New bus routes, changes, to be introduced on Sunday

A Cordina

Sep 7th 2011, 18:28

U l-gharef beda: "zmien il-buzulotti spicca...". Kienet cajta goffa!

Roy Schembri

Sep 7th 2011, 16:24

We still see Arriva apologists (aka shareholders) trying to pull the wool over our eyes and saying everything smells of roses in Arrivas and Gatt's gardens ! However the stench coming from their garden isn't roses!

Arriva were told of the routes 2 years ago, and along with other companies submitted their tender to operate them. They were chosen by this Government and given a year to prepare to operate the routes. They have failed since 3 July to operate the routes as per the tender specification. In any other country, in particular where there was a Traffic Commissioner, they would have been fined after the first day, double-fined after the second week, and fired after a month. The next tenderer would then have been chosen. Fair is fair. They failed. Give another company the chance. I should add that under a certan D Mintoff, Arriva would have been fired after the first day, their bags packed and one-way ticket back to the UK arranged (maybe not paid for ! )

It appears this Government is either too weak or too incapable of dealing with Arriva. Instead they pluck dates out the air and talk about 'revising routes'. There can be no improvement until they scrap the new routes and go back to the routes operated before 3 July. Further, the dangerous bendy-buses (aka Cattletrucks), ruled unsafe by London, should be returned to the UK, and replaced by proper buses which adhere to safety standards. A further 50 bendy-buses were removed from Londons streets last weekend.

A Cordina

Sep 7th 2011, 14:57

Two hours waiting for an X1 at university...and still waiting!!

Steve Zammit

Sep 7th 2011, 13:00

Maltese Gem gem

The service has improve a lot. I am using the Arriva buses as often as 8 times a day. And I'm very pleased with the service provided

Yes I had many problems in the beginning, but everything is being sorted out now

Give them a chance!!

We are already much better off than when we had the yellow buses!!!

Mr M Borg

Sep 7th 2011, 11:54

@ Joseph E Briffa

Like you I live in Sliema and like you I see buses passing through all the time. However that does not mean that I also see no people waiting at bus stops.

Most of the bus stops from the Ferries and all along the Front are always full of frustrated people, local and foreign. So does the number of buses that pass mean that Arriva is providing a good service ?

Why should Nos 11,12 and 13 always pass packed with passengers ? Why did the packed bendy bus 11 which I saw near Cara's last monday have passengers fanning themselves ?

Can you imagine a bus ride of 1hr 50 mins without any ventilation ? Not all buses have a/c . The ones that do not have a/c should not be used. It is unhealthy to have so many people closed in a box, that is after all what these new buses are.

Luke Spiteri

Sep 7th 2011, 11:39

I hope Route 84 will be similar to the old Route 29, as people living in the Bulebel area, still have no bus to Valletta and one bus every eternity to Paola!

Ms Sarah Attard Gialanze

Sep 7th 2011, 11:21

Are you serious??? And Route 91 has been left out again? Before Arriva took over, we had a good service, but now, thanks to Arriva we do not have a bus service which caters to ALL residents. All M'Skala residents who live in areas such as Zonqor point, near the Cerviola hotel, near the former Jerma hotel, and further down, near St Thomas Bay, are dropped off at the bus station opposite the swings and are made to walk a good distance in this heat! Is this fair, when before Arriva we were used to having 3 buses, 17, 19 and 20, which all passed through Triq il-Qaliet, and when bus no.17 passed through Zonqor. Why were these routes scrapped when these areas are highly populated?? This is not the first time Arriva has blatantly lied to Marsaskala residents, and frankly this is disgusting! Marsaskala residents are not second class. I highly urge and encourage fellow Marsaskala residents to stand up and voice their dismay at this unfair and disrespectful treatment. This has been going on for far too long! Enough is enough! Before Arriva rectifies this sorry situation, I for one will not shell out one euro cent to be offered such a dismal service.

Jonathan Scerri

Sep 7th 2011, 08:11

The New Bus Service = EPIC FAIL !

Mr Joseph E Briffa

Sep 7th 2011, 07:44

I mentioned the Mater Dei/San Gwann/St Julian's/Sliema/Gzira/Msida/Valetta areas simply because those are the areas I know and the buses I use. I can't speak of other areas as I never use public transport in these areas. I use my car. I hate it when people speak of areas they are not familiar with and they just repeat what others say. Yes I am very satisfied with the frequency of buses in my area. The A/C. the drivers' behaviour. the low floor things, the layout of the seats are second to none. Still I have to walk more than half a km to catch a bus. But this is no grounds for complaints. When I visit a friend in the Veneto Italy, I stay at his villa in a place called Corrubio di Negarine which is a twenty minute drive from the Verona city centre along the Adige river. There are only a couple of buses a day that ply between Verona and Corrubio and no buses run over the weekend. So we always drive to Verona and to the Lago di Garda, there again you hardly see buses, people use their cars and it's about 15 kms to Lazise on the Lago. Alternatively one takes a taxi. I will not answer those gentlemen who called me names since I wouldn't like to enter into polemics with such characters

Noel Mifsud

Sep 7th 2011, 05:41

ezatt sabu id data 11 September. Ghaxar snin wara it tragedja Malta ghadejja minn tragedja ikbar ghax ma jistawx jaqbdu irkaptu dawn ta l Arriva. L importi li spiccaw il buzulotti, u qlbina ghal kummiedja. Fejn hu Mr Delia ha jigi jifthaar kemm irnexxiet din ta l Arriva. Austin thx talli gibt pajjiz jghix fil holm, u fil kummiedja. Insomma li nghixu fil hom ilna issa, ghax fil waqt li Gonzi PN jghid kemm sejrin tajbin (hu u shabu) l poplu dejjem jitnaqqarli l ftit li ghandu

Philip Pace

Sep 6th 2011, 22:50

Amazing
Repulsive
Rebarbative
Inefficient
Vile
Alliance

Ms Francesca Abela

Sep 6th 2011, 21:07

Malta's longest running show ' La Commedia Dell' Arte' which has been running non stop in Marsascala since 3rd July will continue to run for an indefinite period. Producers of this 'show' are Arriva jointly with Transport Malta, the orchestra is directed by Austin gatt Participants in this ' Commedia' are the thousands of Marsascala residents. Ther backdrop is a crafted Arriva Bus no 91 designed by Manwel Delia and Tumas Group.

