVE buses 71 left the same terminus in this period. Two of them left around 1410 hours WITHIN FOUR MINUTES OF EACH OTHER. THEREFORE THERE COULD NOT BE ANY MORE EXCUSE THERE WAS NO DRIVER OR BUS AVAILABLE TO OPEARTE NUMBER 72. It seems every so often someone arbitrarily decides not to operate a 72 bus or to operate it every hour.

The way this route is being handled seems either incompetence or sabotage as it is completely illogical. People are being left waiting on stages for over one hour in the blazing sun. This needs to stop as soon a possible because the public is really fed up.

I sincerely hope whoever is supervising these things checks out what is going on.

Victor Vella

Aug 5th 2011, 14:44

I noticed that there are fewer people on the bus stops ,and while driving to work ( I use my car during working hours) I have also noticed more busses on the road.What I need to comment on is the fact that some busses are filthy on the outside, this if I am not mistaken is against the law.Drivers using mobile phones are still to be see, and also drivers with thier hands out of the window.Some bad habits are hard to kill, but kill them they must.

A Cordina

Aug 5th 2011, 13:24

Who's the genius who came up with the Cirkewwa - Valletta route timetable?? Perhaps it's because I am not an expert, however I cannot understand what is the idea behind a schedule requiring buses to leave Cirkewwa 5 minutes before the arrival of the ferry!

Mario Desira

Aug 5th 2011, 12:44

ROUTE 72 MQABBA-QRENDI -

The route 72 covering Qrendi/Mqabba is still not up to standard and the public using this route is still being discriminated against because many times the bus is every hour instead of half an hour as supposed to be. Yesterday I went to catch the 72 bus which supposedly leaves 1654 hours. This never came. One lady said she came for the 1630 bus which never showed up either. The next bus we boarded departed 1722 hours! One hour waiting!

I enquired with the driver who showed me his roster confirming departure at 1722. Arriva seems to be instructing drivers to do some trips every hour. This also applies to early afternoon departures from Valletta. So why are passengers kept waiting a whole hour for a bus after one month of operations?

On a positive note, the 0700 bus Qrendi to Valletta is having a Transport Malta monitor and sometimes a dispatcher overseeing departures, and the removal of the airport circuit by buses 71 and 72 seems to have helped immensely for the buses to depart on time.

Mr Clyde Ellul

Aug 5th 2011, 12:19

I have to say that there were marked improvements in my area this week (Zebbug/Qormi/Siggiewi). I have waited much less than usual on the whole (in most cases no longer than 20 minutes), both on my way to work and back. Buses were more frequent and there were fewer people on bus stops. So well done to Arriva... very slow improvement but at least steady. This morning, for the very first time ever, the bus actually came on time as per the timetable on the bus stop!!

One problem there was yesterday, for example, was that while buses were frequently passing by, they were using the small (9 foot) buses for a busy main line, such that by the time they get to Qormi from Zebbug, the bus would be full and they leave people stranded on the bus stop. Given that there is a lack of drivers, I'm to assume that there are lots of spare buses right now, so this should definitely not be a prob!

So the service is still FAR from perfect of course, but it seems that we might get there eventually.

Carmel Cilia

Aug 5th 2011, 09:25

Give us back our old bus terminus in Valletta. One has to spend hours waiting for a bus in the new 15 port bus terminus and then what? When finally the bus arrives it is a struggle to get on it. People trumpling each other and complete chaos. What is going to be the situation like in two m.onths time when the first heavy rains come around I do not want to ponder about let alone experience. Veru kas li il-gvern maqtugh mill-poplu u min dak li qieghed isofri. Fejn huma Gatt u Delia; hux qeghdin bil-holidays ukoll.

Chris Vella

Aug 5th 2011, 09:19

Now there seems to be a new problem the police force are being used to stopping minibuses from operating at Peceville. They are issuing fines to them because there’s no parking space for them during the week and on weekends you find cars parked there and we clearly heard the police telling one of the drivers when he asked where can he park his minibus while he wait for the group to get them back home. In his replay the policemen told him that it was not his problem and that the authority asked the police to remove all minibuses and that they will receive a river of contraventions (fines) should they keep going there.

This is unfair because it leaves no option but to take a bus.

This makes me believe that Arriva asked MT to stop the minibuses from operating at PV and MT involved the police in it.

Someone take action to stop this.

Peter Pace O'Shea

Aug 4th 2011, 22:16

There is only one way of making the government revert to the previous routes and reject Arriva and its second hand buses. Following in the steps of Mahama Ghandi a silent protest should be held involving the PL, AD,other small parties, All the Unions and other organisations. People need to stop the arrogance of the present leadership as in the process of bowing its head to the EU it is hurting its own country and people in the process. Many people who depend on the public transport system are suffering whilst our ministers are driven by their personal driver, in some of the most expensive cars. They were elected to be of service to the people not the other way round. How about they start using Arriva buses to lead by example. The PN will not win the coming election.

Mr Dave Smith

Aug 4th 2011, 20:51

@ James Dewar
James yes I have a positive comment.
Today outside my usual haunt at a cafe in St Pauls we saw many drivers under either instruction or testing.
When given the thumbs up we recieved a frirendly wave and smile from both driver and supervisors!

Paul Bates

Aug 4th 2011, 20:06

Under EU competition rules what is to stop someone else or another company running in competition with Arriva?

Peter Camilleri

Aug 4th 2011, 19:31

Instead of "correcting some of the points raised by readers", Mr Delia would be better advised to correct the glaring mistakes his Organisation has made in designing the new bus routes, and in naming (perhaps misnaming would be more appropriate) the various bus stops all over the island. Or will he try to justify the unjustifiable?

Maurice Cini

Aug 4th 2011, 19:17

Can Transport Malta please give me an answer to my mail dated July 25th 2011.My Mail was as follows:
Maurice Cini

Jul 25th, 19:02

Can Transport Malta please advice why Bus no3 passing from Kalkara has been removed from passing through St. Liberata Street Kalkara? This part of Kalkara was used by Many people old aged and alike. The area around close to this street is always developing with new buildings and was giving many a very good service. It also served many to visit the Capuchin Church.Can this old route be re-instated to give service to all. Thanks.

John Vella

Aug 4th 2011, 18:44

An English friend of mine wanted to go to Cirkewwa from Bkara for the ferry to Gozo about two or three weeks ago for the feast of St. George. It took him two hours to get there because the driver got lost in Bugibba where he ran in circles for almost an hour. Jokingly he said that it is easier to fly to London or Rome than to get anywhere by Arriva. Furthermore, when he wanted to return on that very Sunday I phoned Arriva to check if there were any buses after 11pm that run through Bkara. The attendant answered in the negative. Sounding very helpful shetold me that he has to take the X1 that goes to ST. Julians and then there is a night bus that goes to Bkara. Wonder of wonders he got there and to his chagrin, he was told that no night buses were running because there were no drivers. Thumbs up to efficiency and organisation. She, an Arriva employee, could have been more informed about the situation and routes of her own company and not mislead customers. He could not even find a taxi at that time of the night and he had to walk it all the way. It took him 2.15am to get home. Arriva is another hurried windowdressing job by the Minister responsible. It is evident that there was no planning involved and organisation is a word that perhaps is not in Arriva's vocabulary. And the very Einstein inspired idea of introducing this new service with new routes is something that shows how whoever is planning lacks one simple characteristic that any toddler would have: common sense. What i think of Arriva: make a big cultural leap because whatever you do in England will not happen here overnight. NO thought was spared for organistaion, co-ordination and definitely no responsibility. And since when whatever is dangerous in England is safe here? I am referring to the bender buses. It this some colonial regression that looks down on us Maltese as children of a lesser God? Arriva get your act together fast because as they say first impressions last and run deep.

Maria Borg

Aug 4th 2011, 18:20

Re route 83 from Santa Lucia to Valletta and back. I have information that a bus No 83 from Sta. Lucia to Valletta will be functioning according to new routes. When shall this new route be functioning? The people of Sta. Lucia including both old and young are suffering hardships going on foot to Paola to catch a bus since we have no direct bus to Valletta . This new system is worse than the old one. When previously it took 20 minutes to go to Valletta, now at least it takes over an hour. Hope that this situation will be back to normal before mid September when the students will be going to going to University, Junior College and so on.

John Bencini

Aug 4th 2011, 16:58

We people living in Psaila Street, St. Venera and the vicinities are still patiently waiting for a direct bus service to Valletta as we used to enjoy before when we had the karakki xarabanks! Why do be now have to take two buses via Mater Dei to cover a distance of a kilometre and a half ?. What used to take us a fifteen minute drive is now taking us a minimum of one hour and a half. This is a shame!!. Give us back the old route.

Joe Azzopardi

Aug 4th 2011, 15:56

A month on the service is still disgraceful. I use route no 1 between Senglea and Valletta and there was never been a bus leaving on time in the morning or afternoon, with waiting time being as long as 2 hours. What used to be a 20 minute trip has become an ordeal. The girls at the Arriva kiosk in Valletta are hopeless, with most of them lacking even the basic capabilities in customer care.

I work with another 400 people in Floriana and organised a group of 15 people to rent a daily van to get to and form work. We are also actively encouraging other colleagues to do the same since your service in Malta is absolutely hopeless. I am also encouraging people from Senglea to do the same as I feel you do not deserve our business. If I can avoid it I will never board an Arriva vehicle again.

Paul Bates

Aug 4th 2011, 15:43

Correct me if I am wrong, routes 11 12 & 13 are by far the busiest on the island?
Why not contract them out as a whole unit, A combined 2 minute headway Valletta-Ferries-St Julians (services 11,12,13) then from St Julians a 6 minute headway to Bugibba (service 11 & 12) then every 12 minutes to Cirkewwa, Introduce new service 14 every 15 minutes Valletta-Mater Dei- Mosta- Melliema-Crikewwa. That gives 9 buses an hour Valletta to Gozo ferry, 30 an hour to St Julians and 10 buses an hour to Bugibba.
Change the vehicles to 90 capacity double deckers and simplify the fares. 1euro flat fare Valletta- St Julians, 2euro to Bugibba and 2.5 euro single to Crikewwa, only concessions being a seven day ticket.
Do the maths, using double deckers Valletta to St Julians = 2700 passengers an hour, both ways.

James Connor

Aug 4th 2011, 15:00

thank you to all for advice on arriva,iwill be in malta for one week from the 11th of august and i will try out the new buses .when i get home to scotland i will post my comments about arriva.buses to one side i will still enjoy malta and the fab maltese people .saha

Ludgard Scicluna

Aug 4th 2011, 12:39

Sir.
Correct me if I'm wrong. Arriva supposed to start arranging the bus routes from 31st July. What about
no 121 bus, from Paola to Xghajra vici-versa. Yesterday I was at Ritche wainting for the above mentioned
bus, but it was all in vain.

Paul Bates

Aug 4th 2011, 12:03

Must have intercepted my questions I posted on Sunday, as they were never published

Franco Abela

Aug 4th 2011, 09:46

"A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport - Emanuel Delia - will be clarifying or correcting some of the points raised by readers."

Is this a joke? Where is he?

Joe Scerri

Aug 4th 2011, 08:40

Judging from the comments and letters so far it seems that Arriva still have a very long way to go, the biggest problems being the waiting times at bus stops and journey durations, both are still at an unacceptable level of service.

John Caligari

Aug 4th 2011, 08:30

and what about buss stops. Go to Kakara going towards Smart City. A Bus Stop named 'Ic-Cumnija' meters and meters away from nowhere. And then they took away Kapuccin Road route.

Joseph Magro

Aug 3rd 2011, 20:07

Took me 1 whole hour of waiting for No 72 from Valletta to Qrendi today. This happened between 18:20 to 19:20pm whilst in between of that same hour 3 (Route 71) buses arrived at approximately 19:00Pm IN A ROW!! This is totally unacceptable as each bus is supposed to take at least 30 minutes to arrive (At least on Stage 15). Yet again, Qrendi is becoming a forgotten town when it comes to Bus transport. My say? Each and everday I'm depending less on this new bus service. One step forward, two steps back; and that's a growing fact.

James Dewar

Aug 3rd 2011, 19:45

@ Gary Jamieson
Gary, Get the impression that you are not yet totally satisfied with what's on offer from the Arriva 21st Century Public Transport Revolution!

Ms Monica Muscat

Aug 3rd 2011, 18:12

I think that there is really only one thing to be said. Things seem to be improving, although the final result will be long in coming (September, they said). I myself have tried the service, and, perhaps luckily so, found it more than good! Many serious problems still have to be tackled, such as routes which constrain a passenger to take three buses to get to work! Malta is too small to be subjected to rules and regulations which apply elsewhere, where distances cannot be tackled by a multi-link system.

I wonder who will bother to read this comment. - WOW 1104, now 1105, comments. By the time anyone gets thru half of them September will have come and gone - and difficulties ironed out.

John Zammit

Aug 3rd 2011, 17:58

Re: routes 71 and 72

I have already written about these routes that come from Zurrieq and Qrendi to valletta.

You guys at Arriva had fixed one part of the problem, i.e. the bypassing of the airport. However, no solution to no passing along Valletta Road,Luqa. This was not touched at all.

This area is an industrial zone and for one to go home from near 'Baxter' to the north of the island one has to switch 3 buses or walk about 2 km to Aldo Moro bus stop which is hot in summer and practically impossible when it rains due to the deluge that passes there.

How is it not possible to re route one of these routes and instead of both passing from in front St. Vincent de paul make the Qrendi one pass from Zurrieq picking up commuters there bound for St. Vincent de paul and give us the other to pass from Valletta road

I sure hope you would reconsider it and adjust.

Mr Fenech MD

Aug 3rd 2011, 17:34

After a month using Arriva buses, I would like to say that the only better thing is the Air Conditioning; with regards punctuality, cleanliness and service, in some ways we were better off with the old Tal-linja buses.

JOE ZAHRA

Aug 3rd 2011, 14:16

AUG 2 , bus stop by Roman Villa a person with disablity had to stand for over 35 min in a new bus stop , as other bus stops this one had no seating facility. On the same bus stop a very clever person put a ticket machine under a tree oozing resin on top of it , Public money well spent . transport Malta should know that people with disability deserve better sssssssssSHAME ON YOU AG

Elizabeth Hair

Aug 3rd 2011, 14:05

WARNING TO ALL ARRIVA PASSENGERS - especially if the bus is packed, incidents of pickpocketing have been reported - with the thieves making the most of the buses being packed.
TAKE CARE

Carmel Cilia

Aug 3rd 2011, 11:02

Yet again what is Arriva doing. Yesterday the no.41 bus was at Bellie view terminus at 5.15am and left at 5.30am.
So this morning a lot of people were present at the terminus by 5.20 am. Unbelievable the bus came from cirkewwa at nearly 6.00 am.
Issa sopra corna bastunare. Mhux bizzejjed li ma tigiex fil hin izda ma nafux xhin tghaddi precis. Mhux talli dak li kien qalilna li kellna indumu nistennew biss 10 minuti fuq stage izda talli irridu inkunu hemm tlett kwarti qabel. Sewwa qeghdin jghidu hafna nies- ara f'hiex gibuna, anqas titwemmen.

James Dewar

Aug 3rd 2011, 10:17

@ Janet Bayes
Yes, that was the contributor's whole point... that shouting the request just MAY produce a response from Arriva all other attempts having failed.

Hugh Jackson

Aug 3rd 2011, 03:06

For all of those who whining about the Marsascala bus, please note that some people had to walk from the bus terminus to their home for a lot of years, since Bus no.20 was suppost to come every hour and usually bus drivers go straight from Zabbar not from Marsascala new bypass. Thanks :)

hugh jars

Aug 2nd 2011, 23:30

DAVE SMITH WHAT A TOSSER

James Dewar

Aug 2nd 2011, 23:13

@ Dave Smith

Dave, More than likely Mr Bastow is not qualified to drive a bus otherwise he may have been able to understand and deal with some of the issues emanating from both drivers and passengers in recent weeks!

Regarding your observation that "Arriva are lacking semi skilled" etc, suffice to say it could justifiably be shortened to simply...."Arriva are lacking"!!

Maybe the elusive X23 is just a "Ghostbusser"

Henry S. Pace

Aug 2nd 2011, 23:04

'A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport - Emanuel Delia - will be clarifying or correcting some of the points raised by readers '.

Can someone from the Ministry tell us who invented the names of the Bus Stops. In Rue D'Argens the Bus Stop was named RUE. Why not D'Argens because Rue meant Road. There are plenty of jargoned Bus Stops, Whoever is responsible for this gaffe should speak up .

Henry S. Pace

Aug 2nd 2011, 22:57

If I am not mistaken Arriva placed the bus stps away from the glass shelters that were installed some years ago by the Ministry of Transport. May I ask why is this taking place ?

Why is it that the Mgarr to Victoria Bus does not wait for the passengers that at that time the ship is berthing by the quayside. It is observed that the bus leaves nearly empty while some few minutes later there are quite a number of people waiting for another bus to come. . The Buses should be according to the arrival of the ships' crossings.

Bernard Storace

Aug 2nd 2011, 21:35

I do not use the bus unless driven through necessity however, I must say that I have been delayed, while going around minding my own business in my little car, on a number of occasions, especially in and around the SLiema area because of a bus or busses manouvering themselves into tight spots they found difficult to get out of at the time. They are noisy thanks to the air conditioning units on the roof and pollution is not really reduced. But above all I dislike the bendy busses and I propose they be returned to whence they came from.....is it London???

Fortunato Said

Aug 2nd 2011, 19:21

After a month of operation, the Arriva bus service is still glitched, to the extent that although still during school holidays, car traffic on the roads has increased drastically. Thus the primary aim of the improved bus service is being negated.

I fail to understand how with all the expertise brought in and with an international bus company such as Arriva, certain drastic shortcomings have still not been sorted out:
(a) Buses not following the advertised and signposted routes.
(b) Electronic route indication on buses still not reliable
(c) "Direct" services stopping at all bus stops
(d) No incentive to buy long term bus tickets
(e) Unreasonably long journey times.
(f) No proper passenger accomodation at major bus stops/interchanges

I hope that the people at Arriva and Transport Malta can put their heads together and come up with a timetable of when these shortcomings will be rectified. Otherwise, the whole exercise will be a waste of time and tax-payers' money.

