Updated - Adds comments on video - Arriva has set September 11 as the target date for the provision of a full service.

Managing director Keith Bastow told a press conference this afternoon that by that date, the bus operator intends to have a full complement of Maltese drivers on its routes, having trained 240 new ones.

He revealed that more British drivers are being brought in, and their number will reach 100 by next week.

Arriva has also brought in more instructors to speed up the recruitment and training of Maltese drivers. The call for applications from new drivers had been very well received, Mr Bastow said.

Most of the 180 drivers who did not turn up for work since the introduction of the new bus service have had their contracts terminated, he said. The exceptions were drivers who may have been sick or abroad, or who had other particular reasons. 120 of the no-show drivers used to work as bus drivers in the old service. 81 drivers of the former service remain in Arriva employment compared to 220 who had commited themselves to work for the company, two weeks before the new service started on July 3.

Mr Bastow said Arriva was currently operating a contingency service, especially where demand was strongest, and bus frequency was being raised as quickly as possible.

The company will also be operating new or amended routes as outlined in a programme announced last week after consultations with Transport Malta.

Replying to questions on the various fares, Mr Bastow said it was required of local residents to give proof of residence if they wanted to benefit from special rates. This problem, he said, would be resolved once all people got used to off-board purchase of tickets.

He also insisted that with regard to tattoos, standards were not different for the UK drivers. Arriva Malta did not want drivers to wear visible tattoos, but, he said, some of the drivers had been brought to Malta as very short notice.

On the overheating of a number of buses, he said this was not an endemic problem and the root cause, related to air-conditioning, had been identified by Maltese, UK and Chinese engineers and had been rectified – The King Long buses operated by Arriva are Chinese.

See: Arriva makes 27 route changes

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110723/local/Arriva-makes-27-route-changes.376921

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