Joe Julian Farrugia

Sep 6th 2011, 20:13

On July 11th, Arriva and Transport Malta promised that route 82 (B'Bugia) would stop going to Qormi Hamrun and Marsa "park and ride". Up to date many routes have been changed but this particular route in the south of Malta (maybe that's why?) has remained unchanged extending the route to and from Valletta by 15 -20 minutes. I have phoned the Arriva customer care a lot of times always getting the usual "We don't know" answer.
To add insult to injury, at the Marsa "park and ride", there were instances when the bus was fuelled with passengers on board! That's for "service of excellence and safety"!

Mr Silvan cutajar

Sep 6th 2011, 18:12

When is the X5 service going to start? The commuters hailing from Gudja and Ghaxaq need an explanation from Arriva now. Arriva is definitely and consistently ignoring these two villages by hiding behind the very poor service offered from the MIA which is too far away for many who need to walk 10-20 minutes because of the inexistent and unreliable route 135. Arriva, you must bring back Route no. 8 without any further delay.

Stephen Koludrovic

Sep 6th 2011, 17:10

It just makes no sense why the 81 and 82 buses have to go to the Qormi park. It is only costing Arriva more  wasted time and fuel.The most obvious hub for these two routes are Blata-il bajda, or porte de bombs this would save both time for the commuters and fuel for Arriva.Just my simple opinion.

Joe Brincat-LL.D

Sep 6th 2011, 16:58

At 1.15p.m. I went to the Valletta Bus Terminus.  Crowds are increasing and the obvious reason is that the holiday period is nearing the end.  I saw a whole crowd trying to get on the bendy bus.  Then I moved down.  There were other crowds with people puffing and no buses in sight.  
It is becoming quite obvious that there are fewer buses and the waiting time between one bus and another has doubled.  
I boarded a bus this time for Hamrun.  It was already full.  But it had to wait.  Wait for what ?  more people ?  That would have meant that people on other stops would not find a place.  And if they were allowed on,  would that be according to regulations ?  
What will be the situation in October ?

Roy Schembri

Sep 6th 2011, 16:38

They need to scrap all the 'new' routes and return to those routes operating prior to 3 July. This only an attempt to paper over the cracks. Also worth noting is that London Mayor Johnson continues to ban bendy-buses from London, last week around 40 bendy-buses used for route 73 were withdrawn. No doubt Arriva will be looking for a suitable home for them !

Charles Bugeja

Sep 6th 2011, 16:28

We were once advised by Arriva that route 82 of B`Bugia will no longer go to Marsa park and ride - what happened now because it will continue to use this route -can we residents of B`bugia have an explanation why is this happening? B`Bugia residents can say goodbye to Arriva

K. Vella

Sep 6th 2011, 16:21

I am not seeing Route 81 mentioned.This is simply a suicide traffic route, if you pick the bus from Marsaxlokk one will take 1hour+ to arrive at Valletta. All traffic is on this route, Tal Barrani, Paola, Marsa, Qormi, Hamrun....and Valletta.Last July this route was mentioned that Marsa P+R and Hamrun routes will be removed, I hope that this will happen.We were promised airconditioned buses.....what happened here?

Eileen Scanlon

Sep 6th 2011, 15:53

We spent 4 weeks in malta and the worst part of our holiday was the BUSSESS. never have we seen such carry on going from one place to another and having to go to park and ride everytime. malta needs the old bus route back again were it took around 30 to 35mins from Bugibba to valletta it takes now over and and longer, the people of malta cant cope with this as the malta bussess are going to long for all these changes,never heard so much complaining and cursing and swearing at bus terminals and bus stops when the bussess passed the people by. we also saw real old people on the night bussess freezing with blankets over them as they are not used to the air conditioning sometimes it was to strong for the time of evening. If anything stopped me from going back to my place of birth it would certainly be the bussess and the attatuide of some of the drivers. for the sake of malta, make the bus route how it always was!!!!!the arriva bussess are way to big for the island espically the narrow streets they were going through.

Anthony Pace

Sep 6th 2011, 15:06

Bring back the old routes and numbers.
We have had enough of this English arrogance.
Go home Non-Arriva.
Arrivederci.

Mr Malcolm Mifsud

Sep 6th 2011, 13:11

Hello, Transport Malta? What about Route 91? Does anyone know what residents of Fgura, Zabbar, Xghajra and Marsascala are having to put up with? And all this when students have not even started using the service!

Mr John Said

Sep 6th 2011, 12:17

The only way to make everyone happy would be to rent 400 000 taxis, and everybody has his own driver. The problem is that everyone had high expectations, and although the transport standard has improved, it did not manage to meet every ones expectations, as every Maltese thought that he would personally be better off. This shows that most of the complaining bloggers have never used transport systems abroad, or only used them in city centers not on the out skirts.After nearly half a century the old bus system never managed to be satisfactory, the new system has only been functioning for a few months, please give it sometime!!!!

Jeffrey Bonanno

Sep 6th 2011, 12:12

Route X6 mhux se tieqaf l-Imsida, hdejn il-Junior College??! Tieqaf kullimkien hlief hemm.. Min jaf x'tahwid ha jkun hawn la tibda l-iskola!

Marco Farrugia

Sep 6th 2011, 12:09

Bring back the old bus system!!!!!

Denise Desira

Sep 6th 2011, 11:55

Nixtieq nsaqsi ghaliex route No 3 mhux qed taddi minn Santa Liberita minn fejn il kunvent tal patrijiet. Jien noqod Triq il Progress u ga cempilt u baghat email lil ta l arriva imma waqa fuq widnejn torox .  Al stage irridu nimxu 10 minuti ghax issa qed jaddu minn taht il mina ghax xatt qabel kienu jaddu min Triq Santa Liberata li bhal distanza nahseb l istess igifieri ma nistax nifhem ghaliex flokk il quddiem qed nmoru lura. Mhux qed nitkellem b mob politiku lanqas xejn anzi meta ntqal li tal linja kienu ha jinbidlu jien hadt ir ruh imma issa qed jidispjacin.  Nhossni dizapintata anka ghax ma nistax nifhem anka il birah mis 6.20am, fs 7.05am giet ta linja wara li imxejtha sal Birgu , bl konsegwenza li wasalt 45mins tard.