A Caruana

Aug 2nd 2011, 16:56

WE WANT A DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FROM MARSASCALA FROM NEAR CERVIOLA HOTEL!
WE WANT A DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FROM MARSASCALA FROM NEAR CERVIOLA HOTEL!
WE WANT A DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FROM MARSASCALA FROM NEAR CERVIOLA HOTEL!
WE WANT A DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FROM MARSASCALA FROM NEAR CERVIOLA HOTEL!
WE WANT A DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FROM MARSASCALA FROM NEAR CERVIOLA HOTEL!
WE WANT A DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FROM MARSASCALA FROM NEAR CERVIOLA HOTEL!
WE WANT A DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FROM MARSASCALA FROM NEAR CERVIOLA HOTEL!
WE WANT A DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FROM MARSASCALA FROM NEAR CERVIOLA HOTEL!
WE WANT A DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FROM MARSASCALA FROM NEAR CERVIOLA HOTEL!
WE WANT A DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FROM MARSASCALA FROM NEAR CERVIOLA HOTEL!

You never know repetiton parrot like may finally get into those Arriva heads!

Anthony Roberts

Aug 2nd 2011, 16:37

Please pull into the curb just as the buses do in other parts of Europe. Why is that it seems to be an impossibility in this country?

Anthony Roberts

Aug 2nd 2011, 16:36

Larger buses during the peak times, ie. last Friday no 82 was the smallest bus to arrive at approx 1.30 p.m. People had to stand all the way home while others got left behind after waiting ages in the heat. Where was the sense of that.

Alfred Fenech

Aug 2nd 2011, 14:45

Indicators please. Park in the curbside to pick up passangers and drop off.

Joseph Galea

Aug 2nd 2011, 09:10

No matter what the problems that Arriva have faced and are facing, for whatever reason - sabotage, bad planning etc. the situation can NEVER, EVER be as bad as what they replaced. Thank God that the garbage trucks that passed for buses, many driven by louts and thugs, are gone forever.

James Connor

Aug 2nd 2011, 08:48

hi i come to malta very often and have been useing the old buses with no problems.with all the arriva problems i do not know if i should use the arriva buses.i only need them for pleasure so it is not so important,but i still like to travel around malta.can anybody advise me please.i have been coming to malta for 31 years ie 40 times in lovely malta.i am staying in marsaskala.saha

James Dewar

Aug 2nd 2011, 00:00

@ Hugh Jars
Must be your short attention span that makes otherwise interesting and informative articles boring to you ! Maybe you should get out more..... possibly a few Arriva excursions will broaden the mind!!!

Mr Dave Smith

Aug 1st 2011, 23:44

@ Mr Bastow, Ref page 3 Sunday "The Times" your statements.
At least an Asian MD would have Lost Face and fallen on his own sword.
You must have more front than Harrods

Philip Pryce

Aug 1st 2011, 21:36

I caught a number 23 from Sliema to Valletta today. There was some non-uniformed lad checking tickets as people boarded the bus. He proceeded to stand next to the driver and chat all the way to Valletta. Next it will be cigarettes and mobile phones. Some things never change.

James Dewar

Aug 1st 2011, 20:35

These are much more than "teething troubles". As time goes on it becomes clearer that Halcrow, Arriva and TM have quite simply got so very much so very badly wrong in their attempts to "revolutionise" the Maltese public transport system. The period since 03/07 has proved beyond doubt that they were massively unprepared and grossly underestimated the scale of the task. One seriously questions the level of competence of those charged with the responsibility of making the service work.

It is highly debatable after this horrendous start if they will now ever be able to satisfy the Maltese travelling public and the thousands of tourists who have over the years come to depend upon the "Malta Bus".

Whatever may be said about the old buses (and there has been a lot), notwithstanding their faults and the attitude of some of the drivers,in the main they were dependable and "did what it said on the tin".

I don't profess to have a solution to to this increasingly serious issue but it would seem that the whole dynamic of the operation has been mis-judged (routes, drivers, bus types, management, supervision, service/maintenance infrastructure etc) and to rectify all of these will take much more than a few "fine tuning" adjustments.

Arriva may well be hearing the complaints of the travelling public but one fears that they (and others with a stake in the fiasco) are simply not listening. Unless they rapidly start to heed what is being said they may well go down in history as having been responsible for a revolution but not of the type they envisaged!

Mr Emanuel Farrugia

Aug 1st 2011, 19:43

Tgergir u tgergir mic-cittadini rigward 'the new bus stops'. Ic-cittadini 'BUSES' godda riedu u mhux dewmien bil-'Bus Stops' 'l godda. We need with immediate effect, motivated, professional and good leadership from the Transport Malta personnel.


Emanuel Farrugia former Executive Secretary Mtarfa Local Council

Bernard Dulcet

Aug 1st 2011, 18:36

Destroying people's lives such as increasing risks of getting fired!!!!!

Carmel Cilia

Aug 1st 2011, 16:17

This morning the first bus to pick up passengers at the Belleview bus terminus Mellieha appeared at 10 minutes to six. It left cirkewwa after getting on the gozo ferry passengers because now this bus is fixed to the ferry's arrival. Needless to say it arrived at valletta although eliminating the bugibba/ qawra route at about 10 to seven. With the old system we used to arrive at valletta with the first bus which left mellieha at 5.30am. at around 6.20 am i.e half an hour earlier.
The problem is this - are we Mellieha residents going to be turned into gozitan travellers during the winter months. In winter on several occasions the ferry would be late to arrive at Cirkewwa depending on the natural sea conditions. Does this mean that we have to go to the terminus at 5.30 am and wait and hope for the best.
Arriva the service you are offering is disgusting. Thank your stars that the Maltese breed are chickens and people without guts otherwise they would have already dumped you and those who brought you here.

Richard Pace

Aug 1st 2011, 15:55

I have just received another Arriva leaflet through the door advising us of ONLY THREE ROUTE CHANGES with effect from to-day.

Who do they think they are pulling wool over one's eyes.

So far in this fiasco only Route 41 becomes a direct route from Cirkewwa to Valletta,
Route 63 will be providing a direct service from Qormi to Valletta,
and Route 71/72 will not be serving bus stops within the airport! Surely MIA is small enough for only one bus stop!!! So from Qrendi and Zurrieq there will be a direct bus but no details of frequency!!! Typical English fiasco.

I think these English managers think that they are pulling a fast one on us.

Route 63 runs every 60 minutes wheras before it ran every 15 minutes, Route 41 runs every 30 minutes wheras before it ran every 15 minutes. There is no mention of frequency on Routes 72/71.

Ruby Jenner

Aug 1st 2011, 12:38

Can anyone help me clear up a mystery concerning bus X23 route Golden Bay to Qawra terminus. I contacted customer care at arriva for info on times for this route only to informed that this bus X23 does not exist. I have been using it almost daily now for over a week, in fact I used it yesterday. Arriva customer care suggested to me it might not be an arriva bus, but I assured them it is blue and the driver's are wearing arriva uniform. X23 is clearly displayed on cards at the front of the bus.Then I was told it could be a driver who has deviated from his correct route and just picked passenger's up as he was going that way. Surely a driver couldn't get lost everyday with out anyone noticing. Has anyone used this X23 bus in the last week as I am beginning to think I have been on the phantom bus. I hope it continues to run as it has made my journey so much quicker than having to go to Mosta and changing.

Ms Francesca Abela

Aug 1st 2011, 10:52

3 Buses no 91 driving after each other in Marsascala Marina street at about 10.30pm, not even enough space at the terminus for them all to stay, yet the Bus 91 still is not going round the San Tumas tower back from Qaliet street, a journey of about 5 mins, wonder why??

chris tuckley

Aug 1st 2011, 08:41

The old service was not first class, but it worked, you got where you wanted to go roughly when you wanted to be there.If something is not dead dont bury it. "Thats what as been done to the old yellow buses.
Why is there 2 fare scales, one for Maltese and one for the tourist? If we did that in the UK there would soon be an outcry. Travel agents are no longer reccomending Malta as a holiday destination because of the bus service. They are telling pottential tourist if you go to St Pauls Bay you cannot get anywhere else on the Island except by taxi. Please sort this hic-cup out before its to late.

Kåre Windsheimer

Aug 1st 2011, 01:10

As a visitor to Malta for some years, I have enjoyed many charachteristics of this beautiful island: old buildings as churches, bastions, charming cities and the special MALTESE BUSES !

Now I am chocked and horrified : you will remove them from your streets !
And that overnight ! You are throughing away something that seems to me beeing a soul of what all tourists connects to Malta. The bus owners/ drivers who kept these historic, but still functional vehicles in traffic to the satisfaction of all tourist and what I believe to the general population of Malta.

Of course, I have nothing against modern transport, the irregulaties in timetable and so on they will surely manage to fix in some time. Especially if the authorities listen to the average and local travelers.

But I feel something really special is lost with this new bus system.

From a touristic view I hope there will be possible to operate a few lines with the best and most characteristic of the buses?
Your tramway has gone(nothing left), your railway has gone( only a badly kept station building in a park) and now the same fate for your lovely buses !

Don't change everything for the joy of modernisation and miss history on the scrap yard!

Still loving Malta !

Vincent Zerafa

Jul 31st 2011, 22:25

Before the 3rd July, I used to get a bus at 5:30am everyday from Zurrieq to Valletta. I used to stop at Bombi. I go down the stairs, then from Bombi catch another bus, used to be numbered 66 or 64, to St. Julians. I used to punch for work between 6:20am and 6:30am. Half an hour before I begin. Now a days, first bus is at 5:39am, from Zurrieq, and till today, I arrive St. Julians always after 7am. That is the difference. The routes are different and longer to arrive.

Why all this is happening. We still need that the first bus from Zurrieq, begins at 5:30am, no matter what. Always is being full up. Once we arrive at Luqa Parish Square, there will be no other space. And they will be left there on their Bus Stop. I feel sorry for them.

I really thank the drivers, for their effort and commitment. The temperature must be 21degrees, no more no less.

Ms C Camilleri

Jul 31st 2011, 20:56

Ok, so for the last three weeks i've had to take my kids to lessons in Valletta as the 126 from St lucija either does not come or comes at unknown times. On Thursday my daughter had an activity at Rabat so i asked Arriva customer service for Paola-Rabat bus details. Courteously the person who answered explained that buses leave Paola to Rabat every 5 minutes past, such as 3.05, 3.35, etc.

So i drove my daughter to Paola at 2.45 to wait for the 3.05 Rabat bus. At 3.15, with no bus in sight i asked an official standing at the bus stop. He said one had passed a short while ago. He advised that we take a bus to Valletta then another to Rabat as he said "another hour can pass before the buss for Rabata reaches Paola, then two might pass immediately after each other!".

I said that i felt we should wait for the Paola-Rabat bus. At 3.30pm with no bus in sight i asked what the route details of the bus in question was like. The official indicated that i should speak to a lad who was sitting on at the bust shelter. The lad, wearing a t-shirt with a cartoon on it and bermudas, with no sign or identification on him on being questioned admitted that he worked for Transport Malta. From his plastic bag he took out some papers and looked up the Paola-Rabat route. The bus stops invovled are many and i reckon the trip would take about an hour from Paola to Rabat at the best of times.

So i gave up and drove my daughter to Valletta. She of course arrived late for her activity at Rabat. Given that buses are passing without sticking to a known schedule i was compelled to go pick her up at Rabat.

This is unacceptable ARRIVA! As for Transport Malta, the designing of routes is one meant to cut down on costs very much at the expense of commuters' time. Saying that the public did not participate at the consultation stage is pathetic: the public's participation is not the requisite to ensure that TMalta does its job properly. So if the public does not respond to a consultation does it mean an authority is being instructed to design things badly??

Rachel Mangion

Jul 31st 2011, 18:35

Hey!
It's OK To complain...I mean...I miss those Lovely Drivers waiting for you to Come in and hand them Your 50c.....And those Yellow buses.....Who could forget them! Those Pictures of Saints and dead relatives (which...With the Drivers' bad words they are Praised!) and The *mind your head* Sign which is scribbled over the ''always-open'' door.

I would Sure Miss them.

Elizabeth Lama

Jul 31st 2011, 16:50

i cannot comment as the language i would use is not fit for publishing.

Mario Desira

Jul 31st 2011, 15:31

Saturday 30th July 2011.

Stranded as usual in Paceville with people waiting for night buses that never turn up.

Deparuture was midnight as per schedule. The Arriva dispatcher eventually turned up.
I asked him when the N71 bus was coming and he replied on the way.
After 30 mins I again asked him when the N71 was coming and he said there was no N71 at midnight but at 0130 am!

After a further 15 minutes waiting I again asked the Dispatcher why certain Night buses had turned up at midnight but not the N71 to which he then admitted lack of buses!

This is sheer incompetence from Arriva as I never expect shortage of buses or drivers for a trip that takes place twice a week from Paceville to Mqabba!

Mr Dave Smith

Jul 31st 2011, 12:59

Best of order,best of order.
As Keith steps up to the ochy in front of the board.
Mr Bastow, you require ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY drivers to check out !
Quiet Please.
Best of luck.

James Camilleri

Jul 31st 2011, 11:40

Why all this moaning? Arriva operations will soon be as they should, that is by the time the Xaqq tal-Belt (or Fetha or Breach but please do not call it city gate) is ready to be inaugurated. After all that is why this revolution in the public transport was taken into hand. A new bus non-service for a new non-Gate.

Warren Galea

Jul 31st 2011, 10:35

The supposed "night service" from Paceville is still inexistent...

Mr Lawrence Fenech

Jul 31st 2011, 10:25

Bingo Arriva over 1,000 comments record for complaints. We now look forward for the 2,000th comment.

James Dewar

Jul 30th 2011, 22:00

@ Dave Smith
Today 19:04

Dave, Sinister development this.........a new form of Chinese Torture administered by Arriva. Whatever next?

James Dewar

Jul 30th 2011, 21:55

@ Anthony Borg

Anthony ,in this ongoing and, some would say, increasing shambles I am sure that a large part of the Maltese population and tourists would settle for just "ARRIVING" in the hope that the "on time" aspect could be addressed in due course!!

Angelo Gatt

Jul 30th 2011, 19:17

Arriva deceided to change it's name. It's called Aspetta now.
With all these complaints, did any of the ministers or better Minister Gatt had used any of the buses since 3rd July ?

albert pace

Jul 30th 2011, 19:16

When will the buzzullotti of Arriva and the Malta Transport authority come to an end?

JOE ZAHRA

Jul 30th 2011, 18:28

The Rabat main terninus has been changed from Saqqajja ,to by the Roman Villa. It seem that nobody done any work study, because if they did or had any experence of the area ,they would have kmown how hard its gone to be in winter ,for the people that use the buses. The Roman Villa area is open to the elements from all side making it one the of the coldest places in Malta. The new bus shelters are placed yhe wrong way round . People using the buses in Dec, JAN and Feb are in for the shock of thier LIFE. Where is the planning in all this

Mr Paul Borg

Jul 30th 2011, 18:18

How about a compensation for the damage caused to Valletta businesses due to lousy bus service and incompetence. Businesses are on the verge of shutting down and others will soon follow. Cocopazzo Restaurant VALLETTA

C Abdilla

Jul 30th 2011, 15:54

I have just read from Arriva website that Routes No 71 and 72 will no longer pass through the Airport. What about Gudja residents? X4 isn't enough!!! Do we have to wait till September to have another bus serving Gudja residents?

albert pace

Jul 30th 2011, 14:43

A friend of mine together with about another 100 passengers were stranded on an Arriva Bus at Tower Road. This BUS had a fault in the electicity system with the result that the passengers could not go out due to a blocked door and were left stranded on the bus without airconditioning with all the doors closed.
They had to remain on the bus banging on the doors and windows until assistance arrived after 2 hours in sauna conditions.

John Zammit

Jul 30th 2011, 13:56

This morning I taught of going to Valletta from B'kara and as I got to the Mallia bus stop I missed the bus by a couple of seconds. I decided to wait for the next one from # 41 or 42 or 43 that pass through this stop. For the next 35 minutes nothing came and decided to cancel my trip and go back home. This is pure garbage!!!!

Arriva you arrived here almost a month ago, however your services are far from perfect. lots of improvements still need to be achieved right now rather that within the next couple of months.

An interesting thing is that two buses #202 literally tailed each other the opposite way. this was around 11.35am. where is the co-ordination.

Mr Dave Smith

Jul 30th 2011, 13:53

At time of writing we are up to 979 comments. Are we gonna break the four figures by the weekend?
Gatt, Bastow, Marlow and Delia still amongst those present?

Philip Edwards

Jul 30th 2011, 13:23

Hi, we live in Melbourne Australia and we visited your lovely island last year and we plan to visit again next year. Last year when we were there we experienced your bus service. We found it very hot ( no air conditioning) but we enjoyed the service, it got us to our destinations quickly and regulary. We hope your bus company pulls its finger out and fixes the service quickly before we return. The old bus routes were ok and should be returned as well as the timetables. We look forward to our return next year, wishing we were there now. Bye Regards Carmen & Phil Edwards

Mr mario aquilina

Jul 30th 2011, 12:10

I think that there is too many Maltese cowboys employed with arriva, and with this kind of wages, one cannot expect better.

The other day, I was at the Arriva's headquarters, where I watched someone's parents filling a job application form for their own young son who stood by staring at the ceiling and that between the three of them did not know what to write where it said, title. A simple MR. or MRS. The son must have left school in the last five years or so. I taught, please help me God.

I believe, that if Arriva was left on their own without Maltese influence, our transport system would not be in this mess.

Mr Lawrence Fenech

Jul 30th 2011, 12:00

Arriva Arriva 1,000 comment getting closer.

Thomas Mc Lear

Jul 30th 2011, 10:31

Dont you wish for the good old days.Remember laughter.Hahahahehehe.Bring back the Charabancs.

James Wightman

Jul 30th 2011, 07:30

My girlfriend took the X2 to work the other day, trying to use it as part of her journey to get from St Julians to Marsa. She messaged me after 45mins to say she had almost made it too the Qormi interchange. Some 20mins later i get a message saying she was at work. Having covered twice the distance by bicycle to Safi, I was washed (thanks to the company wash basin) and at my desk for some time. Why bother with the bus?

Carmel Cilia

Jul 30th 2011, 06:52

Today Saturday 30th July at 5.30 a.m. After the lasttwo consequitive days in which there was a bus that left at 5.30.am from the Bellewiew bus terminus this morning nothing appeared. Why? People have to go to work and arrive one time. This is the end of the forth week. You wake up everymorning not knowing whether you are going to make it to work in time. Prosit Mr. Gatt. kieku messejt xi haga u hallejta tajba. Kien haqqek iz-zieda ta 500 ewo+ fil gimgha wkoll.

Ms Francesca Abela

Jul 29th 2011, 22:32

Mr Austin Gatt/ Mr Keith Barstow - Do you know that Arriva is entering it's FIFTH week of operations? Do you know that Marsascla residents are STILL WAITING for a DECENT bus service to Valletta? Do you know that the 119 Bus to M'xlokk is ALWAYS EMPTY? Do you know that the Bus 91 ONLY stops at the Terminus and does not cover the largest residential area ie Siberia ( how apt the name is) Do you knaow that before the Arrival of Arriva - Marscascala was served by no less than THREE BUSES to Valletta in an hour and i Bus to Cospicua every hour? Do you know that pre - Arriva EVERY PART of Marsascala was served by the Bus, now post Arriva only the centre of the village where there are the LEAST residents is served by the bus?

What exactly are you waitibg for to bering bact a direct bus to Valletta from all areas in the village and remove the waste by removing the empty buses going where no one wants to go!

Claire Busuttil

Jul 29th 2011, 20:49

X2 the link to the south of Malta with Mater Dei, is just a mess.
Buses are taking more than 90minutes to pass from Paola.
This should be the best route, with the minimal possible of problems to people

Arriva take action on this one

E. Formosa

Jul 29th 2011, 19:57

My parents are from Gozo and I live in Malta - had to go yesterday for a 1 hour errand in Gozo. Left car at Cirkewwa decided to try the new bus service.

Much to my surprise the bus service is totally not synchronised with the ferry arrival and departures! Ferry arrived at 6.30pm and there was no bus yet. After about 10 mins it appeared and only left at 6.50pm Arrived late for the appointment I had at 7pm ...

I used to think that bus commuters were blowing things out of proportion but I totally understand them now and feel sorry for them. My suggestion is: if possible try car sharing, in my case the cost of going to and from work (excluding wear and tear and accident risk) with another person is substantially less than the cost of 2 day bus tickets and I can literally sleep one hour more in the morning that if using the bus service !

guido cutajar

Jul 29th 2011, 18:01

Service from Rabat ( malta ) to Valletta and back...excellent ...........Concentrate on other routes........

Mark Galea

Jul 29th 2011, 11:25

Yesterday
took me from 2 3/4 hours to arrive to Cirkewwa !

Please give us the old bus service back! It took us around 1 hour - 1 1/4 hour to arrive to Cirkewwa. It was not the best of services, but waiting on bus stops was always less than 15 minutes (for me) and we always arrived in good time. Now it is HOPELESS.

Can these routes to Cirkewwa be given to another contractor ?

Robert L. Mifsud

Jul 29th 2011, 11:00

The ticketing system being used is rather antiquated and wastes a lot of time when a large number of passengers are boarding. A swipe card with a top up system via internet or mobile or machine at major bus stops should be used. There should be one standard charge. When you board the bus you swipe your card and keep moving to your seat. Non Maltese ID holders could have a different swipe card which deducts the higher charge when used.

Mrs Janet Bayes

Jul 29th 2011, 10:51

I never read any complaints about the old service of course.
Can any one tell me how you can rectify this situation?
1)The maltese speaking drivers that didnt show for work need replacing.
2)Someone in Transport Malta needs to admit they were wrong in the writing of the routes and timetables
3)The system needed to be introduced slowly and gradually
4) The bus users (all of them) want to see a better service, and everyione looks at the effect on themselves.

So find 180 Maltese speaking persons to train as a bus driver ( only those that want the job need apply), reduce the new routes back to the old ones, plan to introduce new routes slowly and more effectively, think outside your own selfish little box, and realise that EVERYONE wants to travel around the islands. Implement all this OVERNIGHT - - - then no one will need to be complaining any more will they?
It is possible to please some of the people some of the time, but NEVER all of the people all of the time.

Mario Desira

Jul 29th 2011, 09:54

Regretfully after four weeks the Arriva bus services seems to be deteriorating at least in some of the routes.

Again, bus 72 Qrendi to Valletta direct departue at 0701 hours never showed up. Passengers took bus 117 to the airport where we spent some 15 minutes waiting for a bus and were lucky we got on bus 71 to Valletta as it was full up.

This is a classic example of why the circular routes are creating havoc and massive delays and long queues. Had the 117 bus and driver (as an example ) been deployed to operate route 72 people would have arrived on time at work and the actual timetable adhered to, but for some reason this elementary principle is continuously ignored by the operator.

It will been even worse in September when large traffic jams manifest due to schools reopening.

A lady who works at Mgarr was heard explaining it is taking over FOUR HOURS to get from Qrendi to Mgarr. If 8 hours a day spent travelling from A to B in tiny Malta is not a sign of gross mismanagement of the system I do not know what is!

Mr Dave Smith

Jul 29th 2011, 09:37

If the bendy bus photgraphed outside MIA in this article has the correct UK number plates it was first regestered for road use between 1st September 2005 and end of Feb 2006.

Will leave the math to you guys !!

Arriva, bus index number BX55 FWG any comment?

Michael Magri

Jul 29th 2011, 09:02

Only one thing is for sure with this ARRIVA bus, so called, service.(!!)...

After all that fancy talk about how wonderful our `new` bus service is going to be by none other than the Hon. Austin Gatt himself and his right hand man Mr. Delia, i think that these two gentlemen should first of all Apologise to the DISGRUNTLED Tax Payer of these Islands for this impecable MESS, and then RESIGN and go for a long holiday, untill someone else will put us back in order...!!

But Then.. Oh yes.. I Know Guys... I guess i`m pretending to much, as Nobody, politicaly or otherwise, in the GonziPN Regime is held accountable for ANYTHING on these SAINTLY ISLANDS of ours`...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

M. Mifsud

Jul 29th 2011, 07:29

I wish to comment in connection with three points.

1) The bus routes. The bus routes are too long and the service is too chaotic. There need to be a re-examination of the whole system in place. Ideally the older bus-route system is to be put back in place. All the direct links between all the villages and towns all over Malta and Valletta should be restored. The number 75 bus route to Mater Dei should be re-introduced. Just imagine new comfortable buses, new drivers, new customer care attitude operating on the older bus route system. It would be fantastic.

2) The fares. I think that imposing a Euro1.50 fare for a whole day is not fair. I think that a reasonable price per journey should be re-introduced. There are several commuters who does not need to take the bus each and every morning to work because they would find a lift with someone but they would need to take the bus back home in the evening. I am not saying that the price should revert to be 0.47cents or 0.49 cents as it used to be before. But I am saying let's find a compromise and introduce a reasonable fare of let's say 0.70cents/0.75cents per person per journey .

3) My third point is about the park and ride in Floriana which has been created and buildt by the government with taxpayers money and now it has been passed on to Arriva a private company which has now decided to charge those who use this facility. |I believe that this is not etichally and morally correct. I believe also that this is a blatant act of state aid to a private company. A facility that has been constructed by means of taxpayers' money should not be given/passed into the hands of a private company for free. And to boot all this the same private company is permitted to charge money for the public to be allowed to use this same facility.

Mr Lawrence Fenech

Jul 29th 2011, 06:36

Arriva four weeks plus and still in a mess.

James Camilleri

Jul 29th 2011, 00:09

Why is the 125 bus from Mater Dei to Mile End not stopping at the old 71 bus terminus at B'Kara (as it should)? I was at the terminus waiting for this bus together with a sizable number of people at 5:45pm. A 125 bus arrived around 10 minutes later but instead of stopping and turning into the terminus it continued going. I continued to wait and in fact another 125 bus came around 6:45/50. However it too did not turn into the terminus and continued going straight in the direction of Fleur de Lys. Both buses were not full. The 125 bus which came from the oppisite direction, that is from Mile End to Mater Dei stopped at the terminus. I had no option but to walk up to Mriehel to catch one of the rabat buses from there. I arrived at my destination, Hamrun at around 7:20 that is more than 1 hour 30 minutes after I had left home.

Tonio Galea

Jul 28th 2011, 19:12

I used a bus this after noon it was route 11 from Sliema, I might've been lucky but as soon as I went on the bus stop the bus arrived.... and there was another one coming it was a bit far though... the bus (which was an articulated one) was extremely comfortable and my feet fit in the space between seats at last!!! I adored the ac as well and the driver (british) was kind and well educated as well. What needs to change for the bus service to be more efficient is the routes and besides that PEOPLE HAVE TO STOP PARKING IN/NEAR THE BUS STOPS else there'll be traffic :/ also the busses needs a wash from the outside but the inside was incredibly clean!

Richard Pace

Jul 28th 2011, 18:42

Isn't it time that Emanuel Desira read through all 936 comments and sorted out public transport system and answered the comments one by one. He gets about 15% statuatory overtime for this work.

Mrs M. Attard

Jul 28th 2011, 15:28

Some more training is needed for the new Drivers please, yesterday a Bus turning in Hamrun about 8pm nearly took cars in the road who gave way for it to turn, only the quick thinking of the lead driver who reversed and made the others move back prevented the bus from hitting the cars as it turned into the High street from near the Jojos shop, the driver made the turn too close and should have given more way to turn the bus.

Ray Mangan

Jul 28th 2011, 13:44

Grumble Grumble Grumble - That is all I hear about the Arriva bus service. Personally I have been impressed with the service offered by Arriva thus far. In the swealtering heat the other day I took a very comfortable air conditioned jounrney which put me in a fantastic mood for my trip to the ferries. Maybe its the thick black smoke that has polluted the air for so long that people miss, or perhaps the bumpy uncomfortable journeys.

I salute Arriva for their efficent Airport routes. Customer service and professionalism are two things that were lacking and now seem to be here in abundence. Its time for Malta to step up with the times and move forward from the days of lingering years behind the rest of Europe.

This really is a jewel of an island with so much to offer in every way, lets welcome people to it with the best services that we can possibly offer.

Ray Mangan

Anthony Borg

Jul 28th 2011, 13:24

Mr. Thomas Dimech
Commercial Manager at Arriva Malta Ltd.

Sir,

Despite that 4 weeks have now elapsed since the launching of the new Arriva Public Transport System,
I am still wasting 45 to 55 minutes waiting time at bus-stops for Route 106 coming from Mater Dei
towards Lija / Balzan/ Attard.

Whilst waiting for this route 106 bus at Lija “WIJI” bus-stop this morning, no less than five route 31 buses passed by (between 10:00 and 11:000). Whilst I understand that this route is extensively used by tourist, you cannot treat local commuters so poorly!

According to your printed time-time-table, 106 has a frequency of departure every 15 minutes. A far cry from what I have been enduring at bus-stops. I cannot keep a single appointment on time, whilst cancelling many others.

Arriva, no more excuses, no more apologies - if you cannot deliver after one month, please pack up and go.
Regards
Anthony Borg

A Caruana

Jul 28th 2011, 13:04

Update - yesterday, my neice tried waiting for Bus no 135 from near Cerviola Hotel she was there at 8.50, the bus which should be passing every half hour on the hour and at half past never arrived, so she ended up walking in the dark on her own to the terminus to get Bus 91 on the way a young man in a car stopped to pester her offering her a lift which she ignored , this is a situation which cannot go on! If something bad happens to any Marsascala youngsters there will be hell to pay Mr Austin gatt and you will be amongst the first to get it from angry fathers.

Mark Galea

Jul 28th 2011, 12:29

Yesterday for the first time the X1 arrived on time and made the trip on time.

IT WAS ON TIME BECAUSE IT WAS A SUBCONTRACTED ZARB COACHES BUS, NOT THE ARRIVA BUS.

PLEASE, GIVE US THE SUBCONTRACTED BUSSES ... THEY ARE ON TIME AND THEY MAKE THE TRIP IN TIME. THE REST OF THE ARRIVA BUSSES CAN BE USED ELSEWHERE ON SHORT ROUTES, BUT NOT ON SUCH LONG ROUTES.

Bob Groucott

Jul 28th 2011, 12:20

What I admire about Arriva is their cold ruthless inefficiency (sic).

Example: I waited 50 minutes this morning in Mellieha for a bus going towards Ghadira, and then gave up and decided to walk. Two minutes later FOUR buses passed me, one after the other in the space of 3 minutes, three of them virtually empty.

They couldn't organise a bun fight in a bakery.....

Marthese Cilia

Jul 28th 2011, 09:34

I think that they should leave the bus routes as they were and introduce village routes as required .Hope that things will change maybe I will start using them.

Mario Desira

Jul 28th 2011, 09:22

Jul 27

No Qrendi bus from Valetta departed at 1450 hours. The next one that showed up was around 1520. Almost one hour waiting!

Meanwhile again I noticed the Cirkewwa bus departing full up from Valletta. How realistic is the chance of people on bus stops from Valletta to Cirkewwa boarding such a bus.

JUL 28

At Qrendi Terminus bus 72 came 16 minutes late at 0717. Seems Arriva has not yet learned to factor in an average of 15 mins traffic jams delay per journey in the early morning rush to work.

To add insult to injury, after arriving late, the driver got of the bus for 3 minutes to smoke a cigarette, pretending to check some papers and inspect the bus at the same time. I would have said nothing if we were on time but 17 minutes late is not the time for a ciggy break! The bus (Bus 70) departed 0722 from Qrendi with passengers arriving late for work as usual.

By law Departure from Qrendi is 0701 as per Arriva timetable. Actual departure times are as follows:

22 JUL departure 0728 – late 27 mins
25 JUL departure 0707 – late 06 mins
26 JUL departure 0701 – departure on time
27 JUL departure 0709 – late 08 mins
28 JUL departure 0717 – late 16 mins

Compare - with old regime buses a bus left on time every 15 mins in the morning!

No further comments, as the above facts speak for themselves.

Carmel Cilia

Jul 28th 2011, 08:32

I was after an arriva bus yesterday going up hill at Selmun. I could'nt believe my eyes but sure enough I could see exhaust coming out of the silencer. It was not heavy fumes but still it was there and this in their
third week. What would be the result after one or two years one might imagine.

Mr Charles Grima

Jul 28th 2011, 07:34

All these comments have brought home to me the clear and painful truth....buses are NEVER going to change the comfort, precision, and timeliness of one's own car or bicycle.

And with Arriva taking such a large leap into the uknown (for them), it was clear to see that things could never go right.

How can less buses serve more people? It simply does not equate.

Leaving routes as they were, with different drivers (absolutely imperative!) and buses was the right answer... and THEN introduce inter-village routes as required.

Eventually, less buses on the road is a bonus for me... pity the commuters though.

Get on your bikes lads!

Antonio Anastasi

Jul 28th 2011, 01:38

Mr. Emanuel Delia.

Please note that times indicated times are approximate, however, the waiting times are quite accurate as I have taken to using my stopwatch while waing for buses to appear or not.

Yesterday, the 26th of July, I left St.Paul's bay at around 1700hrs.

Not wanting to wait for the 41 which would take me to Mosta for my connecting bus Nos.23 to Mgarr, and wait again there,for God knows how long, I decided to take the 31 which would take me on the longer route via Sliema. I decided that I would wait less at the Valletta terminal than on the Mosta Rotunda stage.

In Valletta I waited there for close to three hours, with another 6 passengers, one of which was a tourist residing at Golden Bay, who had already been waiting one and a half hours when I got there.

We asked for information from the personell on site who informed us on various occassions that it would be there in 10 mins.

During our wait the 21 bus to Mosta, was departing every 30mins or so.

We were aslo advised by ARRIVA personnel that there was only 1 (ONE) bus operating on 23 Valletta Golden Bay route.

At around 2030Hrs I called Cuostomer care asking for information but they could not tell me. I asked if she could call control and get an idea of the bus's ETA and call me back as had been done on other occassions only to be told that they had been advised NOT to call control anymore for information.

Sometime during our wait we saw TWO 23 arriving at Valletta terminal only to disappear to the ARRIVA personnel's surprise and our frustration.

Laudibly your man on the ground checked what the problem was to be informed that one of the buses was changing driver.....he was as embarresed as we were pissed off when neither bus made an appearance for the rest of the night.

At around 2100Hrs, one of the Arriva guys called 'control' and advised them that the tourist had to get to the hotel in order to pack and catch her plane at mid-night.

At around 2130Hrs a 23 came to offer a direct trip to Golden Bay, however the tourist had already made her own way, 4 of the other passangers had done likewise, which left me and another passenger.

The other passanger decided to forget all about meeting hewr friends at Golden Bay, which left ONLY me.

Seeing that, the bus driver called somebody on the phone advising them that there was only one passenger.

I was told sorry but I had to get off the bus as the trip was not going to be made for JUST one person.

Eventually the 23 Bus arrived at around 2150Hrs.

The bus had a bad smell to it, and was dirty to boot, way below the standards of the service.

I eventually walked through the door of my home in Mgarr at around 2300Hrs, 6 (SIX) hours after departing from St.Paul's Bay.

I have often defended ARRIVA and have been one of their appologists, but while I can understand that the company may not be responsible for some of its convoluted and time consuming routes, but they are responsible to ensure that the routes are well provided for.

To put the cherry on the cake; frustration, anger, tierdness and hunger caused me to loose my camera on the bus, which I have duly reported to customer care and did the police report. I hope that some honest soul hands this in.

On a final note. The shortest time it has ever taken me to get from St.Paul's bay to home in Mgarr, was three hours, one hour thirty mins longer than when we had the older and unrelaible system. On average it takes me around three to four hours, using the 41 and 23 compination.

Andreea Prodan

Jul 27th 2011, 23:29

Arriva are quite good as long as they sort the different price scheme. IT IS NOT FAIR for tourists to pay double!! When you go abroad you pay the same the citizens pay!!! This is ridiculous and it is discriminating and people dont know what to do to rip money off others!!!! This is not good advert for malta people as i heard sooo many tourist complain it is too expensive!!! Think about it.

Mr G Mangion

Jul 27th 2011, 19:47

WE Need the old ruotes, No sightseeing, more busses, and a hop ON Fare !!

but in Malta it seems that in Maltese IL - PIKI JAQTAW LAPTITI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:)

Michel Camilleri

Jul 27th 2011, 17:55

We all know that Arriva had to learn the ropes

But for a better service they have dashed all our hopes

We all know and understand that time is money

If I plan a trip for Christmas I should not arrive with the Easter bunny

It is all well and good to have manners, A/c and drivers with a tie

But waiting for hours in the scorching sun is not worth the try

With all the fanfare and buses named King Long

Definitely something has gone terribly “WONG”

If the A/c after only one week has already broke

You begin to wonder if this is some kind of joke

It is true we got rid of tattoos, swearing, vests and statues of saints

But we have been inundated with thousands of complaints

So please heed what we are trying to say

We need a reliable service for every single day

We should never resort to the service we had

But compared to the previous one…this is just as bad

Anthony Borg

Jul 27th 2011, 16:33

Dear fellow commentators - how was the Arriva service today?
Any better?
--
I did not venture out today! Yesterday, I spent a toal of 1hr.55 minutes waiting time at 3 bus stops.