Louis Saliba

Sep 6th 2011, 11:51

I have seen stupid comments, but this one from Mr Joseph E. Briffa takes the biscuit.   One good thing about the present issue is that it has been treated by the bulk of contributors (apart from people like Mr Briffa) as strictly non-political.   We are criticising the new bus service as such – had there been any other political party in power, the reaction would have been exactly the same.     The area mentioned (Valetta/ Msida/ Gzira/ Sliema/ St Julian's/ San Gwann) is one of the few satisfactory ones, and if Mr Briffa had bothered to try to understand the multitude of comments made in this website alone, he would have found out that residents of the bulk of Malta, particularly the South and West, are being badly served.    Yes, Mr Briffa, why don’t you go and tell Mr X and Mrs Y, who now have to walk a kilometre to get to the nearest bus stop, and then wait for ages to finally end up having to stand throughout their whole trip (or trips, if they have to change instead of going direct to their destination as before) that they are making mountains out of molehills.   Or, better still, come and live somewhere in the South.   We shall then see what tune you will sing, if the situation remains the same.

Damian Fenech

Sep 6th 2011, 11:50

Thanks for nothing Arriva, apparently residents from and around the H'Attard Housing Estate don't exist for you.

Marie Therese Debono

Sep 6th 2011, 11:36

what happened to the promised re scheduling of the siggiewi route .. by the time the buses get to qormi, they re packed up with people and no one can go on until they reach the marsa park and ride .. this situation is unbearable as people cant get to their work place on time .. it seemed to me that the original plan was so that people used more the public transport instead of their vehicles but im so sorry that this has failed in principle

Mr Tony Camilleri

Sep 6th 2011, 11:21

hardly any people at bus stops is because they are not using the sham transport provided by Tardiva and TM but using their cars.
As for picking and dropping people in their front garden people had a much better service than provided by Tardiva es evidenced by the number of complaints, something that neither you nor any other PN apologists can deny.

Jeffrey Voyle

Sep 6th 2011, 11:15

On my last trip to Gozo the X1 service from the airport was completely out of schedule.  I asked the driver when the bus would leave and he said "I'm going to have a cigarette first and then we'll go".  When I left Gozo again the X1 service was completely out of schedule and I had to take a taxi to the airport or I would have missed my plane.

Mrs silvia debono

Sep 6th 2011, 11:14

NO! Please, please, please, I beg whoever from Arriva reads this Do Not change 202 and make it go to Mater Dei! This is the perfect Route to San Julians and Sliema, taking only 15 minutes from Birkirkara to Paceville. If they make it deviate to Mater Dei it will take ages to arrive. Why, oh why you make something good only to ruin it?

Alex Falzon

Sep 6th 2011, 11:00

Really bunch of moaners.... the service is working quite well - the frequency in buses is good too.  When you go abroad and perhaps use a public bus... do you complain about having to walk some metres or to wait for the driver so he can give a handover to another driver before they change shifts??The only remark from my point of view is the Valletta Terminus - I believe that the terminus had to be extended as once planned by Richard England.

Gary Jameson

Sep 6th 2011, 10:37

Sounds like changes for the better. However, there is nothing on the Arriva website (have they given up updating it).There are also other changes promised as per the story in the Times 23 July (link below)http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110723/local/Arriva-makes-27-route-changes.376921When will these be done, anyone know (the list below is taken directly from the article)?Another article infers other changes will happen on Oct 2nd and 30th but Arriva and TM give very little away.10. Ghaxaq, Gudja to Valletta: New route X5 linking these villages to Valletta will be created.12. Fleur de Lys to Valletta: A new direct route linking Valletta to the Old Railway in Birkirkara, Fleur-de-lys and Hamrun will be created.15. Golden Bay/Mgarr to Valletta: Besides the existing service, a more direct service will also be created between Mgarr and Golden Bay to Valletta, passing through Mosta.16. Gharghur to Valletta: A new more direct service between Gharghur and Valletta, passing through the Birkirkara by-pass and Mater Dei will be created.17. Naxxar to Valletta: Besides the existing service, a more direct route between Naxxar and Valletta, passing through Birkirkara by-pass will be created.18. Marsaskala: Route 91, which directly serves Marsascala to Valletta, will be extended to St Thomas Bay and the area near St Thomas Tower.20. Birzebbuga (Tal-Papa): Route 82 will be adjusted to cover tal-Papa.22. Psaila Street, Birkirkara: Route 125 will be adjusted and given in both directions to provide better connections to Psaila Street.23. Zejtun: The service will be extended to improve access to the east of Zejtun.24. Kappara: Route 116 will be adjusted to better serve the zone.25. San Gwann t’Ghuxa: Route 2 will start passing through this zone in both directions.

John Spiteri

Sep 6th 2011, 10:34

Still not impressed! What about the routes to the north for people travelling from Valletta to buggiba, Qawra, St Pauls Bay and yonder. The only decent route is the 41, if and when it turns up! Yesterday I waited 30 mins on valley road for the 41 and it was conjested!We dont have enough buses running the popular routes and  the kids are not back in school yet!!!

Mr Malcolm Mifsud

Sep 6th 2011, 10:29

Hello, Transport Malta? What about Route 91?

Mr Joseph E Briffa

Sep 6th 2011, 09:52

Ghadkhom tgergru....most of the comments are negative..but not in the context of the bus service but aimed at denigration of the PN. It seems to be all political. If one has a complaint why doesn't he/she stick to the routes or whatever rather than slam the PN? As far as the Valetta/ Msida/ Gzira/ Sliema/ St Julian's/ San Gwann areas I am more than satisfied with the frequency of the buses. Within the space of 15 minutes I counted a couple of 11s,. three 12s, two 13s, a 21, two 32s, two X..., and also noted that there were hardly any people waiting on the bus stops. Along the main road in San Gwann I always come across two or three buses while on a 5 minute drive. It seems that the only problem areas are some parts of M'Scala , Cottonera and the Dingli area. But then we all want the buses to pick us up and drop us in our front garden. Can we be a bit sensible and stick to the point about those routes which are not to everybody's liking? It would also be interesting to know the political leanings of those people who make it look as though the end of the world is nigh. Just mountains out of molehills. It's really a case of a storrm in a teacup. Veru m'hawnx fuqhix tgerger hawn Malta.

FRANS H SAID

Sep 6th 2011, 09:45

TO PERSIST IN ERROR IS DIABOLICAL.It takes a person of stronbg character and sincerity to admit a mistake.  Other, through sheer arrogance, are terrified of admitting making a mistake.  The routes as imposed on Arriva were a fiasco, and unless the bulk of the old routes are re-installed, the people will never be served properly.

Ray Gatt

Sep 6th 2011, 09:44

Dear Arriva,  I feel it's very unfair that there's no bus from my living room to all other destinations and back to my living room, possibly straight to my armchair.  No wonder we have so many who are overweight on this island!  Maltese gemgem.

Chris Attard

Sep 6th 2011, 09:39

What happened to the revision of Routes 81 and 82? We were told that they were going to shorten the route by going directly to Valletta instead of wasting 20 minutes (or more) passing to Marsa Park and Ride...

Thanks.

Victor Delceppo

Sep 6th 2011, 09:36

Nixtieq nigbed l-attnezjoni ta'minn qed jaghmel dawn ir-rottot li fil-KALKARA ( MHUX l-ARRIVA ) lil-karozza qed taghddi darbtejn mill-istess trid jiegiefiri min fejn ta'BIGHI titla u tinzel U MIT-TRIQ SANTA LIBERATA MA GHADIEX TAGHDDI.
Nixtieq nfakkar li hemm joqghodu ammont ta'familja fi TRIQ SANTA LIBERA l-istess fit-TRIQ IL-PROGRES, KIF UKOLL HEMM TLIET BLOKKOK TA BINI TAHT TRIQ IL-PROGRESS.Kif ukoll il-Kunvent tal-Kappucini. Dan jammonta ghall ammont konsiderevoli ta'nies.
Ta'min wiehed jghid li qabel hekk kien isir titla min TRIQ SANTA LIBERATA U TINZEL MIN FEJN BIGHI. Dan it-tibdiel ma jiswa xejn izjed fi spejjes ghax pratikkament hemm l-istess distanza.
IRRID NSEMMI UKOLL LI FI-TRIQ SANTA LIBERAT HEMM GIEX BUS STOPS GODDA LI GHALDAQSTANT MA HUMIEX JINTUZAW. B'NAQRA HSIEB; SENS KOMUN U UMILTA NISTGHU NIRRANGAW DIN IL-PROBLEMA. Ghax ghan-nies ta dawk inahat is-servizz mar lura mhux il-quddiem ghax ghandhom mixja twiela
U MIETA TKUN IX-XITA X'SE JIGRI. QED IGELHU LIL DAWN IN-NIES JUZAW IL-KAROZZI PRIVATI TAGHHOM LI MHUX HEKK KIEN L-ISKOP ORIGINALI !!!!!

Mr Brian Camilleri

Sep 6th 2011, 09:15

Dear Arriva,

Can we have the old 71 route back please? The one from venda b'kara via fleur-de-lys, sta venera and hamrun.

Thanks

Stephen Grech

Sep 6th 2011, 09:14

And what about the promised Ta'Giorni - Valletta direct route? ...as usual ....half-baked solutions.

Mr G Psaila

Sep 6th 2011, 09:07

Some things never change...yesterday the driver of the Rabat bus left the engine running, hopped off the bus and went to buy a drink at a pastizzi place, leaving the passengers behind!!

Philip Pace

Sep 6th 2011, 08:43

The Arriva Management, Transport Malta and the Minister have failed dismally and shall fail again. They have yet again committed the same mistake all over again. They never consulted us the commutors in a form of a questionaire or by having their own people accepting our views not only in Valletta only but in other local places.. They do things on their own and expect us to follow their muddled and perverse logic.
We have to make sure that they have to listen and implement what we tell them to do as we are the most important cog in the whole scenario. WE ARE THE COMMUTERS.
I ask one simple question. Who is representing us in these talks? Not the Minister, I hope! Where is the Consumers Association?

Mr Neville A Cassar

Sep 6th 2011, 08:33

Im just waiting for school to start.... to see the complete utter usefullness of the Arriva bus service.

Wait and see..... its going to be a total mess. The pity is that people will be even later for work and students will be missing lectures... all because some 'smart' people have decided to mess around with the public transport system!

Leave us in peace to goto work, study and enjoy our free time. We dont want to spend 1hr on a bus stop and 2 hours on a bus route! What sadistic pleasure are you getting out of this?

J. Debono

Sep 6th 2011, 08:21

To all negative bloggers.

The service is not perfect, BUT Arriva is trying to improve it.

The fact that there are 4 routes from the Airport to various localities, is in itself a vast improvement.

This cannot be said of the old system, where the service remained status quo for half a century!!

Therefore thumbs up to Arriva.

P.S. The timetable should be adhered to. This is the biggest fault I see in this new service.

Mr Andrew Scicluna

Sep 6th 2011, 08:19

The bus system seems that it will not recover quickly from this bad situation, the management for the coordination of the new transport lack feedback and have no idea on the transport system.
They need to travel themselves on the new routes and experience the extra suffering situations encountered by those using the transport.
The message is very clear you have to have your own transport to travel in Malta.
More private vehicles will be purchased until we will have some form of reliable efficient transport system.
Those who were involved in the new bus routes must resign from their position leave space for personnel more user-friendly and experienced in using the transport system.

Rosalie Azzopardi

Sep 6th 2011, 08:17

I would like to confirm/ ask what happened with the removal of the bus stage opposite Lidl St Venera direction to Hamrun. No buses pass from the area direction to Hamrun / Valletta. Mostly I have to take the 43 Lija stop at Valley road and walk up the hill. I'm afraid its inconvenient for myself and especially to the elderly. Kindly can someone who represents TM confirm/ amend

Mr John Farrugia

Sep 6th 2011, 08:15

I am not a user of the service but from what I have seen and heard, I truly sympathize with locals and foreigners who need to make use of this method of transport. A lot is being said on the actual service and routes but very little on the chaos in our streets because of the type, size and handling of the buses chosen for our country. I am on the road most of the day due to the nature of my job and with the introduction of Arriva, traffic in critical areas has never been so congested. This means more emissions apart from the delays. No authority seems to be addressing this because as usual no one seems to be accountable. Fellow drivers, have you not had enough of such delays ???