< >

Mark Galea

Jul 27th 2011, 15:04

Fil-bidu kien hemm is-servizz tal-busses, li ghakemm ma kienx l-ahjar possible, kien iwasslek kullimkien, FIL-HIN.
Issa avanzajna u sirna aktar efficjenti - sighat mohlijiet fuq l-istages, jekk tkun xortik, titla bil-wieqfa, u wara Sight Seeing trip, f'xi hin tasal fid-destinazzjoni tieghek ... Allahares ma jkunux dawn id-day tickets, ghax 2 hour ticket mhux dejjem iservik.

Jeremy cassar

Jul 27th 2011, 13:24

Firstly the buses are too big for our roads and increasing traffic problem.

Secondly, we should have small electric buses, like many towns in Italy have. That would help reduce the polution problem we have at the moment.

Thirdly, I miss the older Maltese buses. I believe that some should have been kept, the old ones especially. They should have been kept on the road for touristic purposes. They could have been restored, with airconditioning and new engines. By removing them we took away old of malta's key touristic assests.

Mr Lawrence Fenech

Jul 27th 2011, 10:59

Tant l-Arriva m'ghandhomx idea kif ser imexxu il-busses li qieghdin jistriehu fuq il -comments forsi jaqbdu art. U Mr. 38% li dejjem sejjer u ma jitlaq qatt sieket.

D Galea

Jul 27th 2011, 08:47

Qabel ma dahhlet l-Arriva, r-residenti tal-Fgura kienu jistghu jirkbu 6 karrozzi tal linja meta issa spiccajna b wahda biss. U liema wahda ?? Ta' Mskala intant - mimlija u ppakkjata turisti specjalment issa fis-Sajf. Ahna ghal aghar morna ghax filghodu hlief tal-linja ippakkjati mhux qed jghaddu mill Fgura. U jekk nirkbu bil-wieqfa sal belt. Ahna inhallsu bhal haddiehor. Dejjem tas-south jibilghu l-kannent. Qed nispicca nibda nohrog aktar qabel biex nasal fil-hin ix xoghol, issa hekk sew ? Soluzzjoni: jaghmlu rotta mill-belt ghal mskala kif kienet qabel u jaghmluhom aktar frekwenti specjalment fil-hinijiet tax-xoghol;

Dwar is-saver card: Ghax ma titnehhiex it time-window ? Mhux sew titlef il flus meta tkun leave u sick apparti li fil-weekend jien ma nahdimx.

Nispera li xi tip ta' azzjoni tittiehed mill-aktar fis possibbli.

reno cini

Jul 26th 2011, 23:04

I am not that type of guy that moan much and has lots of patience but ther is a limit for everything .I am a residence from fgura and still after 3 weeks and now even after hearing the changes that are going to be made our (fgura ) route is still a mess how, ever can we have a service to go to valletta when only one bus passes from fgura departing from marsa scala ,this morning my daughter hade to go to valletta for german lessons as she is young I accompand her, her lesson starts at 9:00 so as I know the situation, because I use arriva for work to mater dei and its frustrating,anyway,we left home at 7:30 after our 7minute walk to bus stop PUNIKA we managed to get a bus at 8:50 packed like sardines praying that nothing happens on the road because it would be fatal(obviously arriving late) ,its not because no bus arrived actually 4 buses came but all full up obviously catering for such many people its frustrating to get on board from fgura. another thing is that I saw that bus number 121 and 124 are going to be amalgamated till now I don't know the actual route but I hope that fgura will remain in route,because for catering other people (which they have the right) we (fgura) are being sacrificed like the new route of bus 91 going to jerma and st thomas which is very right to do but of which zonqor is not mentioned all this is going to reflect on more time getting a bus from fgura,one bus catering for more then 50000 people and not on schedule is impossible, thank you for your time and understanding.
RENO CINI

Joseph Stephen Galea

Jul 26th 2011, 21:28

The Santa Margerita bus (now 103 ... previously 157) route saga.
I have been informed that today (26 July 2011) the bus on route 103 stopped operating at around 4pm due to lack of fuel from Arriva. Not believing the story I stopped on the Rotunda bus stop waiting for the bus at 5.45pm. I waited for the next bus according to the schedule (6.08pm) but it did not turn up. Then for the next (6.53pm) but it didnt turn up either! At 7.08pm I phoned Arriva ... I was told that the bus was operating on an hourly schedule. And when confronted that I had been at the bus stop for nearly and hour a half, she promised to send some memo to check. Two hours later ... at 8pm I left the bus stop. DISGRACE. Just to remind Dr Austin Gatt of his promise to the Santa Margerita residents (in a reply to a Parliamentary Question by the Onor Anthony Agius Decelis) that our service should improve. HA HA HA !!!! Who is responsible for stopping the service because of lack of fuel !!!!!!!!!

Mr Dave Smith

Jul 26th 2011, 19:58

Never, in the field of managerial incompetance, has so much, been due, to so many, by so few

saviour attard

Jul 26th 2011, 16:33

Nistaqsi : il-karozza 54 li se tibda tahdem bejn Valletta u Attard se tikkaverja r-rotta li kienet tikkaverja l-karozza 40, li fi triqitha lejn Attard kienet tghaddi minn Hal Balzan? Jekk le hemm xi karozza ohra li se tibda tghaddi minn Hal Balzan fi triqitha lejn il-Belt u lura?

A Saliba

Jul 26th 2011, 15:32

Before Arriva came on the scene, The M'scala bus (now 91) coming from Valletta used to stop at the bus stop known today as Lawrenz in front of K Optics in Convent Street. Zabbar. Now, the bus misses this stop and keeps on going on its way to M'scala.

Whoever is responsible for this please bring back the 91 on bus stop Lawrenz. Many Commuters are complaining about this as the previous bus stop and the one after are miles apart. Why are these complaints falling on deaf ears? Even the Zabbar Local Council has forwarded this query. So why isn't anyone doing anything about it.? Funny thing is , we have a bus stop where to get on but we have'nt got one where to get off. What a disgrace!!!

Mr francis darmanin

Jul 26th 2011, 14:13

And I suggest the following route for Gzira, Sliema and St Julians commuters who want to avoid the congested Strand, Ferries, and Gha rid-dud promenade: Valletta, Floriana, Msida, Rue d'Argent, Savoy, Rudolph Street, Dingli Street Tower Road and on to Spinola Bay. A nice fast route. I am not a traffic consultant but I knew from 30 years driving experience that this is the shortest route to Sliema.

Alessandro Bruno

Jul 26th 2011, 09:21

This morning Birgu's Open Market was half empty: reaching Birgu has never been so difficult indeed.

Dear TM I suggest 2 new routes:

- 1 Marsaskala > Zabbar .> Cospicua > Gzira > Sliema (Bypassing the already well served and congested Paola and Valletta)

- 2 A "southern Malta" circular road: airport > Paola > Fgura > Cospicua > Zabbar > Marsaskala > Marsaxlokk > Birzebbuga > airport

Silvio Farrugia

Jul 26th 2011, 07:37

When is Austin Gatt going to resign after this fiasco ? Has he no shame to show his face outside ?

Clotilde Mifsud

Jul 26th 2011, 01:54

In Saturday's newspaper the latest Arriva update began: "Nearly 20 days after introducing its new service, Arriva yesterday announced 27 changes to its routes, adjusting them according to comments and complaints it had received."

How interesting, I thought...as I wondered just exactly where Arriva was 'receiving' these comments and complaints. I have trolled every page on their Maltese website http://www.arriva.com.mt looking for an email address or place where I could leave any written comments, suggestions, observations, travel histories of my episodes with Arriva - and I have found none! I have no wish to try the telephone and speak to anyone. I want to put my points across in writing, both for my records as well as Arriva's. Somehow, I don't quite trust phone calls, nor do I like being put on hold for long periods of time, nor do I like wasting lots of time listening to busy signals and having to redial. It's a shortcoming of mine. Patience is a virtue, and I know I was brought to Malta to learn patience in this lifetime. Some lessons are easier for me to learn than others.

So do I think there is a battery of secretaries combing through three English speaking newspapers every day plus checking the comments from readers to Arriva-related articles appearing online (some of which are very amusing, entertaining, and also, by the way, extremely accurate in their assessment of what should have been done in reorganizing our public transport system). No, I am not naive enough to think Arriva is researching these avenues of written venting and assessment. From where, then, are they receiving their comments?

On their "Talk to us" web page there is an email address for enquiries...but that's for those who cannot find the information they need on the Arriva website. That's not what I'm looking for! I'm looking for bus service which will get me from point A to point B in an equal or better time than we experienced previously under the old system, on a reliable, predictable, realistic time schedule.

There's another catch-all sentence on the "Talk to us" web page which says:
"Arriva Malta also provides useful customer information, including lost property and enquiry/ complaint procedures. We will shortly be introducing our 'ask the expert' page, where our experts at Arriva Malta will answer your questions." The word 'provides' is in the present tense. I must have missed something somewhere. Or maybe their website or at least this web page is as incomplete as their preparations for the actual implementation of the new and improved Malta bus service. Can't wait to see the upcoming 'ask the expert' page! Stay tuned...

Next I turned my attention to the article: "Arriva makes 27 route changes" (23 July 2011).
I am delighted to read: "Some routes are being removed, others being shortened and others being introduced afresh after having been removed."

Since it had previously taken me three hours to make a trip from Valletta to Manikata (with no problems encountered) on day six of Arriva's operations - a trip which previously would have taken me 45 minutes to Manikata centre, I was eager to see what improvements I'd find to their routing to Manikata (the little village which Arriva forgot...try finding it on any of the printed literature we received before or after the July 3rd launch). I counted 26 bullet 'changes' (not 27), but maybe someone will soon find the missing addition/removal/shortening and let us know.

Unfortunately, Manikata was nowhere to be found on the list, so I guess this means unless Arriva reads my comments in the newspaper, I and anyone else wishing to visit or leave Manikata by public transport, is doomed to endure a three hour (plus) trip, requiring one or two bus changes, and forced to wait at unfinished (read: barely begun) bus shelters in the blazing sun and heat, with no street light at all after dark. That puts it up to a six hour round trip to Manikata which really puts a dent in one's day.

Is this appropriate? Is this an improvement? I think not.

I hope Arriva is reading and listening...and taking notes!


Clotilde Mifsud

James Dewar

Jul 25th 2011, 22:06

Would it be too much to ask that someone (or corporate body even) shows some leadership and takes ownership of this ongoing disaster. Call me cynical (because I am) but I fear that the most recent deadline date of 11/09 will come and go and the chaos (perhaps a reduced level) will continue. This is surely a time for government to show strong leadership and hold those responsible for the fiasco to account.

A name that does not figure frequently in these postings but probably should is "Halcrow" who were apparently paid substantial fees to re-design the route network. Has anyone in authority asked them for an explanation and how they came to the conclusions that were so wrong and have resulted in chaos?

Comments in these columns are one thing and indeed important to reflect the public attitude and experiences but action is required at a high level and probing questions urgently need to be asked of those responsible.

It's buses we are on about here but there are two ships that are relevant and so far missing..............OWNERSHIP and LEADERSHIP.

j. catania

Jul 25th 2011, 21:44

just give them a chance to settle people !!!!!!

Claire Busuttil

Jul 25th 2011, 20:47

some bus drivers are keeping the AC, very very low......it is really not fair on elderly people.....weak persons, or kids....

There should be a standard tempreature, which is reasonable, and that do not put once health at risk.

Health Department and Arriva Please take note.

Mr Lawrence Fenech

Jul 25th 2011, 19:33

What I fancy is the disparity between the wages of the maltese drivers and british ones. I guess the british ones know malta better.

Maurice Cini

Jul 25th 2011, 19:02

Can Transport Malta please advice why Bus no3 passing from Kalkara has been removed from passing through St. Liberata Street Kalkara? This part of Kalkara was used by Many people old aged and alike. The area around close to this street is always developing with new buildings and was giving many a very good service. It also served many to visit the Capuchin Church.Can this old route be re-instated to give service to all. Thanks.

Mr John Dee

Jul 25th 2011, 17:38

It seems from reading these letters over the past few days that Transport Malta would not be capable of running a whelk stall !

Would it be too simple a solution to ask Arriva (acknowledged to be an international transport specialist) to sort out the recruitment / routes / schedules to give us a decent professional service?

Their own drivers must surely have reported back to their managers where the problem areas are.

Irene Forster

Jul 25th 2011, 16:49

What is being done about the G'Mangia route ????? The minimum time from G'Mangia to Valletta is about 32 to 36 minutes as it goes through quite a number of stages and places before arriving at destination, when this is only a 5 to 8 minute ride. The alternative is to go to Msida or Hamrun.

Please explain

Irene Forster

Mr Joseph Markham

Jul 25th 2011, 14:59

Route 52 from Rabat to Valletta, this morning circa 0907am

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly:

The Good: The bus (when it turned up) was new and clean. The driver was polite, though he seemed a bit upset (dunno the reason!) Drive to Valletta was quite uneventful, save for a few jolts due to abrupt braking and not stopping at a stage in Attard ( to the obvious displeasure to the youth who was waiting there!).


The Good: The bus (when it turned up) was new and clean. The driver was polite, though he seemed a bit upset (dunno the reason!) Drive to Valletta was quite uneventful, save for a few jolts due to abrupt braking and not stopping at a stage in Attard ( to the obvious displeasure to the youth who was waiting there!). The scrolling bus stop and audio announcements on board the bus were also working as advertised

The Bad: It took about 30 minutes for the bus to appear, when the advertised rate is about 1 bus every 10 minutes... Naturally, this threw off my schedule off the rails.... There also seemed confusion when we stopped in front of the Phoenicia hotel. The trip itself wasn't bad (unless one was thrown about by sudden braking if one was standing!). I was lucky to be seated.

The Ugly: The trip back was on a non-Arriva coach, which was not air-conditioned, smelly and dirty.... and with a driver with more studs than a horse! But I guess beggars can't be choosers, so hopped on and eventually arrived in Rabat. Luckily, it wasn't too hot.... otherwise, I would now be an advert for human body odours!!!!

The Ugly: Schedule? What schedule! I missed my appointment, courtesy of Arriva (Late).


Whoever came up with the idea of paper tickets should be lined up next to Valletta bastions, shot, hung, left to rot for a few weeks, and then fed to the fishes.... With existing fast, clean and efficient methods ( such as Oyster Card in the UK or ez-Link in Singapore ) one would avoid all the waste of time and handling of money by the already overworked driver, resulting in a more efficient journey (and possibly save a few trees ;-)

All in all, still far away from being good enough to justify me ditching my car.... :-))

Claire Busuttil

Jul 25th 2011, 13:27

I think that Arriva, should have an alternative route, when it`s usual road is closed due to the feasts.
But this should be a suitable one for people, and not just damp them, hundreds of meters away, from their original drop off point.

Public Transport service should have priority over feasts!!

Claire Busuttil

Jul 25th 2011, 13:24

I am still hearing a lot of compalins, due to the lack of proper service given by bus X2, especially on the Paola (opposite prison) bus stop.
People are still waiting and waiting there!!

Please take action!

Claire Busuttil

Jul 25th 2011, 13:23

yesterday the bus from Marsaxlokk to Marsaskala, was not working properly in the afternoon, there were maltese people, and tourists who went there for the Sunday, waiting in the sun.

Arriva take note!

Ray Gatt

Jul 25th 2011, 11:28

I think Arriva is a better service. I think things must take time to improve. So why do we Maltese always have to grumle? It is true there are some problems on the routes. But why not let Arriva take care about these problems. I am sure as Arriva offer an excellant bus service in most countries much bigger than Malta will settle these problems and sure we will get a super service. We must WAIT and see the results before we grumble.

george montebello

Jul 25th 2011, 09:52

in my opinion as long as we are not having those old routes, which takes you straight to mater dei via university, and the one from all villages which takes you to the capital without changing the bus, i dont think we are going to have better transport, please arriva/malta transport take NOTE.

Mario Desira

Jul 25th 2011, 08:27

ARRIVA – TAKEN FOR A RIDE PART 3

Paceville - Midnight Saturday 23 July.

Old regime buses had a bus to Zurrieq departing midnight.

We waited and waited and waited in Paceville.
Arround 0030 an Arriva dispatcher appeared,
When a lady asked him why two buses to Mosta appeared while other localities did not show up, she was ignored. I asked him when the Zurrieq bus was coming and he said he would try to find a driver!

By 0045 I gave up and hired a van. On the van were people from Siggiewi Zebbug Attard Gudja Qrendi Zurrieq all obviously passengers whose bus did not turn up.

What excuse does Arriva have for this shoddy service this time? Surely at midnight there were more than enough drivers and buses to spare since the last services stopped at least one hour before!
Cindirella would be proud I am sure!

Carmel Cilia

Jul 25th 2011, 06:13

Today 25th July the beginning of the 4th week with Arriva(Mai) I took my wife at 5.15a.m. at the Belle View bus terminus for Valletta. The 102 bus arrived on time empty for Gnejna and left empty. By 5.55 am the number of people waiting for the bus to Valletta must have been around thirty. A Bus without any number arrived and the driver told us to take this bus to Bugibba and take another bus from there to Valletta.
When asked why no bus 41 or 11 appeared he just told us to tell these things to Arriva and added that no bus was coming.
From amongst the passengers waiting there was a young lady who had to travel to Kalkara.
Just imagine the beginning of a new week under these conditions.
I sayGonzi is feeling happy because the cyclists told him that the air has become cleaner.

Sorry Dr. Gonzi this morning the air at Belleview was anything but clean. The blaspheming I heard this morning Is on your precious conscience if you really has one. A third world country at its best.

Mario Desira

Jul 24th 2011, 22:04

ARRIVA – BEING TAKEN FOR A RIDE

PART 1 - Friday 22 July.
1830 HRS From Valletta terminus, no 72 bus in sight, so took Bus 71 and stopped at Airport Interchange.
1900 HRS Arrived at Airport Interchange. Dispatcher does not know arrival departure times.
2020 HRS Bus 72 finally appears
2035 HRS Arrival Qrendi a full two hours for what should have been a 25 minute journey.

PART 2 -Saturday 23 July.

Decided to see a horror movie in Paceville. The film starts 1835 hours. Decided to make this a test and trial run of the new so-called ’service’. Found out the journey itself was a horror prelude to the actual film………

Under the previous bus regime it was departure Qrendi at 1730 arrival Valletta 1800 then taking the direct Paceville bus arriving Paceville 1830.