Carmel Cilia

Sep 6th 2011, 07:51

Ghalhiex ma hemmx hinijiet fissi tat tluq tal karozzi tal linja mil bus terminusil-Belt. Ghaliex ghattew il boards fejn hemm immarkati il-hin tat-tluq. Ghaliex ghandek tmur it=terminus, issa daqt jibda il-maltemp u mas sibx il karozza li trid tistenna fit terminus. Ghaliex ghandek tmur hemm u ma sibx karozza izda issib hamsin ruh jistennew taht it-tinda biex imbaghad girja shiha u glieda ta min hu l-aqwa ihawwel biex tirkeb. Ghalhiex issaqsi il-hin tat tluq lid dispatchers u jghidulhekk ma jafux. Ghaliex l-awtorita tat trasport tilfet l-awtorita fit tluq tal karozzi.
Halluna Mhux disorganizzazjoni shiha hemm izda l-akbar buzullotta li rat malta wara il-gwerra(forsi ghad eccezzjoni ta meta lehhejna il-bieb sabih li kien hemm il belt biex jidhol il-Karnival. Malta Disneyworld. Ghal wahda kellu ragun il-prim- ministri minestra.

A Cordina

Sep 6th 2011, 07:25

Route X6 is a godsend..well done! however route 303 should also be linked with the ferry schedule.

FRANS H SAID

Sep 6th 2011, 07:21

Give us back old routes 49/58. The area is now residential of retired persons who cannot walk long distances or wait hours to go to Valletta. Valletta is still the administrative capital, irrispective what the govt (particular minister) says.

Of course, the govt can try and do what Ghaddafi wanted to do in the 80's and move the capital. Ghaddafi had wanted to downgrade Tripoli and upgrade Sirte. This Govt wants to down grade Valletta but I am not sure which area he has in mind, unless it is Smart City, which, reputedly, will be run by an ex Nationalist minister.

Lorraine Vella

Sep 6th 2011, 06:50

And what about the 91 route??? It was promised that the new route would extend its coverage of M'Scala, till St Thomas Bay. I hope that this will be made available soon & that it was not a null promise!!!

Ben Dover

Sep 6th 2011, 06:25

Thank you. I am glad the service is striving to improve. I have already seen a huge improvement, so now I am looking forward to the amended bus routes.

It's a far cry from the old bus system, where I would report rude bus drivers, drivers not stopping on bus stops, taking short-cuts, swearing, causing damage to other cars and just driving on, etc. It used to fall on deaf ears every time...but now I can see that Arriva takes feedback and uses it to improve the service. THANK YOU.

Oh and one more thing...THANK YOU for helping towards a cleaner environment :) I don't miss the old noisy gas guzzlers at all!

M Cassar

Sep 6th 2011, 05:48

Arriva had announced that there would be a new direct route from Naxxar to Valletta. Have they given up on this route? Route 31 is not good enough apart from providing a very irregular service.

C Muscat

Sep 6th 2011, 04:55

Tal-biza u tal-biki. Possibli l-poplu haqqu dan is-swat kollu?!!!

Ms Emma Xerri

Sep 6th 2011, 04:06

The truth of the matter is that Arriva has reduced the number of buses and therefore the routes - I am sure that they did a feasability study before they decided to come to Malta, which showed that for maximum profits they had to reduce the service. And with less buses, it is impossible to provide an efficient service. The blame is squarely on the Ministry involved as they should have never conceded to having these long winding routes that take forever to arrive at a destination and whole communities that are for all intents and purposed without a public transport service. An example is St. Luke's and Karin Grech Hospitals which have no public transport service to speak of and I know of elderly persons who have been walking the G'Mangia hill in the sun and heat of the afternoon to see their loved ones each day! Also, service to Mellieha is non-existent and Zonqor point residents in M'Scala (as well as Siberia area) have to walk in the heat and sun for half an hour or more before they can get to the bus.

That is why certain services, such as Public Transport, should never ever be in the hands private for profit only enterprises. The social element is never considered when the sole criteria is profit. Which brings me to another point, has the government ever considered how much allowing Arriva to give a half service is costing the GDP of this country, when one consider the hours lost from work caused by routes that take up to 2 hours to get you from point A to point B or routes that have been removed totally? It seems to me the government would rather see profits go to a private company (even one subsidised by taxpayers) and let the whole country suffer the economic consequences, not to mention the toll in unnecessary human suffering to its own citizens. Where is the morality of this goverment I ask?

Mr Joe Micallef

Sep 6th 2011, 01:45

Why it is so hard to put back the same old Routes but use the Arriva because it seems everybody want's and was happy with the old service.

Philip Pace

Sep 6th 2011, 01:17

This is Arriva second try and it shall fail once again.
Unless the super mentors hiding behind their wastefulmindless titles come down on earth and see with their eyes the total inadequate service that they created they shall never learn. That includes the bulldozer Minister himself.
How about providing us the Haz-Zebbug residents a bus that doesn't go inside Qormi but goes straight from outside Qormi like the Siggiewi one as it wastes about 12 minutes of our very precious time?
What nonsense occured yestrday at Ghar Lapsi on the route 109 when there were 35 people waiting for the little mini van to take them to Siggiewi.Haz-Zebbug/Rabat? I am referring to the 6.50pm mini van.Why did I waste 35 minutes today on the Perez stage at Hamrun to cathc a 51,52 or 53 bus, when the 52 passed me by and was full up. I caught the 51 bus some 35 minuteslater since I was waiting at the Perez stage.
And what about the COMMUTORS CHARTER or in plain English 'what are our rights when we use an Arriva bus?
Why are drivers allowed to have a conversation with a passenger.wife/girlfriend BEYOND the yellow line while driving?
ARRIVA, Transport Malta and Dr.Gatt get real and stop mucking about!

Erica Ellul

Sep 6th 2011, 00:33

Thank you :)

Mary Louise Cachia

Sep 6th 2011, 00:10

Proset Arriva, ghadek kemm injorajt lill poplu kollu li joqghod ma l-outskirts ta Marsascala. Ghandi mixja ta 20 minuta biex immur naqbad tal-linja u lura. Xemx u xita .. 5.30am jew 2pm ghax nimxi rrid. Proset. -__-

D. Armeni

Sep 6th 2011, 00:00

Am i missing something here. Have not seen any bus passing from Psaila Street towards Valletta so far? Bus 125 goes the other direction. Was it on the list to be introduced??? When i should ask... ARRIVA / Transport Malta when?

A lot of times whilst driving i stop at ghost bus shelters telling people (especially foreigners) that the bus does not pass from that direction. Indeed they look puzzled as there is no sign indicating that the bus shelters is just for decoration.

Does it take too much effort to route some of the buses going to Valletta instead of going from Msida road or St. Joseph High road passing from Psaila Street?

Why is it that the ARRIVA webpage still shows the latest news from the 10th of August, where is the update? Abroad bus companies update every day if not every hour all their websites, in Malta ARRIVA forgot it have a website.

Transport Malta, ARRIVA and Dr. Gatt as usual, we are far far far away regarding transport from being on the same line with the other 26 EU countries.

Chris Tanti

Sep 5th 2011, 23:59

The service is being managed very badly. A bus should depart from Valletta to Dingli (Route 52) every 30 mins. I was on platform 9 at 1PM to catch Bus no. 52 at schedule time 1.12 and this arrived at 1.50PM! That's like 40 mins late! At the same time (1.5), 2 No. 53 and 1 No. 51 together with our no. 52 departed towards Mtarfa, Rabat and Dingli respectively. What kind of management is this? When we asked an Arriva official, he told us he does not know when buses are expected to arrive or depart. Excuse me but what's the point of having Arriva officials at the terminus if not even these know what is happening? Who is managing the whole thing? This is beyond a failed reform! What was unthinkable happened.. we actually ended up with a service which is worse than the one provided by ATP!

Mr Ivan Calleja

Sep 5th 2011, 23:50

What about direct routes?? from the south (ex. M'Scala, Zabbar, Zejtun etc) to areas like B'kara, Naxxar, Mosta etc.?? NOTHING!!! I was really impressed by the cosmetic changes!! Where is the competency of people taking care of the routes???

Stefan Enge

Sep 5th 2011, 23:45

Shame. There was a time Pembroke had a very frequently used bus. With Arriva the route was left unserved a couple of weeks. By the time they introduced mini busses people stopped using the busses. Now they stop 114 because 114 is not used by the ppl anymore. So in other words. First they destroy and then they remove.....

Ms Francesca Abela

Sep 5th 2011, 23:39

So a porn star on a lone hunger strike got a visit from the PM and a request was made to the oh so clever Austin Gatt of the Arriva / smart city flops to amend the route. But the hundreds of residents in Marsascala's biggest area have been yet again left in the lurch.More broken promises from Transport Malta. And the PM does not see the need to address this problem, nor request Gatt's resignation for this disaster.

Way to go Sur PM , way to go, continue on your downward spiral of losing more and more votes and prepare yourself for a crashing, head banging defeat come 2013.

J. Pace

Sep 5th 2011, 23:28

Ara kif ha tibda l-iskola x'tahwid ha jkun hawn - specjalment b'dawk l-studenti MCAST, Univ, JC etc.

Bil-Karozza (jekk ghandek) Jaqbillek - Cuc Malti!

MALCOLM SEYCHELL

Sep 5th 2011, 23:09

Get back the old system and if needed the government should issue another tender. These are offering a 3rd world country service.

Whoever decided to change the old routes should be banned from working in the public sector for life.

This is damaging our country and especially the tourist industry.

Gonzi wake up, remember you are the prime minister. You cannot let this going on. Its a shame for our country.

Louis Saliba

Sep 5th 2011, 23:08

One of the urgent requirements is for a new route from Vittoriosa to Valletta and vice-versa passing through Tal-Hawli and the upper part of Cospicua, to replace the old No.1 route, which has been discontinued without so much as a by-your-leave. The removal of this route is causing major inconvenience to residents of the affected areas, particularly to elderly people, who now have to walk up to one kilometre to catch a bus to Valletta or any point along the way, either from the old Vittoriosa terminus (now replaced by a bus stop termed “Riche”) or from the “Immakulata” bus stop near Polverista Gate. And, of course, they have to do the same in reverse on the way back, which is worse, as the walk is uphill.

The removal of this route was never mentioned in the Halcrow Report, on the basis of which the new routings are supposed to have been made. The only recommendation made in that report was that the old routes 1 and 6 could be merged to avoid confusion. Even here, the rationale used is hard to understand, as there never was any confusion between the two routes. Between the Vittoriosa Terminus and Polverista Gate, the former passed through Tal-Hawli, into Rock Gate, then along Alexandra Street, the latter along the Cospicua sea front and Immakulata Street. The old 22 bus to Marsascala has also been removed, and the so-called replacement in the form of route 124 is, in common with route 121, nothing but a joke. The direct service between the three cities, Zabbar and Fgura to Mater Dei Hospital have also been removed, with consequent hardship to patients and relatives who now have to change buses to get to and from there.

In short, when combined with other deficiencies in the service now offered to the South of Malta generally, one would tend to wonder whether whoever was responsible for the new Bus routes had the primary objective of causing the greatest possible inconvenience to the commuting public in these areas. Considering the quasi-complete lack of any significant changes in the schedules as of 11 September, it would appear that the same mentality still persists.

Chantelle Mifsud

Sep 5th 2011, 22:56

Today we had the worst arriva experience 1.30 waiting at the stage near mater dei tfor thei st paul s bay bus 31 . That not all, it was one of the biggest buses full up and when we went to naxxar the road was closed . And you know what he did ? He drove ys back to birkirkara :-) So, we had to pass from the same streets all over again in a bus full of people . I don t know what s happening i thought until they settel down but i m not seeing any changes sorry .

i hope that these changes will be more postive . :-) Good luck Arriva .. :-)

Mr Paul Borg

Sep 5th 2011, 22:45

It is such a shame and a waste of time that Arriva boss and Hon Austin Gatt do not read the electronic version of the TIMES. If the Editor had to publish all the bloggers comments before and after Arriva took over , all these problems could have been avoided. There's nothing like a good newspaper to get feedback and public consultation.

Steve Zammit

Sep 5th 2011, 22:42

Well done Arriva !!

The servic eha simproved alot! So much that I use them as much a s8 times a day and never had any problems

But please do re consider arranging route 11. Or at least increase the frequency so a bus passes at least every 5 mins from Sliema. Its one of the most popular routes on the island and too many people are left stranded.

The express buses are very good and I have learnt how to make the most of them. I reach places that I never use to reach beforehand without the need of going to Valletta!