1730 HRS – no bus 72 in sight so took the bus 118 which I called the Bloody Bubaqra bus. There one spends the best part of 20 minutes traveling from Zurrieq to Zurrieq, with the final ten minutes to arrive at the Airport exchange via Safi and Kirkop.

1800 HRS - Dispatcher informed X bus was going to Paceville but driver was having his break. Turned out the driver who for the past 25 minutes was conversing nearing us with some people was the driver on break. Another eight minutes before we actually boarded the bus. Then from Airport to Qormi Interchange and then to Mater Dei and finally Paceville.

1855 HRS - Arrived almost half an hour late, tense and agitated before the horror movie even started!
This journey took half an hour more than the old route and via Valletta……then we are led to believe having Valletta as a hub was unproductive and superfluous!

One final note. Arriva managing director Keith Bastow said:

"Whilst the changes do have a commercial impact upon us, l am pleased to be able to confirm that this additional cost will be borne by Arriva Malta and will neither be passed onto the travelling public nor Transport Malta."

Mr Bastow, Route 71 and 72 will now no longer pass through the Airport Interchange. In the early morning traffic jams that characterise the airport area, Arriva will actually be making a saving of almost 10 minutes worth of fuel including air conditioning which becomes 15 minutes once schools start again in September. Not only is this example not costly it will actually save time and money for Arriva and at least 10 extra minutes deleted in favour of the public using routes 71 and 72.

Wilfred Camilleri

Jul 24th 2011, 21:57

I find it incredible that after all the comments made about who is responsible for designing the routes, many of those commenting on the service insist to lay the blame on Arriva. Is it possible that there are that many thick headed and ignorant people in Malta?

So get it through your thick. muddled heads. TRANSPORT MALTA DESIGNED THE BUS ROUTES AND IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CHANGING OR ADJUSTING THEM, NOT ARRIVA!!!!!

C Vella

Jul 24th 2011, 18:23

I agree about giving the system a chance to settle down, but in the meantime many sectors are suffering. People think twice about making a journey to go shopping unless it is a necessity. Somebody should be held responsible for this mess. TM should be responsible enough, to admit that it is the main culprit. I have a question to whoever invented these new routes, "did u make try the system physically, to see if it works?" When someone invests in a new project, one should test it. Transport system effects the whole of Malta, surely it should have been taken more seriously. Whoever, tried to blame the people, the councils, etc that there was no feedback, I tell them that it is not true they did not try hard enough to get a feedback. I read the newspapers, follow the news, and read whatever arrives in my letterbox (of importance of course), the people were not informed enough. Compare what we were being fed on the referendum, to what we were being fed on the new transport system, I would say it was 5:100. Sorry whoever was responsible did not do his job properly, one way or the other.
The drivers who did not turn up for work, too contributed to this mess. Thanks to their action, things did go wrong.
Arriva can't be very proud of their website. I personally used it and followed it to the letter, only to arrive on a bus stop that instead of going to Cospicua indicated Xghajra. It was too hot for me to find out which was the mistake, i.e. the website or the notice board on the bus stop. I understood than why people were so frustrated.

maria theresa grech

Jul 24th 2011, 17:25

On the wholle the new service is improving.The thing ithat made unstable was about the hired coaches, as it was terrible inside them, too hott. But Route Bus 91 is fantastic, Keep it up.Thanks

Alfred Fenech

Jul 24th 2011, 15:51

So far nothing good, wrong routes and delays, plus the fact that to go from A to B one has to go thru the whole alphabet. For heaven sake get a Maltese to draw the routes.

Denis A. Darmanin

Jul 24th 2011, 09:53

Simple; how can you replace the old 400 plus bus system with the new 290?
Efficiency is not just better and more passanger friendly drivers and busses but less hassle to get from point A to B at a decent fare. Who wants a tour of Malta to go to Valletta, to Mater Dei, to school or to work? Does the Catamaran take us to Lampedusa, Pantelleria or elsewhere when we book to Sicilly? If it did, I'll catch a plane. Unfortuantely, we don't have an alternative public transport company capable of such a large service. Whoever decided on the new bus routes should be sacked.
Isn't there any b***** common sense left in this country!

Emanuel Cauchi

Jul 24th 2011, 08:15

Bus No 72 should pass through Valletta Road and New Street. There are elderly people who find it difficult to walk in the sun or rain from Carmel Street to Gudja Road. Considering old age people. After all this was the route before the introduction of the new ones by TM.

Victor Pullicino

Jul 24th 2011, 07:38

I insist that the service between Mgarr harbour and Victoria (Gozo) should also be synchronised with the arrival of ferry in Mgarr. This was the previous arrangement.
Unfortunately Arriva left us waiting for 30 minutes in scorching sun (no sheltered bus stop available) after the Gozo Channel ferry arrived in Mgarr

Clint Falzon

Jul 23rd 2011, 22:24

what about a route linking the area of pembroke, st julians & sliema to the south (i.e. paola, mcast, the three cities & birzebbuga or marsaxlokk)??

Simon Cutajar

Jul 23rd 2011, 21:21

We want to yellow buses back in service as soon as possible !

Carmel Cilia

Jul 23rd 2011, 18:39

For those young enough not to remember may I restate part of our transport history.
Over fifty five years ago when most of the public transport was worked on a daily individual basis there was on the Sliema,StJulian route a Bus company which went bust and this at the time when 95% of the population did not own a car.
In those far off days the Driver used to wear a nice uniform with a cap on which was affixed a badge with his licence number. In those days one could see several policemen on daily patrols at the bus terminus. These officers made sure that buses from Valletta left with eight and sometimes even twelve seats vacant so that passengers along the route could be served. Drivers then were monitored and controlled everysingle minute of the day.
Buses were technically inspected for faults by the police at regular intervals.
These public transport police so to it that buses were clean and that drivers were constantly at there seat when taking up passengers.
In one word the system then worked and we had modern(for those days) buses built locally for our needs.
By and by three companies were introduced and then all were merged in one single big company.
That spelled disaster, and to add salt on a bleeding wound in the last decades the public service was left decaying by successive governments until it finished in the state we had up to three weeks ago.
Yes I think that the government could if it only wanted to pressed itself on the drivers who became(with some exceptions) an arrogant undisciplined and provocative lot. It seems however that the present government wanted to give as it has been doing for the last twenty years another important card such as the public transport to foreigners.
Well keep it up and reap the harvest. When one day we realise that foreigners are only out to make profit and have not the least intention of offering a public utility it would be too late.
In Maltese we say_min ihalli ilhitu f'idejn haddiehor johodilu.


(with.some exceptions) an arrogant unethical and iresponsible lot

Mark Anthony Mallia

Jul 23rd 2011, 17:33

Many thanks to the driver of BUS 023 driving route 110 trough balzan at 20:00GMT he was driving at about 5mph and I nearly crashed to overtake him :/
Thursday at 7:43pm

David Zammit

Jul 23rd 2011, 17:18

The purpose of the X1 bus is to take people who travel from Cirkewwa to the airport as a direct route with very few stops. Can anybody explain why this bus which passes from in front of 2 hotels, one is The Riviera Hotel and the other is The Seabank Hotel and does not stop at either one of them? I witness tourists waiting for the X1 in the sun, to go to the airport with their luggage.It does'nt stop just because someone did not think this route through properly and the needs of the people in this area.

David Zammit

Anthony Charles

Jul 23rd 2011, 15:40

I have used Arriva and I liked this impertfect service. However, there are more important issues around us whic the Times should take up; Libya and its embassy in Malta, the Greek situation, the idiocies and unChristian behaviour of the Maltese people in general and many others.

Mr Charles Mangion

Jul 23rd 2011, 15:12

C.Mangion Mr Delia do us all a favour and resign your job you are the worst Transport expert Malta ever had you made a shamble of the routes and put Arriva in a bad shape stop blaming the drivers

John Zammit

Jul 23rd 2011, 13:42

Re : Buses 71 and 72 from Qrendi and Zurrieq to Valletta

It is good that you are readjusting these two routs but as I have suggested on my previous comment, re route one of these buses to pass from Valletta Road , Luqa to cater to those industries there instead of both of them passing from in front of St. Vincent de Paul thus the public would be better serviced.

Noel Bartoli

Jul 23rd 2011, 12:56

Can route 202 which currently passes through Attard from Rabat to Technopark, have some stops in Attard especially in Triq tat-Torba / Triq Pantar which links Attard to the Northern Part

D Abdilla

Jul 23rd 2011, 12:36

Frequency and reliabitily has to be radically improved. Last Thursday afternoon I decided to go from Siggiewi to Valletta using the Arriva service. It was ok getting there but coming back I had to wait for an hour (there were people who had been there for 2 hours). Thank God it was about 6 pm. I imagine it would have been much worse if it were at about 2pm. When the bus finally showed up it was number number 61 (to Zebbug) and only after a lot of insistence from all of us did they decide to use it to go to Qormi, Zebbug AND Siggiewi. Neeedless to say the bus left Valletta full, leaving people on bus stops stranded and also skipping about 4 stops on the Siggiewi route because it passed through Qormi centre instead of the usual route.

Apart from all of this one bus every half an hour in the early morning is definetely not enough. And things will get worse in October when many university students etc will also start using the service.

I hope these comments are forwarded to the right people.

S Borg

Jul 23rd 2011, 11:58

I am seeing the new routes and it seems that routes 22 and 32 are going to pass from Rue D'argens -Agreed, but now if I am resoning well the residents of San Gwann cannot go to Sliema ferries, Tower Road etc. with the new routes. Previously we had the 65 from Rabat to Sliema via San Gwann and the proposed route is going to be aborted. Have you taken this into cinsideration? San Gwann resident cannot even go to B'kara as one has to take 2 buses. I am sorry but I am worse off .

John Bencini

Jul 23rd 2011, 11:49

Before ARRIVA arrived, we residents at Psaila Street and vicinities had the luxury to take a direct 15 minute drive to Valletta. Thanks to ARRIVA, we now have to face a hassle everyday. The direct route to Valletta has been cancelled. We now have to take bus 125 which takes us back to MATER DEI and then wait for another bus to take us to Valletta. Two days ago I ventured to try my luck. It took me one hour and thirteen minutes to arrive in Valletta!! I have now returned to my usual routine by making use of my private car. A pity!!

ray huber

Jul 23rd 2011, 10:22

@ hugh jars

Go and do something, you are OVER BORING!

Mr Charles Mangion

Jul 23rd 2011, 09:21

Charles Mangion 7Route buses usedto pass from Fgura and during peak hours it was not enough Route 3,17 18,19 20 21 now only 91 passes and by the time it arrives in Zabbar its already full up wait when school starts it will get worst Route 300 used to serve 3 Cities and Zabbar to Mater Dei and carry all those studens to Msida Mcast and the University Arriva wake up do your homework and forget what Delia told you if you want to make profit DELIA is no expert in the Transport EX ENFORSMENT OFFICER NO 15

Joseph Ellul

Jul 23rd 2011, 08:41

I would like to visit Malta next year. Can you tell me if Arriva will be operating efficiently by then.
i suggest that all buses be fitted with a GPS with a predestination course.

Laura Falzon

Jul 23rd 2011, 08:37

@@ Hugh Jars .... Booooooooooring

Joseph W. Galea

Jul 23rd 2011, 07:42

Are the people from Valletta having any problems? I mean this is the main terminal and everything starts there.

Mr Lawrence Mifsud

Jul 23rd 2011, 06:57

Mr. Delia has plenty of things to explain........

Mr Lawrence Fenech

Jul 23rd 2011, 02:09

Delia, you "some" has effected the whole of malta and the tourist industry. Where is mr. 38% + 600 Euros.

Mr John Richards

Jul 22nd 2011, 21:55

I strongly recommend that that the Savoy route (60) and the (42) bus route that passed through Rue D Argens be used again by Arriva. I travel by bus everyday and i have an interest to see the system improve. This street is a main street and i see no reason why Arriva discontinued these routes. There are many commuters in this area who are suffering as a result of these changes. It is important that consultation with commuters takes place to fix these teething problems. Otherwise the reform will not help people to use more the public transport system, and the existing commuters will not benefit from the changes effected. Action is needed as empty words are superfluous.

Reuben Vassallo

Jul 22nd 2011, 21:34

Thanks a lot from Gozo... thanks you for ruining the summer (work) season for all
of us that have something to do with tourism on our little crib island. Pack your stuff
and leave the office, whoever the author of this gaffe is!! Shame on our country, we
will be feeling the ripple effect on the tourism industry for a long time!

Tony Caruana

Jul 22nd 2011, 20:29

A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport - Emanuel Delia - will be clarifying or correcting some of the points raised by readers.

dennis azzopardi

Jul 22nd 2011, 18:24

Are all these comments part of a conspiracy theory ,Mr big shot Delia &Co!!

Noel Abela

Jul 22nd 2011, 17:24

Manuel Delia should resign he has nothing to clarify. He was the one who did not miss any opportunity to be in all the photo shoots taken before the service was introduced. He even went to China to see the buses being loaded on the ship. No since the launch he was nowhere to be seen. The end result, Tom Dick and Harry are having to endure the hardships that Mr Delia can never imagine becasue most probably he makes use of a paid by me and you car as a reward for his fiasco and that of his Minister Gatt.

A Caruana

Jul 22nd 2011, 17:09

Just returned home after visiting my elderly mother who is now a prisioner in her home as Arriva and Austin gatt took away the bus which passed from near the Jerma Hotel in Marsascala. My mother received the Local Council magazine, a glossy in full colour which must have cost a packet. Anyway the Local Councillor responsible for Public Transport is clearly clueless about the transport situation in his own locality!! For example he says that residents of Bellavista now thanks to Arriva have transport - WRONG! there was Bus no 20 on the old route pre- Arriva which took residents of Bellavista to Valletta and now they can only go to Zejtun! So that is progress according to Councillor Mugliett! Meanwhile Residents of Zonqor have lost their Bus no 17 to Valletta which also passed from near Jerma Hotel therefore this old Bus route 17 was serving 2 seperate areas in Marsascala and also managed to make the trip to Valletta in less than 40 Minutes! So if this Clueless Councillor thinks that his locality is happy with the Bus Service as proposed by Arriva and approved by Austin Gatt and Manwel Delia then it is clear that he is only Politically motivated not to rock any 'boats' it shows a total lack of knowledge of what residents want and need. It is also no surprise therefore that while other Local Councils have already protested for their areas in favour of their residents that the Marsascla Local Council has mantained a strange media silence despite the many complaints they are receiving - is this perhaps the real reason that the Council actually approved the new Arriva routes without informing the residents by means of a public consultation meeting? If the Council did not actually consult residents on matters concerning them is any decision by a Council Valid? Can it be contested by the residents? Maybe somebody with some knowledge of Local Councils law can give an answer please. It is very clear that someone is responsible for the Public transport mess in Marsascala and many villages in the South of Malta, even the Cospicua Market is empty as Marsascala also lost the 22 Bus direct to Cospicua. Valletta shops are suffering as commuters do not want to gop to Valletta by a roundabout route. The answer is simple Arrive- BRING BACK THE OLD ROUTES IN EACH LOCALITY!!!

A Caruana

Jul 22nd 2011, 15:50

Residents of Marsascala, please go and sign the petition for a direct Bus route to Valletta at the Happypaws Charity shop in Triq il Qaliet near st Thomas Supermarket. Austin gatt has made an exception for one person in Cospicua because he went on a hunger strike, so now we have to get many signatures in the petition to get the Bus 91 from Triq il Qaliet, please go and sign and take your friends and relatives also,

Joseph Stephen Galea

Jul 22nd 2011, 15:22

Practically three weeks have elapsed now and the 103 bus driver this morning (approx 9am) had no clue of his route. And it was an Arriva bus. I could see it going around Santa Margerita from near the GHADAJJAR bus stop. It then was no where to be seen.

Joseph Vella

Jul 22nd 2011, 13:02

I'm going to tell you a very good short joke; ARRIVA................

Charles Vassallo

Jul 22nd 2011, 11:55

My daughter was at the stage in St. Andrews rd, Pembroke waiting for bus 11 or 12 from 10:55 to 11:35.

It is about time you get your act together.

Yvonne Attard

Jul 22nd 2011, 10:23

My daughter has just sent me an sms telling me that she had finally got on a bus after 40 minutes waiting at B'Kara. The number 42 came and just 3 people got on, then the 41 which was full up and then three buses 202 which dont go to Valletta and then finally the number 43 arrived and she got on. In B'Kara we had a lot of buses that passed from here and we also had the bus terminus, now we just have the 41 which is full up at certain times in the morning, and the 42 and 43. We are talking about the town with the biggest population of about 21,000 people so I think we should at least have a bus terminus which goes to Valletta. Now my daughter has to go to Valletta to meet her friends and get on another 41 to go to Ghadira. Lets see what time she gets there.

Mr Lawrence Fenech

Jul 22nd 2011, 10:14

I am waiting for the 1,000th comment on Arrive transport I am sure that this is one thing that will arrive. How about a reward by MT?

Mr Saviour falzon

Jul 22nd 2011, 04:46

I uses bus n0. 61 or 62. 2 out of the 4 times , I used it was so bad. yesterday after 1 hour waiting I managed to get on the bus, cause the one that passed before was full up,there were elderly people too ,who waited much longer than me, cause ,they said even the previous bus passed full up.
One woman an elderly ( which to me did wrong cause the bus driver is just a bus driver of that bus) complained with him of how much she waited. well he replied as the ARRIVA says (professional bus drivers ;) )
bus driver" you all lies so much etc.. etc.. :)
Yes professional bus drivers :) when there were a lot of testimonies , shop owner etc..
bus stop was at Qormi in front of qormi local councel. they were there since 8.45 am bus ticket was at 10.08 am
lolllllll good service

A Caruana

Jul 22nd 2011, 01:20

Quo Vadia Arriva? 781 comments totally ignored By Manwel Delia, Arriva and Austin gatt , 3 weeks of non Arriva and Marsascala residents are still without a direct bus route to Valetta from some areas. Let us protest and make our voices heard tomorrow Friday at midday..

Brandon Theuma

Jul 21st 2011, 22:35

Give us back the old routes please Aghar Iva !

Daniel Caruana

Jul 21st 2011, 22:01

This evening had to drive to Paola to pick up my wife from the Bus stop next to the
Police Station as Bus 81 did not turn up between 19:10 till 20:00 , which is supposed to run every 00:15. (Route destinations at the same bus stop are wrongly indicated).

Meanwhile was contacted by my daughter to pick her up from Bir id Deheb as she had to catch Bus 82 as 81 was not available at Valletta. But had it not been my own daughter, would not have believed the story she retold.
A commuter who boarded at Bombi bus stop, roughly complained with the foreign driver that he should not have left Valletta with the bus so full, as there would not be enough space to pick up commuters en route. However other passengers on the bus claimed that they also have had their long wait.
At Marsa Bus stop 4 coloured passengers wanted to board, but the bus driver insisted that there was only place for one. Reluctant to disembark, the passenger who boarded from Bombi stormed to them and pushed them himself off the bus. A commotion ensued where one of the guys was push and fell to the ground and a young lady passenger suffered a head impact . Cross arguments ensued on the bus throughout the trip.

Dear Editor
Can the respective authority be it Police, TM or Arriva claim responsability for health and safety on Arriva buses?
This indicates that matters are getting out of hand and warrants attention and action.

Steve Zammit

Jul 21st 2011, 20:12

Arriva so far? Total Flop!!

Buses are scheduled to leave Zebbug every 15 mins

Every morning, you're lucky if a bus passes every hour

Net result, bus leaves Zebbug full...commuters at Qormi are left stranded

With the old system, this never happened before

Its ridiculous that now to catch a bus to Mater Dei, I need to go to Marsa and be lumped with commuters from the Airport! Bring back old route 890! It sevred so many people perfectly! Coem next October we are going to have chaos!

Also you rarely see an Arriva bus at Zebbug, instead we are being served coaches that dont have proper AC

When are we going to be offered a decent service?

Maurice Cini

Jul 21st 2011, 18:25

Dear ARRIVA or (AGHAR IVA),
Can you please inform us public Why the Bus no 3 is starting coming at Kalkara 06.30 instead of 06.07 Daily?.Then it has to proceed to Xghajra taking another 25 minutes.Please remenber that there are persons waiting to go to work and others having appointments at Hospitals. Can you also explain Why Last Sunday, I have been waiting for the bus no 3 at Rinella(1383) from 06.45 and till 07.55 no bus had came forward? I have managed a lift to Vittoriosa, However, a bus arrived at Vittoriosa at 08.25. Can you please tell us WHEN WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A DECENT TRANSPORT SERVICE REGARDING THE CORRECT TIMES THAT YOU HAVE PUBLICISED. Apologies only are not going to solve any problem.WE NEED CONCRETE ACTION. Maurice Cini

Maurice Cini

Jul 21st 2011, 18:12

Iwould like to know when we are going to have a decent Transport Service with respected times on schedule.I am referring to BUS no 3 to Xghajra via Kalkara because now you have REMOVED the bus Valletta to Kalkara and vice versa. Can you please also tell us WHY you have removed this service from passing through St.Liberata street which has also a developement area, As a NON-Driver person WITHOUT any car I ask for an immediate answer,without any apologies, because now ALL MALTA is FED UP with the kind of service rendered regarding times and routes.
Thanks Maurice Cini
PLEASE NOTE:THIS MAIL WAS SENT ON JULY 15TH 2011, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE AN ANSWER FROM TRANSPORT MALTA.

Charles Alamango

Jul 21st 2011, 17:56

Unfortunately I rarely use the buses due to the limited service they have always delivered. With the new huge buses and roundabout routes I am noticing that due to the size of the new buses a lot of traffic jams are being created, also long queues at the bus stops. In my line of work I'm constantly meeting 'new', people every day and the most common comment is that the buses are a vast improvement on the old ones as regards comfort but the journeys are excessively long. Another common comment is the failure of buses to turn up at the indicated hour, this plus the roundabout journey is creating havoc with people's plans. Something must be done quick. Arriva is losing clients, public is angry and tourists are fuming. Dear Minister concerned DO SOMETHING NOW....

TESSA IRWIN

Jul 21st 2011, 17:38

My father and mother have been bus drivers in the UK for 20 years. They are extremely hard workers who have never taken a day off sick. They work for Arriva and was offered, via an advert at work, to come to Malta to drive Arriva busses there. My parents put an application to work in Malta for a few months. 7 days after my parents applied to work in Malta, a new advert was placed on the wall with the EXACT SAME WORDS, apart from an addition that read “PS. ANYONE THAT HAS VISIBLE TATTOOS CAN NOT APPLY.”

My father is the ONLY person (out of hundreds of employees) with visible tattoos on his hands (a Winnie the Poo, representing my daughter and Ivy, representing my niece) and neck (my name, my mothers name and my brother’s name). Arriva have clearly stated my father can not go because Malta law does not allow people to drive busses if they have tattoos showing (although they can drive the busses if they have tattoos that are not visible). Does anybody know whether this is true? My parents have appeared on TV documentaries for Arriva in the UK, raised thousands for charity, and are highly respected people. The fact he has a few visible tattoos should not prevent BOTH my parents from going.

Jason Zammit

Jul 21st 2011, 17:18

Another comment i would like that someone from Arriva answers is, why such buses have "Bus not in Service" on front screen and then you see them full up with people, May be those people are realtives of the driver going to the beach.......???? who knows ????/

Jason Zammit

Jul 21st 2011, 17:15

Across the Board we improved a bit but there is a long way for more improvment, People where expecting a lot from this venture but till now it was a flop, lets give it some more time maybe we see slight improvments......

Jason z

Mrs M. Attard

Jul 21st 2011, 17:00

Residents of Marsaskala who live in the Cerviola, Jerma, St Thomas bay areas are invited to meet tomorrow morning ( Friday ) at the bus stop 'Girgal' outside Happypaws shop in Triq il Qaliet opposite Cerviola Hotel at noon to discuss a plan of action regarding the Direct Bus to Valletta. More info: [email protected] or call 99639733

Ms Francesca Abela

Jul 21st 2011, 15:44

Marsascala residents are still WAITING for Bus no 91 to have the route EXTENDED to pass from Salini Street and out from Qaliet street, only when this is done can the Transport Malta, Austin Gatt, Manwel Delia and Arriva claim to have given Marsascala residents a decent Bus service! My 78 year old mother is virtually now a prisioner in her own house, so should she go on a hunger strike also??

A Cordina

Jul 21st 2011, 14:43

I wonder whether someone from Arriva or TM is seeing these posts!

Simon Borg

Jul 21st 2011, 13:05

I think it is better that this service started operating on the old routes first and than when all is settled more routes are introduced.
I myself have not yet used this service as after the comments I heard I do not like to take any chances especially in this hot weather, my son arrived in Paceville after 2 hours that he left Fgura.
Most important are our tourists as it is not a pretty site seeing the long quees at Qawra bus terminus, something has to be done fast in order to make our tourists feel comfortable during thier stay.
Simon.

Mr FRANS H SAID

Jul 21st 2011, 12:26

Route 133

I suggest a slight amendemnt. This route (133) stops in front of the war museum. It does not go towards the Mediterranean Conference cente, ergo, ID Card Office and Passport Office. Please do not tell me that route 122 passes from there, that route is not suitable for Valetta. Therefore when 133 goes down Republic Street it should make a slight detour towards Evans Building, only one minute away, but too far for aged and handicapped persons. Shall we wait 600 years for such a small alteration?

Mario Desira

Jul 21st 2011, 10:28

18 DAYS after the Arriva service has started the notion of a timetable is still elusive.
Let me illustrate by one example, route 72 which is Qrendi to Valletta direct, with an average additional 10 minutes extra wasted stopping at the Airport interchange.
The departure according to the Arriva booklet sent to our homes is 0701 hours.
Here are the actual facts, contrary to proclamations by Arriva. On the following sample dates, this supposedly 0701 bus departed as follows –

05 JUL departure 0728 (27 mins late)
07 JUL departure 0701 (on time)
08 JUL departure 0722 (21 mins late)
14 JUL departure 0652 ( 9 mins early!!)
15 JUL departure 0721 (20 mins late)
18 JUL departure 0711 (10 mins late)
19 JUL departure 0710 (09 mins late)
20 JUL departure 0714 (13 mins late)
21 JUL departure 0730 (30 mins late)

Above data supported by actual tickets.
Sorry this seems to be a case of incompetence and mismanagement nothing else!!
Meanwhile buses 117 and 118 run around in circles with just four or five passengers, ending at the airport and whose destination is still Valletta!

Reg Alfour

Jul 21st 2011, 09:42

One word. CATASTROPHIC.

And no real signs of improvement. Just subbing routes off (at great cost) to coach operators.

A disgrace.

alfred seguna

Jul 21st 2011, 09:23

We had a pool of problems with public transport but now we have an ocean of problems.I hope that we never hear again the names of those responsible of this Babilonja entrusted with other projects.The best thing to do I think is to start from scratch and get another company.Personally I am afraid to get a bus because I dread the though of being left stranded for hours.When the transport was BAD at least I could calculate the time I would take for my journey,but now this is impossible.WERE WE PREPARED OR WERE WE NOT .........THAT IS THE QUESTION????????,after so much bluff.

Joe Brincat-LL.D

Jul 21st 2011, 07:55

@Mr Anthony Borg. I agree with your comment. Incidentally a certain Peter Korsten, who accused me of being a lawyer who does not get his facts right, wrote elsewhere (under Mr Bastow's interview) the old bus system working one day on and one day off. So out of 508 buses they would have 254.

I contacted a gentleman who knows the facts. The ATP had a pool of 508, and they always had 320 on the road. If there was more demand in particular periods, they would call more from their pool.

Routes were definitely shorter and more direct from point to point. They were not like the London Bus which caters for tourist tours !

j. catania

Jul 21st 2011, 07:20

the new buses are great but there are things to be arranged
1. the bus routes
2. the time they arrive
3. the driver needs to pass from the proper roads and not from others

Claire Busuttil

Jul 20th 2011, 21:23

Dear Arriva,

unfortunatley I have to say that the X2 bus is not working well. This bus takes people from the south of Malta to Mater dei, Sliema and the Airport, so it is an extremly important bus!
Today at 3pm this bus arrived to Paola, and the driver refused to take people from there....leaving them stranded, he said that he was going for break!!!

Please take note, people cannot be treated like this.

Anthony Borg

Jul 20th 2011, 18:22

I have noticed a lot of Transport Malta personnel with writing pads, jotting down routes and details.
But the problem must be with the lesser number of buses servicing longer than previous routes.

If before July 3rd ATP had around 500 buses how can Arriva cope with just 250?

Darren Vassallo

Jul 20th 2011, 17:43

Dear Arriva,


I would like to bring to your attention the following query.


A couple of days ago my wife used the Arriva bus (route X2) from Mater Dei hospital to Sliema - opposite the Preluna Hotel.


My kids were on the same ride and my 8yr old son realised that he didn't have his bag with him upon the arrival in Sliema at 1800hrs.The bag consisted of a PSP with 9 original games all amounting to around €450.Although they tried to get the drivers attention the bus still drove on.They all didn't give up and ran to the Sliema Ferries to intercept the bus from there but they didn't make it.

My wife spoke to the dispatcher who contacted the Control Room on his cell phone,then he handed over the phone to my wife so she could explain. All the operator told my wife was to leave her phone number so she would be contacted and at the time she was given the following numbers 25960109 & 21222000 so she could follow up.


However she wasn't contacted and decided to call herself on the numbers that she was given before.After she called the number she was referred to other numbers 25960151 then after calling this number she was given another 25960110.She spoke to an operator with the name of Sarah but she claimed that she couldn't help her much as there was no communication with other control rooms.Apart these numbers she was also given 2 more numbers which were unsuccessful as no answer.


Then my wife decided to go directly to the source - Floriana -Park and Ride but she had to wait till 2045hrs from 1900hrs meaning a 105 minute wait.Then she took another route as the X2 route bus didn't show up.


When she eventually made it to the terminus a driver named Ray Pace went out of his way to help my family as he understood their disappointment.He led her to the control room and again my wife left her number to be contacted. Despite the goodwill of Mr Pace the same problem arose again as there is no means of communication between the buses and interchanges.


Untill this time I wasn't aware of the situation as I was on duty but when I knew and seeing my son crying I went directly to Floriana -Park and Ride waiting for the bus to finish its journey but at this point at 2330hrs obviously we were hoping too much at this time.


I understand that every company would have its teething problems with schedules,but having such comunication problems and NO customer care is unacceptable.


Today I tried contacting someone on customer care so we could ask you to refer to the CCTV recording at the time (obviously hoping that this works)but all we got is unanswered calls and when we got through all we were told was to call other numbers.


Shouldn't the drivers have a means of communication with their base if they need to be contacted?We could have contacted the driver much earlier and would have had the probability of finding the bag.
Why isn't the CCTV working as it should on the buses?


I am not blaming the driver or Arriva for the loss of my son's bag but I am blaming the mis-managed company, and to this I expect compensation to this.


I am not grumbling about the bad service or the lack of organisation but customer care which doesn't exist after so much preparation and expectation

.Getting the same level of service as we had in the early 80's is unacceptable.Since the new tariffs, altered roads and all the adjustments the public had to go through I understand that the service should have been much much better.


Please follow up with answers as I need to forward them to my son.

Richard Zammit

Jul 20th 2011, 17:19

oxxenita

anthony attard

Jul 20th 2011, 16:34

This is for you Mr.Emanuel Delia . I want an explanation why,a friend of my son 13years of age was invited at my place had to cancell the invitation because he waited invain for Arriva to arrive from 10.15am till 12.15pm.This was in Kalkara, it seems that the commuters of the south are worst hit . You and the minister involved should admitt that you made a MEGA MESS in the supposed transformation of public transport and the tons of promisses of a better service . Do you all this a better service, I'd suggest that you people should seek medical help, don't underestimate the inteligence of the people. It's almost 3 weeks now and still with never ending problems , ther's no other solution than who is concerned should couragiously resine because we are sick of these situations. By the way don't tell me that I should have either went to pick him up myself or send a TAXI to pick him because there used to be a deluge of adverts to use public transport , tiftakara Sur Delia B' TAL- LINJA JAQBILLEK . Meta ? Forsi bhal tad-diska In the year 2525 ta Zager & Evans forsi tisimghawa fuq Utube.

Mr Anthony Borg

Jul 20th 2011, 16:24

“Dear Arriva”
Today, Wednesday 20th July, shed some ray of hope to the beleaguered new bus system.
I am happy to report that the three routes I boarded were not long in waiting (cannot say on-time because the printed time-tables have never been kept since the launch of the system on 3rd July).

I boarded Route 106 from Misrah Kola, Attard to Mater Dei (waiting time 12 minutes), where I had to change bus for Route 125 to go to my dentist in Birkirkara (waiting time 16 minutes). From Birkirkara I boarded bus Route 43 (waiting time 11 minutes) to take me to Lija near Bathroom Design, for some shopping.

Finally, I waited for 106 again at the Lija Bus Stop number 1289 named “Wiji” (waiting time 12 minutes) to take me back home to Attard.

Although perhaps the waiting times were not exactly as per Arriva brochure time-tables, it was a far cry from the previous days waiting of 35 -45 minutes!

Hoping the service will continue to improve, not only for H’Attard residents, but to all parts of Malta.

Victoria Vella

Jul 20th 2011, 12:30

On the 16th 0f June I sent an email to Arriva . A month later I got their reply. I'm doing a cut and paste of my letter to Arriva and of their reply. I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions.

On 16 June 2011 18:16, Victoria Vella email address xxxxxx wrote:

Sir
I can afford to buy a car and I also have a driving licence but up to now I never felt the need to own a car because I have more often than not, found the public transport more than adequate.
I live in Main street Mellieha a few metres away from the bus stop. I use the bus to go to Mosta where I visit the polyclinic ,the public library and even the Banks. The buses run frequently and the trip lasts between 25 and 30 mins. Less than if I have to walk to the centre of Mellieha and do the same errands there ! I go to Naxxar to visit my dentist. There is a direct bus to Naxxar twice in the morning. I go to Mater Dei.and my daughter goes to University. Direct routes; no stops at Bugibba. Shopping in Sliema, direct route to Sliema. My daughter goes to Paceville at the weekend . Direct route from a bus stop nearby and the tickets cost 2.32 euros return.
As from the 3rd of July we will have a new public transport operator.. I was looking forward to the change. There was talk of a better service though at a higher price. The price increase would be offset by the better service I thought.

Unfortunately from my careful perusal of your site and after studying the material in the pack I received at home, I came to the conclusion that the new service Arriva will be offering leaves much to be desired.

REASONS
1 The most important is that the buses going away from Mellieha will no longer pass through the centre of the village. The result is that I will either
a. have to put on my walking shoes and walk to the bus stops on the outskirts of Mellieha and then change into high heels on the bus or
b. Take a bus going to Cirkewwa and stop at Ghadira and catch the bus from there or
c. get the circular bus and take a tour round the village before I'm dropped off at a bus stop from where I can board a bus going towards Valletta.
d. beg a lift to the bus stop

In all four scenarios I will have to leave home a good half an hour if not three quarters of an hour before I need to catch the bus.

2 All Trips then pass through Bugibba - Qawra- Bugibba Extra travel time which I can't afford.

3 To go to Mater Dei or University I either need to wait for the Airport bus or else change buses at Bugibba.

4 to go to Naxxar I need to go to the technopark at Mosta first.

Changing buses seems to be the norm with the new service. I wouldn't have minded if I had to change at Bugibba or Mosta to go to the South of the Island, but eliminating existing Direct routes to Mater Dei and University, and bypassing the village core will not improve the service in my opinion.

As I see it the new service is an excellent means for low budget tourists to see the island but it is no service at all for locals who have no time to waste and who want to get from point A to point B with the least hassle and inconvenience.

I hope I have got it wrong. I await your answer hoping that you can prove me wrong.

Victoria Vella



Arriva's Reply received 18th July 2011

Good Afternoon,

With reference to your email received prior to the 1st of July 2011 I would like to apologize for the delay in replying which was caused by technical problems experienced during the first weeks of the Customer Care's operation.

The information you have provided is all correct.

Arriva Malta Ltd. has been contracted by Malta Transport Authoriy (TM) to fullfill the contractual obligations proposed during the bid for the new public transport reform. As a result of that, changes in routes or timetables are not permitted for a period of six months. The Routes, fares, timetables fall completely under the jurisdiction of the Malta Transport Authority and not of ARRIVA.


I hope that this information is helpful and still relevant to your query, if not do not hesitate to get back to us on either +356 21222000 or [email protected] with any queries.

Thanks & Best Regards,






Jessica Sciberras


ARRIVA Customer Care

Tel: (+356) 21222000

Web: www.arriva.com.mt

Email: [email protected]

Mr Lawrence Fenech

Jul 20th 2011, 12:22

I think 748 comments in three weeks speak for themselves.