Good luck

Kev Samut

Sep 5th 2011, 22:35

Please Arriva I have said this and going to say it again,please do perform the old routes and old numbers,if you want keep the new numbers for routes that weren't performed before by the yellow buses at least I always agreed that other new routes had to be created.
You mixed the maltese people with your new routes and numbers.
Please do it and I'm sure people will say a big thank you once and for all or else come last week of September and we are going to have a disaster when the schools start.

Mr Evarist Saliba

Sep 5th 2011, 22:04

Re.Routes 33 & 34
Please write TA' L-IBRAG (with a dot on the G, which I cannot produce) correctly.
This obstinacy on the part of some officials to perpetuate this mistake is incredible.

David Vella

Sep 5th 2011, 21:59

....about time!!!!!!

Anthony Pace

Sep 5th 2011, 21:52

We have to wait another month before new routes are introduced. These new routes should actually have taken place last Sunday, 4th September as that would have been a month from the last changes.

A Saliba

Sep 5th 2011, 21:52

Milli nista' nifhem id-diretta minn kull lokal ghal Mater Dei u University mhux se jergghu jaghmluha! Allura ghandna dik id-dawra kollha filghodu bl X2 li titlaq mill Ajruport ghal Rahal il-Gdid Park and Ride Qormi (meta tkun ix-xita ngherqu hemm zgur). Ghidli filghodu x'hin se naslu jekk is-sitwazzjoni ser tibqa kif inhi. Mela minn qed jaghmel dawn ir-rotot bla sinsla? Possibli m'ghandux anzjani jigu minnhu li jkollom bzonn it-Trasport Pubbliku biex imorru Mater Dei? IL-VERA NIES BLA SINSLA MINN QED IFASSAL IR-ROTOT BIEX MINGHALIH QED JAQDI IL-POPLU.

Klaus Pedersen

Sep 5th 2011, 21:52

How appropiate that their web-site is not working either.

Tyron Pace

Sep 5th 2011, 21:50

It's about time. They SHOULD have seen to them in the very beginning (the bus routes)

Anthony Pace

Sep 5th 2011, 21:39

Less than 3 hours since this piece of news was posted and it already attracted 60 comments. The best thing is for Arriva and the English CEO and his subordinates to go home. We are not an English colony any more and we can device our own public transport which ran beautifully and on time till you took over.

The previous bus service route no 41 from Attard and Balzan ran every 15 minutes and every 30 minutes. I have yet to see the service the Englishman boasts about no 106 run every 15 minutes. It generally only has a few passengers and so is a wasted bus.

I presume that the X1 and X6 are in addition to no 41 already running from Cirkewwa. Perhaps some normallity will descend on the islands in the days when children will be busy returning to school.

Take head PN your day will soon be over. The fiasco over the bus public service will not be forgotton!!! It has cost the country millions and we will want ou pound of flesh shortly.

The Ombudsman is already looking into the major fiasco of the last two months and hopefully an independent Parliamentary inquiry or select committe will fine you thousand of euros to fianance a possible tram or underground system such as Singapore and Amsterdam have!!!

Michelle Polidano

Sep 5th 2011, 21:39

Hi everyone,soon children school is beginning.Please Arriva don`t let Malta stop at that time.Lot of traffic and lot of people waiting is not nice.I`m sorry but something can arrange if there`s a good managment.

Klaus Pedersen

Sep 5th 2011, 21:24

We were promised that route 81 would have its' ridiculous travel time reduced - preferably by dropping the useless visit to the horsetrack. Why not?

ALFRED BONELLO

Sep 5th 2011, 21:22

I have already humbly asked the following question directly to 'Arriva' viz:
Any chance to have a connection from Attard to Mosta (Centre) please??.. and now that it seems an exhaustive overhaul of the system is underway I take the liberty to call on you again to kindily
give it your consideration .

Why? Because this would be accepted as indeed an added improvement to the old transport system for us, as we did not have it before; otherwise it is regretted that next to nothing has benefited Attard residents (route-wise I mean) from this turbulent change.

And if more buses are imported, let there be more vision at night please please please ,,,, the dark tint is so awfully annoying particularly when the display and audio are not working and one would never know one's whereabouts from inside the bus.

Otherwise cheers for your customer-friendly, quick responding web-site ....let alone the time schedule which is there only to take us jokingly for a long ride ...........even before we actually board the bus.

Anyhow, rest assured that more improvements are grossly welcome by all of Malta.

ajb

C. Refalo

Sep 5th 2011, 21:10

Sa fejn naf jien r-rotot huma f'idejn transport Malta u mhux f'idejn l Arriva. Ejja ngergru kontra dawk li ghamlu r rotot in the first place. Ir-rotot il godda min ghamilhom? tghidlix li l-istess nies ghax hemm zgur isir fjask iehor.

FRANS H SAID

Sep 5th 2011, 21:09

An exercise in stupidity. How long is Arriva and our Govt keep on taking us for a ride (or not taking us for a ride)?

There have been untold requests for the old 49/58, but our council is out of touch with the needs of the residents.

I defy any member of the present and past councils to debate the issue, even with their "advisors". Obviously, they seem to have a secret (different) agenda and will not face the residents.

And route 129 keeps on going round empty.

Joe Pavia

Sep 5th 2011, 21:02

What about Marsascala??????? As usual in all aspects the South is forgotten completely

Charles J. Buttigieg

Sep 5th 2011, 21:00

Il veru rnexxilhom ihawdu lill Malta kollha. Niggarantixxi aktar tahwid,aktar tgergir. Soluzzjoni, itilqu minn fejn gejtu u hallu lill Maltin jorganizzaw servizz sura ta nies. Mhux veru li l-Maltin kollha cwiec.

Charles J. Buttigieg

Sep 5th 2011, 20:56

Il veru rnexxilhom ihawdu lill Malta kollha. Niggarantixxi aktar tahwid,aktar tgergir. Soluzzjoni, itilqu minn fejn lha Cgejtu u hallu lill Maltin jorganizzaw servizz sura ta nies. Mhux veru li l-Maltin kollha cwiec.

Joe Camilleri

Sep 5th 2011, 20:55

Bus 106 will now be reduced to 1 every half hour. This is a joke. In reality bus 106 never had a frequency of more that 1 every half hour.

G Schembri

Sep 5th 2011, 20:53

I hope the 72 will not be taking the extra narrow road in Luqa which leads to the very popular monument. The old buses often could not pass through that street, I can't imagine what the new buses would do.