Mr Joseph DeGiovanni

Jul 20th 2011, 12:03

Yesterday, to get from Valletta to Zejtun took me from 19.30 till 21.00. Bus route number 81 left us waiting for its arrival for the best part of 45 minues. The other bus bays were continuously active with buses coming and going. It was not so with bus bay 11. Next there was a delay at the Marsa interchange. Last of all, because of the Paola feast, instead of going uphill past the Addolorata cemetry and straight on to Santa Lucija and tal-Barrani Road, we had to go through the narrow winding streets of Tarxien. Luckily I seldom ever have to use this route, but I pity the poor Zejtun people who have to undergo all this hassle every day. Such a large town as Zejtun definitely requires and deserves a much better service.

Warmer Libri

Jul 20th 2011, 11:18

I think the bus new system of Arriva in Malta is quite good however it requires alot of reaarangments and strict continous supervision of all aspects of the service; the drivers sometimes drive with high speed which incertain curved areas put the standing people at risk of falling; the priority of sitting is not respected so much by the poeple so I do not know if the drivers can interfer in this, the facilities of handicapped and elderly poeple to get in to the buses are not used at all by the drivers and as I have noticed the drivers do not seem to have a knowledge of how these facilities machinery work in the bus, ..ect). I am sure these aspects can be solved easily, wishing Arriva and all the poeple who use the public transport system all the best of luck.

Mr John Borg

Jul 19th 2011, 19:05

As you are aware Dr Joseph Brincat has filed a judicial protest against Transport Malta complaining against the "unreasonable Routes" which seem to be the major problem with the new bus service. Dr Brincat is receiving emails on the following email address [email protected] from disgruntled Arriva customers.

In this respect I would suggest that all those who have commented here will contact Dr Brincat on the email address provided.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110719/local/Lawyer-collecting-complaints.376233

anthony attard

Jul 19th 2011, 17:20

Biex ikun hemm fetha [ mhux xaqq ] ta dawl halli jitjieb it transport publiku iridu jitnehhew '' l-interchanges '' , il bendybuses jergaw jibatuhom lura ghax it-toroq taghna ma jifilhux ghall dawn it-tul ta buses, u li kellu fuq l-istonku haddiehor tah lilna, l-ahhar u mhux l-inqas u li kullhadd qed juri l-istess fhema hi li ir-rotot jergaw isiru kif kienu qabel u taraw kif jigi kollox ghan normal. Nitlob lil awtoritajit biex ma jkunux egoisti u jwebbsu rashom ghat talbit taghna ghax qedin ibatu hafna nies specjalment anzjani u ohrajn bi bzonnijit specjali. Grazzi u nispera li dawn il-kummenti ma jaqawx fuq widnejn torox.

henry spiteri

Jul 19th 2011, 17:12

ROTTA 82 qed tahdem sewwa pero biex tmur il park and ride u tasal il belt tiehu average ta 13 il minuta extra biex jikkumpensa dat telf ta hin id driver irid izid fli speed li hi xi haga impossibbli

Noel Abela

Jul 19th 2011, 17:04

Let us not forget that the service should have started in January so when it did it was six months late. All this talk about the lack of drivers, although certainly effected the service, is nothing but crap. All the other problems that have nothing to do with drivers are Arriva's fault and just as the people of Malta had to pay a fine just because two ministers got it all wrong at Bizzaza Street, Arriva should be fined for not providing the service it had offered. Shame on the company that has so much experience in this field but which got it all wrong when it came to providing the service to a country as big as a small town in England.

Brian Gatt

Jul 19th 2011, 15:45

The most logical thing that should have been done is take over the service as it was using the same bus routes - changing only the buses and the drivers, then after you have enough data and experience you start implementing slowly new routes and setting up a target that within lets say a year all the new routes will be fully implemented.

It is understandable that in the beginning you will have teething problems and the problem here that these teething problems were spread out on all the service and it became uncontrollable. if only 1 route at a time the problem would have been localized and easily controlable!!!!

Mark Galea

Jul 19th 2011, 13:48

People should also contact Arriva's headquarters in the UK. Details below.

I suggest we ALL send an email to their main office, to show them how "happy" we are with their new service. Their email is [email protected]

The more we send, the better.

Details:

Registered Office:

Arriva plc
Admiral Way
Doxford International Business Park
Sunderland
SR3 3XP

Tel: +44 (0)191 520 4000
Fax: +44 (0)191 520 4001
E-mail: [email protected]

Peter Spiteri

Jul 19th 2011, 12:51

Filwaqt li nemmen li r-rotot il-ġodda għandhom id-difetti tagħhom, l-aħjar ħaġa hi li niġġudikaw ir-rotot meta jibdew jaħdmu skont il-ħinijiet kif suppost, u meta s-sistema tal-IT tibda taħdem sew.

Josephine Mifsud

Jul 19th 2011, 10:23

I would like to thank the Times of Malta for giving us the opportunity to write our comments, but I am sorry to say that this service is useless, since nobody from the Government side or from the Opposition is doing something. Kollox baqa' l-istess...Issa jew raqdu jew inkella marru holiday!

Roberto Lacitignola

Jul 19th 2011, 09:25

Ho passato una vacanza ad attendere bus che non arrivavano, attesa fino 75 minuti, per non contare
la differenza di prezzo tra chi ha residenza a Malta e chi pur essendo europeo paga quasi il doppio,
vengono accusati i bar e ristoratori per questo sistema, adesso viene imposto anche dal ministero dei trasporti, a Malta non ci torno più. Enrico Mara

Mark Said

Jul 19th 2011, 09:14

Allow me to join the growing number of Arriva complainants.

My and my wife’s complaint is very simple: prior to the coming of Arriva, we, Msida University Heights residents had quite an efficient bus service. Just a three minute walk away from our home we had a bus stop on which various buses operating from outlying areas frequently stopped and boarded commuters heading towards Valletta. For the return trip home a sufficient number of buses used to drop off commuters residing in our area on the same bus stops such that in three minutes one used to walk comfortably home in winter or summer.

Now, things have drastically changed! Paying a hefty bus fare, we have a longer wait in the morning to commute to Valletta from one of the retained bus stop (about fifteen to twenty minutes), not to mention the frequency of buses passing by full up! To add insult to injury, there is to date no bus route serving and/or passing near University Heights for residents commuting back home from Valletta. The only option available is to catch a bus stopping down near the GWU Monument near Msida Parish Church and then having to walk some twenty minutes uphill to University Heights come rain or shine!

We feel that this is a huge retrograde step in this day and age when comfort and ease should be the order of the day, and that this newly designed bus route supposed to serve University Heights residents is highly and blatantly illogical, causing us tax-paying residents something nearing degrading and inhuman treatment!

We feel that we have been intentionally forgotten and relegated to Third World commuting citizens!

On to you now to take up also our cause and plight!

Thanks in advance and we wish you success in your endeavour and good luck!

Yours,

Mark and Elizabeth.

Mr Lawrence Fenech

Jul 19th 2011, 06:42

723 comments what a mess.

James Dewar

Jul 18th 2011, 20:45

Would it be tempting fate to imagine that today may end without reports of any new incidents or negative happenings in the ongoing "Arrivasaga"? Could it be that week three may see even the "Bendybuses" turning the corner? Lets all hope so!!

Raymond Michael Falzon

Jul 18th 2011, 20:27

I would like to invite ALL citizens of Malta, especially those we trust with leadership, the President, Prime Minister, Ministers and members of parliament, to use ARRIVA services now. Leaving your cars behind for a WEEK, pay the weekly bus fare, walk the distance to your closest bus stop, change at terminals, wait in our scorching sun for the next scheduled bus, air-conditioned or not. This would be of great benefit as leaders to feel the pulse of the people who elected you and trusted you in a leadership position. Surely you will all arrive with ARRIVA's new system on time for your scheduled appointments. Be one with us at this moment, we will be one with you at election time if you stand up with us and be counted to make our island a better place to live in.

Secret Squirrel

Jul 18th 2011, 20:13

I think Arriva will have a perfect service very soon:

Most people seem to be on their high horses instead of the buses anyway.

Daniel Caruana

Jul 18th 2011, 20:05

Have been looking forward to the public transport reform but must say by the 3rd wk running has still been grossly disappointed. My daughter after planning a 2 times a wk trip using available printed and online info ; first wk had to resort me giving her a lift , once last wk managed to get from Zejtun to St Venera within just 2 hours, must say not very attractive to the new bus DISSERVICE! Surprisingly today her next bus on route 125 did not turn up at Hamrun Diego bus stop between 08:05 till 10:00 which is supposed to run every 00:30hr, notwithstanding confirmation by Arriva customer care that it would turn up within 10min. Mind you this circle route is the only one that goes to ex St Luke's and Psaila Str B'Kara, at which bus stop signs are not even yet complete. Local transport has been taken aback more than the odd 100 years, as for getting from here to there is taking longer than then, if getting there at all .

Henry S. Pace

Jul 18th 2011, 15:57

Whover put pen to paper to draw up the routes of the new Arriva does not appear that he was so acquainted to the country. From the onset he must have kept all previous routes and schedules AND THEN he would have extended new routes to the advantages of the commutor at large.

I wonder if ever the Local Councils showed any interest to discuss this new venture which has become a great flop.

Whoever did all this must resign from his administrative post because he let down the Minister of Transport.

Steve Zammit

Jul 18th 2011, 14:58

I'm still missing Malta's Yellow buses (the buses not the service and drivers!!)

and please bring back the old routes!

Take a look at this tribute video....Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC_b0ZpIiIM

Ms T Scicluna

Jul 18th 2011, 14:50

consult with local councils as they would have had feedback from residents for sure (hmmmmm) routes do need revising: circular bus from mscala through to zabbar to birgu perhaps revise this within 124 route,
and 91 definately needs to go up triq il qaliet and round to st thomas and back to village and onwards. otherwise good job!

Carmel Carabott

Jul 18th 2011, 14:28

Am I wrong to say that UK holders of our equivalent "Karta Anzjan" travel free on at least London Transport? In case why this fuss and talk of breaking EU laws for charging more to non local residents?

Mr Paul Caruana

Jul 18th 2011, 12:39

From the comments below, it would appear that well before the next revision of the bus routes, due in a few months time, Transport Malta and Arriva need to go through a painstaking process of meeting several local councils individually - I am referring to those areas where complaints have been especially high, with people bemoaning the routes on old system as actually being superior to the new ones.

It is time for people to stop pointing fingers on one hand, and put their pride aside on the other! Hopefully, following a number of these meetings, new routes would be drawn up to alleviate the problems that the new system appears to have created in some areas.

John Zammit

Jul 18th 2011, 11:50

On Saturday I spent a day at Mellieha Bay and could not help noticing the number of Arriva Buses going to and from Cirkewa. They were coming through in intervals of I would say less that 10 minutes in between. I am sure that nobody could have complained about waiting on a bus stop anywhere on that route.

The only problem is that the amount of people in them wasn't more that a dozen tops in each one of them

May I ask , Is it necessary for so many buses to go through this route when the Gozo ferry leaves every 45 minutes? Is it not a waste of fuel and man power on the driver's side who can be doing some other route instead? I think one should consider other priorities first

Jonathan Camilleri

Jul 18th 2011, 11:46

I was waiting for the implementation of the newly reformed transport service managed by Arriva to settle down a bit before making any judgements, as I was expecting initial issues, which I believe were posted in social media.

Unfortunately I lost a job since my previous employer told me I was going late to work, and, although he was correct - yet the decision was quite irrational; I have to point out that this was not in my control given the traffic jam in Qormi, and, although not within the control of Arriva Malta, Transport Malta should look into ways of hastening traffic jams within industrial areas, and, in roads where traffic jams up as people are on their way to their office, or, taking their kids to school.

Does Arriva Malta provide any direct routes from residential areas to industrial areas, at times that are suitable for employees to arrive punctually at work (e.g. 06:00 to 07:00 up to the shift hours commonly assigned within industrial and manufacturing environments)?

Does it provide such people with advantageous rates, given that they would use transport on a regular basis in replacement of private cars, and, thus contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions, and, hopefully even traffic jams? I am confident that Dr. Augustino Gatt or Dr. Gonzi or their delegates will be monitoring the acheivement of this EU-imposed target, and, this will help.

How does Arriva Malta seek to manage and ensure that its employees are adequately rewarded, by way of Praise Management, and, at the same time, manage its operations? I am confident that overall the improvement will be positive, but, we have to wait, because changes take a while given the various complexities involved in managing them.

I would like to express my gratitude to Arriva Malta, for putting up a journey planner on their website, www.arriva.com.mt, because it is very helpful for telecommuters.

Finally, does Arriva Malta provide a cash prize for all the useful and practical suggestions generated over the last month by the Maltese public? I think it would be a nice public relations exercise that will surely be welcomed by the Maltese Government.

H Agius

Jul 18th 2011, 10:42

Yesterday my son waited from 7.30 to 11.00 at Senglea terminus and there were no buses , people called Arriva customer care , He had to fork out 18 euros for a taxi to go to work ! this is the 4th time since Arriva took over ! Something should be done , Cant go late to work !

Mario Desira

Jul 18th 2011, 10:06

I agree with Ms Attard. 'Mirakli' (miracles) is the correct word as it seems one needs a miracle to get the service that should be routine. Another example, today Qrendi terminus bus which supposedly departs 0700 turned up 0715. Add another 10 mins in the airport traffic jam and late for work as usual. After three weeks Arriva finds it difficult for a 0700 bus to leave at 0700. Some time management! The only time I went to work on time in three weeks is when a driver came early and left early at 0650!
Unbeliveable!

Yvonne Attard

Jul 18th 2011, 01:12

I live in B'kara and if I want to go to Lija near the tal-Mirakli church I have to get the bus number 106 and stop somewhere where the ex 40 bus terminus used to be. The problem is, that its very rare to spot a 106 bus and so I prefer walking for 35 minutes and go on foot. This bus is supposed to have a frequency of 15 to 30 minutes. I just wish we had the old route of bus number 40 back.

Joanna Camilleri

Jul 17th 2011, 21:33

the problem with arriva is that the routes were better off as they were and shouldnt have been messed about in the northern side of malta, i am referring to st pauls bay. with the old bus's i use to get to valletta in 20min in the morning, getting the 6.45am bus and be in valletta very early like 7.15 maximum 7.30am.

we had 3 other more numbers not just 41 like it now is, i never waited more then 15min in the valletta terminus for the bus and the bus's use to be completely packed.

arriva came along and on saturday the 16th of july i waited in the valletta bus terminus in the sun for 1 hour 15min for one bus, being roasted in the sun and frustration starts to build up, old people getting sick because of all the heat. i saw an old lady at one point she started to cry. how could it be this bad??

why is there only 1 bus every half an hour to chirkewwa? we barley got along the way we were which bus's left every 15min

and only the bus which is 41??

for me to get to valletta in the morning i have to be on the stage at 6am and be in valletta at 7.30 what a joke. that has never happened before. more bus's not one every half a damn hour. st pauls bay, bugibba, qawra etc is a very populated area so please take this into consideration.

arriva i only have one word for you "disaster"

then again i was thinking not to buy a car!

pfffffff how wrong was i to even think that.

bring the old bus's back. arriva pack ur bags and go home.

the only thing good the company has is the ac the bus's provide, uniforms etc.

ridiculous!

J Borg

Jul 17th 2011, 16:23

Is there an agenda for the south of the Island?
I can confirm that i did not see an 82 bus today , i stayed on the stage ( the one before Georges's bay ) and there were no buses passing by from the time 11.15am to 12 noon

A Caruana

Jul 17th 2011, 14:29

Marsaskala in the south of Mlta is not well served with the Bus service as provided by Arriva nd planned by the 380000 euros expenditure by Trasport Malta because Bus no 91 is not passing from near Cerviola Hotel in Trieq il Qaliet like the old 17, 19 and 20 Buses, now we can go to Zejtun, and Airport many times but not to Valletta or Zabbar or Birgu. We want the old routes back, you have wasted 380000 euros on the routes, whoever took the money and planned routes 119 and 124 only did the routes on the map because no one frequents these areas, a couple of buses daily would have been enough, Bus no 119 should be changed to go to Valletta not t to Zejtun. nOT EVEN THE bUS STOPS ARE SPELT CORRECTLY LIKE GIRGAL instead of GRIGAL, not even the timetabkles are fixed on many Bus stops, oh wait i forgot, we have the Prime Minister and President are living in Marsaskala but these travel with private car, they dont care about those with no car.

James Dewar

Jul 17th 2011, 13:18

Two weeks today I consolled a bus driver at Buggiba terminus who, half way through his first shift, was distraught, mentally and physically exhausted and obviously very upset at not being able to provide the service he had been trained to give due to circumstances far beyond his control. Much has happened since then and the volume of correspondence to opinion columns shows no sign of decreasing.

As the air temperature rises so it seems does the volatility of the travelling public who are being directly affected. There is little doubt that Arriva (and disappointingly, TM) have been caught out by inadequate planning and many wrong or inaccurate assumptions which have produced a shambolic 14 days with a service that bears no resemblance to what was promised.

The task was enormous and, whilst some inexcuseable mistakes have been made, even with the highest level of planning and cooperation from those involved it was never going to happen overnight or even in 14 days!

Arriva have been guilty of setting unrealistic deadlines for improvements "by the end of the week" etc when it was obvious that there was little or no possibility of that being achieved. 14 days is an unrealistically short period in which to completely change the public transport infrastructure of the Maltese islands. However Arriva and TM (and don't forget silent partnmer Tumas) must now be given direction from Government with realistic and achievable deadlines as to what is expected of them with clearly defined sanctions should they fail to comply.

If they are still unable to provide a satisfactory bus service (the travelling public will be the judges of that) within two months of commencing operations then the Government must take control and do whatever is necessary.

The temperature in this debacle is rising and one can clearly see that the tone of many opinion postings is becoming more aggressive and personal. Let's not make what is undoubtedly a bad situation any worse by detracting from the main theme by over personalising the issues and instead exert continued pressure on those responsible to resolve the main issues (THE ROUTE NETWORK AS A PRIORITY) at the earliest possible opportunity.

Don't shoot the messenger (in this case the driver) and don't be provoked into futile unproductive confrontation with them on buses as, with very few exceptions, they are doing their level best in very difficult circumstances.

kim reid

Jul 17th 2011, 11:26

tGood morning
thank you for your reply,so your position is, simply the correct fares are prayed by non residents in malta, and residents are discounted due to the government subsidy. So this does' not constitute discrimination.
I will outline, again why i and many others disagree, and finish this correspondence with you.

1 Definition of discrimination, favoring or disadvantaging one group or person over the other.
2 your fares advertisement clearly show the lower tariff, as the main fare, and not as a subsidized rate,
3 ID card, are no proof or ether residence in malta or tax payer in malta,( maltese government lay on chartered flight during elections, in recognition of this fact, so non residents with maltese id cards can vote.
4 what equation, could you possible use, to calculate the fare reduction for subsidy to resident from in regard to trips made and by numbers of the two section that you are calculating on. its more than likely you worked backward from the minimal profit you require, and than adjusted tariffs accordingly.
5 in term of tourist not contributing to the maltese tax revenue (and thus not qualifying for the lower fare) i would imagine the taxes they pay pro rota is possible more than a resident.
6 no other national public transport system ( trains, tube, airlines buses) use a 2 tier system. this is not because the companies operating them, do not see the profit advantages , but because of the laws governing peoples rights particularly in regard to monopolistic service such as the one you try to run in Malta
7 your system has major flaws, what stop people getting day or week tickets from authorized, or unauthorized venders at the lower fare and giving or even selling them( at a higher price, could be a nice little earner for someone)

i think this outline must of my issues in regard to your tariff system.
i will state that on Saturday, i was not asked for ID card, and nore did i pay the discrinmitory rate. in regard to the below statement, which you have attached to the e mail. this is a communication between, a member of the public, there are no copyright or intellectual property right, in regard to these communications, and i reserve the right (which i have already exercised) to print ,copy, paste or transmit to any one i see fit to



good day and best regards

Mr Kim Reid



Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:38:21 +0200




I apologize for the late reply,


Unfortunately you are correct when stating that the reduced fares are not permanent however 'soon' is relative as the change shall happen after a number of years as stated in the contract between Transport Malta and Arriva.


While it should be the norm that drivers ask for an ID card (and it is strictly meant to be an ID Card, not a passport, or a photocopy, but an ID card), it is not currently always the case, however, the drivers are being reprimanded for their behaviour.


With regards to legality, as stated in one of your previous emails' attachments, it is not discriminatory for the fares to be 'higher' for non-residents as it is in fact the case that the fares are lower (subsidized) for residents.


I hope that you find my answer to be satisfactory,


Thanks & Best Regards,




Ryan Ruggier
ARRIVA Customer Care

o the ministry of transport

Jo Azzopardi

Jul 17th 2011, 10:38

I Like the colour and shape of the new buses!!!!!!!!!
As for the service still lacking in many ways.
The southern part of Malta(Birzebbugia, Ghaxaq, Marsaxlokk, Marsascala & Gudja) was better off with the older buses.
Hopefully they will give better service in the future, at least that's what I keep hearing.

steve padley

Jul 17th 2011, 09:25

Having visited Malta for the past 22 years and used the national bus service it is with regret that I learn that yet another part of Maltas hertiage has been lost to the power of the E.U.Having spoken to many locals the power of E.U. money is distroying the appeal of Malta.

Joseph Attard

Jul 16th 2011, 20:32

Arriva are here to stay and all the moaning in the world will not change this. So let s work together for better routes, faster routes, butone step has been made for sure, once youre in an Arriva Bus, youre a human being!

TM should of course forget any kind of penalties and move on. Changing a whole transport system overnight was only Austin s dream. He well knew it could not be an overnight success. But then again phasing in such systems is also not the right solution. So now that weve made a tremendous step, let s work on ironing out the system. But let s face......the shabby old image is gone and were working on abus service that is as avant garde as anywhere in the world

Mr Raymond Milford

Jul 16th 2011, 19:43

On balance too much change to an existing service in too short a time scale. Management, that is now
observed as unable to organise a session at Farson's brewery, should have taken a slower step by step
approach when wishing to change an existing structure. However are there ulterior motives behind the
present chaos such as a move to increase fares or provide a more limited service in order to increase
profit?

Paul Portelli

Jul 16th 2011, 19:30

in DISSET program on TVM the minister said he is going to go in this mater.he did and i congratulate him.he got the old buses out.........Where are the fines that Arriva are suppose to get for the efficient service they are giving?
if it was a Maltese that parks badly of stop on a yellow line there is no pity by the government u get a ticket so as Maltese we want to know whats happening on this MR Minister

Keith Vella Licari

Jul 16th 2011, 17:37

Took route 116 from central Sliema (Huber) to the Point (Tigne). I was two minutes late on the (Huber) stage but the bus was running 5 minutes late so I only waited for 3 minutes. Arrived at the Point in no time - so far so good... I did my shopping and went to the Tigne stage again with the aim of taking the 116 again to central Sliema. I waited for over an hour (mind you the frequency should be every 15 minutes on Saturdays) in the scorching sun to no avail. I then walked down two stages (carrying heavy bags) and found the 116 bus quietly parked in front of the Ferries stage. An Arriva representative kindly informed me that no driver was available to take the bus round its route! I ended up having to walk home (still carrying heavy bags). To cut a long story short - I was pleasantly surprised and greatly disappointed in one sunny afternoon. What was I thinking? Next time I'll take the car!

Mr Paul Caruana

Jul 16th 2011, 16:22

What about the up and coming Car Free Sunday?

Sometime in September, I believe. And believe me, if Arriva wouldn't have sorted out their issues by them, it will certainly be a Sunday to remember (or forget)!

simeon nechev

Jul 16th 2011, 15:10

I mainly find the service ok, the only problem are the routes which are too long and complex and I'm sure the whole of Malta and Gozo have been saying the same thing.

Victor Rodenas

Jul 16th 2011, 10:14

They are dirty ,...it is against the law,...I know, I`ve got a ticket for that.

Mr Paul Borg

Jul 16th 2011, 09:38

I was under the impression that for the first six months no route would be touched. The 64 bus into Swieqi has become a nightmare. For the imformation of Arriva the two bus ride now takes one and a half hours to complete from a mere 40 minutes. Also in Valletta 34 parking places have been removed from Melita street and South street to accomodate easy access for the arriva bus. My restaurant is in South street and so far in 5 days I have seen the bus 2 tmes only . There must be an agenda to hinder business in the city.

kim reid

Jul 16th 2011, 08:53

7/15/11
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Find email Add to contactsTo Miriam Reid
From: Arriva Customer Services ([email protected])
Sent: Fri 7/15/11 7:54 PM
To: Miriam Reid ([email protected])


Good Evening Ms. Reid,


Unfortunately this is not the case due to the fact that, if the tickets were not subsidized by local tax money (which is not a permanent circumstance), Maltese residents too would have to pay the full fares.


Thanks & Best Regards,




Ryan Ruggier
ARRIVA Customer Care

Tel: (+356) 21222000

Web: www.arriva.com.mt

Email: [email protected]






On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 7:31 PM, Miriam Reid <[email protected]> wrote:


Good evening
thank you for your prompt reply, your pricing structure is discrimitory, (a) a person can have a maltese id card, and not be resident or paying tax in malta. (b)the price you now charge, over double previous fare, i am sure leaves little to subsidize by the tax payer(ME) particularly taken into account the large reduction in routes and services. also considering at nearly four times the cost to ALIENS, from two weeks ago.
even though i am against this discrimination, i wil carry with me my passport and my last years tax forms, if all you are concerned with ensuring only tax payers get one tier this should be enough.
I WONDER IF TAXI DRIVER FOLLOWED THE SAME LOGIC, BY SAYING, ID CARD HOLDER WITH DRIVING LICENSES,PAYED ONE FARE, AND THOSE WITHOUT PAYED DOUBLE, BASED ON THE ARGUMENT THAT AS THE ID /DRIVING LICENSE HOLDER PAYES ROAD TAX, AND THE ALIEN DOES NOT, HE SHOULD CONTRIBUTE, THROUGH THE TAXI DRIVER. WE ALL KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO HIM DO WE NOT

YOURS RESPECTFULLY

MR KIM REID


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:54:57 +0200
Subject: Re: two teir price discrimination
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]


Good Evening Ms. Reid,


The reason for which non-residents are to pay more is that local taxes are used to subsidize the fares. This however should not be the case for you as you say you have been living here for the last 17 years. all you would need to present is a Maltese ID Card (this includes those with an (A) as a suffix). This is a measure taken to ensure proper ticketing and also applies for Maltese residents.


Thanks & Best Regards,




Ryan Ruggier
ARRIVA Customer Care

Tel: (+356) 21222000

Web: www.arriva.com.mt

Email: [email protected]






On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 4:59 PM, Miriam Reid <[email protected]> wrote:

i have just complained, by phone to your customer care. about being asked to pay more for a journey because i did not have a id card. you will have a full report from customer care.
please see above attachment. tommorrow i will board a bus, and i will offer the correct fare for the trip, i will not pay,double the fare, because i am english, i have lived here for 17 years, payed my tax, never taking any thing out of the system and will not be treated as a cash cow to be discriminated against., i will be polite, but will not leave the bus, until, i arrive at destination,
if a supermarket or restaurant. asked for a id card, and than charged the foreigner double, there would be legal repercussion, for that company.

please reply

Mr kim reid




Click here to report this email as spam.




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Mr Lawrence Fenech

Jul 15th 2011, 23:57

Jekk ghal-Milied ser tmur ghal-ikla bl'Arriva ibda ahseb minn issa.

kim reid

Jul 15th 2011, 22:10

today i was asked for my ID card. it was the first time since the new service began, and the first time myself and freinds have heard of it being asked for. i am english married to maltese living and paying tax in malta for near on 20 years. i got on the bus at St juillians asked for a 1.30euro ticket, and was asked for identity. after refusing to show identity and stateing dual pricing was not allowed under EU laws regarding discriminatory dual pricing. the driver was polite but would not move the bus, i stated to get an inspector or call the police, as i would not pay above the standard fare. in the end i had to get of the bus due to threats of voilence from a number of british tourist . i got on the next bus , was not asked for idenity, and payed standard fare.
when i got home i complained to arriva custermer care, all very polite but no explaination of why two tier discrimination.
after a number of e mails this evenning after stating argument like if shop charged double to aliens it would be clamped down on, only arguyment that i have got from them in my drafts on e mail,is, SUBSIDY THAT THE TAX PAYER IS MAKING TO ARRIVA IS SHORT TERM, AND THEN EVERYONE WILL BE PAYING THE DISCRMITORY SECOND TIER FARE
tommorrow i will agan be travilling by public transport and agan i will refuse to be discrimunated against

Claire Busuttil

Jul 15th 2011, 22:03

Some things that I noticed-

Mater Dei, has become a hub, which shouldn`t be so. A hospital should be a relaxed enviornment not a chaotic one, like it is now!

The Zabbar route is working well on the whole.

The Sliema front one, from Valletta is ok, but for the return, all buses pass full up

Drivers are smart and polite.....please keep it up.

Some Drivers should get more training on driving though, especially for the stopping part!!

The possibilty for wheelchair bound ppl of using them...is good finally

SunShades in Valletta, are a blessing, before we used to stay in the burning sun

AC is a bliss

All drivers should ALL be speaking Maltese

Attard triq il pitkali, which is a main road is only served by bus number 106.....going to Mater Dei

There are many routes that were badly planned by Transport Malta

Martin Attard

Jul 15th 2011, 21:53

Just heard that ARRIVA are going to change their name, it will sound like before, but will really portray their service so far....it will be called ERR IVA, because that's what they did so far....ERR.
Can't wait for next Monday to arrive......

Mr Andrew Scicluna

Jul 15th 2011, 20:54

Till know the only positive thing is the end of black shoot from the old busses and the air-condition systems in new busses.
Till know the transport at xajghra & zabbar is still not reliable sometimes you wait more then one hour for the bus to come totaly out off schedule.
The bus driver has to take care of tickets for every passenger boarding the bus.
Trafic jams in the rush hours putting bus out of schedule because no alternative routes available.
Long routes ,big busses running with small number of passengers,
We are forced using our vehicles to arive to our destination because the transport is still not reliable.

Maurice Cini

Jul 15th 2011, 19:56

I would like to know when we are going to have a decent Transport Service with respected times on schedule.I am referring to BUS no 3 to Xghajra via Kalkara because now you have REMOVED the bus Valletta to Kalkara and vice versa. Can you please also tell us WHY you have removed this service from passing through St.Liberata street which has also a developement area, As a NON-Driver person WITHOUT any car I ask for an immediate answer,without any apologies, because now ALL MALTA is FED UP with the kind of service rendered regarding times and routes.
Thanks Maurice Cini

Ms Lina CARUANA

Jul 15th 2011, 19:26

The bus service has good points which are being overlooked until we get used to them. The faults lie in the personnel who create confusion when the route or information are misleading. If express buses are introduced with different numbers one can make his own choice. Changing buses may serve people better because they link more destinations together. Fares are good and it seems there are more commuters. The greatest fault is that there are long routes when one does not need them but definitely useful at other times.

James Dewar

Jul 15th 2011, 18:06

Halcrow, Arriva, Transport Malta and Tumas (conspicuously silent Maltese consortium partners) it is not yet too late to collectively put your hands up and graciously admit that, despite the pre launch propoganda and promises culminating in the glittering launch on Saturday 2nd July, you have all got it badly wrong! Reasons at this stage are almost irrelevant but please have the courage to admit your collective failings, apologise for one last time and start listening to the advice from those that know what was needed to bring the bus service up to an acceptable standard. We are talking buses here, not rocket science!! Just listen and act accordingly. There will be much less shame for you in that than if you persist in trying to make a patently unworkable system work! Where do you start?........ THE ROUTES!

Mr Joe B Edwards

Jul 15th 2011, 17:29

The new bus service? A flop - even on Arrivas part (electronics of bus)

alfred seguna

Jul 15th 2011, 16:28

It is a pity that every thing we do goes wrong and at what a price.I believe that it is true there was a need for improvement but I think what is wrong on this Island is that the wrong people with no idea on the subject starts leading and these people are always politically chosen. What was wrong to try to involve some who had previous experience in running this sector.I am sure that their contribution could have been valuable and not put somebody to plan something with no idea at all.The only qualification that counts is the color of the individual on this Island.

Joe Azzopardi

Jul 15th 2011, 13:30

Mr Brincat has found the most exact words to describe the current public transport situation: “This was so unreasonable that no reasonable person would have thought it out”. The quality and level of the service are simply ridiculous. I was particularly adversely hit by the new system as I live in Senglea and work in Floriana. It is a known fact that the buses form the south, particularly from the Cottonera Area are simply hopeless. While in Floriana parking has become impossible since Arriva usurped the Park and Ride facility. It is simply hopeless. Mr Brincat has all my support!!!

Joe Azzopardi

Jul 15th 2011, 13:28

Mr Brincat has found the most exact words to describe the current public transport situation: “This was so unreasonable that no reasonable person would have thought it out”. The quality and level of the service are simply ridiculous. I was particularly adversely hit by the new system as I live in Senglea and work in Floriana. It is a known fact that the buses form the south, particularly from the Cottonera Area are simply hopeless. While in Floriana parking has become impossible since Arriva usurped the Park and Ride facility. It is simply hopeless. Mr Brincat has all my support!!!

Mr FRANS H SAID

Jul 15th 2011, 11:55

665 comments at this point in time.

Why complain? The great oracle had dictated to remove the busses from Valletta, for very ulterior motives. So SHUT UP and admit that no one can oppose the great almighty who is spending more millions than have ever been spent before.

Roderick Abdilla

Jul 15th 2011, 10:33

I have one comment to say about the bus route 201 which starts its voyage towards Bahrija from Zurrieq. this bus route is rarely being used by the citizens and instead of this route I think it would be better if we had a direct bus route towards Mater Dei. It would hit two birds with 1 stone: it would serve the people and earn more profit for Arriva since if the bus 201 is not being used, fuel is being used for nothing; and the environment is being polluted

Chantelle Mifsud

Jul 15th 2011, 10:05

At first i thought maybe until they settle a bit but i can assure you it s the worst bus service ever ... from buggiba s square there s no bus stop which goes to valletta everyone had to walk for the bus station .yest .

And the worst thing ... dispatchers .. - the bus had to wait until they are ready .. 3 more minutes ...waste of time ... just keep on moving like before ..

Mr Christian Cassar-Torregiani

Jul 15th 2011, 10:04

I think the Minister, the ADT and Arriva were too over-confident in this saga and transforming the bus service literally overnight was more wishful thinking than anything else.

The Japanese have a fantastic word for which the West does not even have a direct translation for : KAIZEN. A loose translation is "incremental continuous improvement" and this contrasts greatly with the "Command and Control" philosophy of the West where big projects are implemented at one go, many times with devastating results (as has happened in the Arriva experience).

Another particular question being asked by many is why are we spending hundreds of millions of public funds to upgrade Valletta while concurrently reducing access to our city, firstly by making it impossible to arrive there by car, and now by eliminating the great majority of bus routes that used to interchange at City Gate, thereby greatly reducing the number of commuters who would have access to Valletta.

If the government wants to revive Valletta this is certainly not the way to do it, all businesses across the board are being negatively affected and this will certainly affect the likelihood of private investment in our City.

Donna Parnis

Jul 15th 2011, 09:58

Last night I was at the bus stop in Attard waiting for the 51, 52, or 53 supposed to be every ten minutes I waited from 6.55 to 7.40 the bus then came with standing room only. 4 arriva buses had passed with no number on in the meantime. The buses are nice, the drivers pleasent but the staff in Valletta dont seem to know what is going on as everytime you ask a question you get the reply "I dont know" Maybe by next year things will improve,

Mr Anthony Mifsud

Jul 15th 2011, 09:57

bring back the old transport system except the buses!

M Muscat

Jul 15th 2011, 09:47

People living at Ballut, Golden Bay, do not have any bus service. We have to walk to the bus stop near the Radisson in order to take a bus to Valletta- app 25 minutes walk. We use the public transport everyday, and our children use it to go to school every day in the winter days. they cannot take mobile phones to school with them so i would not know when they arrived to go pick them up. There is no pavement for us to walk on in order to reach the bus stop, we have to walk on the side of the main road which is deserted with cars, especially in summer. Other than that there are no lights in the main road and in order for some of us living here to go home after work, especially in the winter days, will have to walk in the dark because there is no road lights. Before we used to have a bus stop 3 mins away from home which was very convient for our small community. The place where we live is called Ballut. There is a bus stop in Golden Bay named Ballut, but it is installed near Riviera Beach. The place there is not called Ballut so there may be the possibility that the bus stop must have been installed near our previous bus stop but instead was misplaced. we called TM & Arriva several times however no action was taken and said that they will look into it. Hopefully they will find a solution and will re-install the bus stop as it was before. even though we are a small community of around 25 persons, still it does not make us indifferent than others having no public transport at all, especially when considering that half of us use public transport on a daily basis.

Thanks