Mr Louis Bartoli

Sep 5th 2011, 20:50

Unless a radical change in the ticketing system is made, buses just cannot keep their scheduled time. Most of the journey time is being spent on buying tickets and ticket and identity card checking by the driver. It should be the passenger's responsibility to have a valid ticket, not the driver's. There should be inspectors for that job, and penalties meted out when the appropriate ticket is not produced.
Tickets should be able to be bought over the counter from other sources, like stationers and bars, then validated by machines on commencement of the journey. It is unfair on passengers who would have bought a two hour ticket from a machine, then because the bus is delayed, the ticket expires in mid-jouney. Tickets should be validated when the passenger boards the bus.

Marisa Debono

Sep 5th 2011, 20:47

Ma kellhomx jirrangawha ir-rotta 91? X'gara f'daqqa wahda? Lir-residenti tan-naha ta' San Tumas, u dawk li joqoghdu aktar il-gewwa mill-bandli, li ghandhom mixja ta' aktar minn kwarta, fix-xemx jew fix-xita - dawn insejtuhom, sinjuri ta' Transport Malta / Arriva???

Nispera li mhux se jigi xi cowboy jghidli nippakkja u nitlaq jekk ma joghgobnix - ili s-snin noqghod hawn, u issa bdew il-problemi - ghalija li rrid immur ghax-xoghol kuljum, ghal hafna anzjani u ghal ohrajn li ma jistghux jippakkjaw u jitillqu.



Grazzi Arriva.
Grazzi Transport Malta.
Grazzi Dr Gatt.

Mr M Borg

Sep 5th 2011, 20:44

It seems that we Sliema residents do not exist.

We have been writing and asking for the old route used by bus 63. We do not want to spend 50-55 mins on the bus 32 going round in circles before getting to Sliema from Valletta when before we could do it in 15 mins.

We and tourists have been asking for the reintroduction of route 645. With this bus we could go from Sliema to Cirkewwa in 45 mins. Because this bus used to leave from the Ferries we Sliema residents and the many tourists, students we get always managed to board this bus.

As things stand, bus 11 from Valletta to Cirkewwa goes all round Bugibba , takes 1 hr. 45 mins and is always full by the time it gets to Sliema .This bus is of no use to us !!

It seems that Arriva and Transport Malta take no notice of our complains.

Mr francis darmanin

Sep 5th 2011, 20:35

I still haven't grasped the 32 route. Will it go up Rue d'Argens from valletta and continue on its way to Sliema via Rudloph and Dingli street? it's not at all clear. Of course I won't bother phoning Arriva cos the customer care personnel though very nice guys and gals haven't got a clue.

Marcel Mejlaq Vella

Sep 5th 2011, 20:34

Mela mhux bhal ma ghaddu kemm qall Austin Gatt, li r-riforma fit-transport pubbliku kinet success. Kiku kinet success anqas kellu ghalfejn jaghmel dawn t-tibdiliet fir-rotot li ha jidhlu fis-sehh nhar il-hadd. Issa stennew la tibda l-iskola terga, kemm jrid jerga jzid il-genn u t-tahwid.
Konna sew u ma konnix nafu. Konna nhallsu inqas u konna moqdija ferm ahjar. L-impatt negattiv ta dan it-tahwid ghad inhossu l-quddiem, specjalment fit-turizmu ghax barra minn xtutna kulhadd jaf f'liema stat hazin qieghed it-transport pubbliku. Kif jghidu, l-kelma tigri. Jien nahdem dirett mat-turisti u ghadni ma ltaqjtx ma turist li fahhar tal-linja l-godda. Kulhadd jgerger u jghidli kemm damu fuq tal-linja, kemm damu jistennew u kemm is-servizz ma huwiex efficienti. Jien ma nafx kif ma tisma lil hadd jgerger mill-awtorijiet tat-turizmu. Imma imbasta gibna kumpanija barranija u hadna ix-xoghol lil Malta u L-Ghawdxi.
Tal-misthija u xejn izjed, Tghid Austin Gatt and Co ghadu jafu x'inhi misthija

Mr B Grech

Sep 5th 2011, 20:30

When on earth will Arriva introduce a direct route from the Gudja, Mqabba, Zurrieq area to Mater Dei? I m fed up of hearing about my wife's troubles in getting to work on time! Leaving at 520am in the morning and arriving at work two hours later is unacceptable. Experimenting with different routes to find one that actually gets her to work on time and reliably is also something we could do without. The old direct route to mater dei and uni from this area is needed badly for all medical personnel who rely on public transport which from this region of Malta is a complete disgrace. Bring the old route back TM!!!!

Victor Cordina

Sep 5th 2011, 20:29

The Zejtun service is still not adequate even with the introduction of of the one hour service direct to Valletta from Ta Ganza. What we need is a direct service from Zejtun centre to Valletta. I suggest that the service No 81 be change so that every alternative bus goes straight to Valletta whilst the other passes through the Park and Ride at Marsa. However a study of how many passengers get off or on at Park & Ride at Marsa from Zejtun would not be amiss

K. Vella

Sep 5th 2011, 20:29

Where is Route 81!!!!

krystle micallef

Sep 5th 2011, 20:15

kemm konna ahjar qabel jahasra! kemm qlajnilom il-hara l-antiki u nghajtu IGRI TIBDA l-ARRIVA!! ara fhiex gejna l-prodott malti dejjem naghtuh bis sieq!

Charles Vassallo

Sep 5th 2011, 20:12

Am I missing something here! Arriva had promised direct routes from Pembroke to Valletta, from what I have read just now the problem will get worse for the residents of Pembroke.

The main two problems were:

1.Trying to catch a bus from Pembroke to Valletta was impossible at times as Bus 11 & 12 used to pass full up coming from St. Paul's Bay.
2. To get to a bus stop you have to go to the Pembroke park & ride or the main road (notoriously known for accidents) which means a good 15 minutes walk.

The only mention that Pembroke got from these changes was that the Bus 123, which does the rounds from Pembroke to San Gwann is going to be extended to St. Julians. Fine as this was the only means of transport that used travel to the heart of Pembroke every 30 minutes. With the new proposals one will get a free tour round our pitoresque bays!

Come on Arriva, there is no excuses this time, you have recieved numerous complaints and suggestions from the Pembroke Local Council (They have distributed copies to residents) and the residents, so please fix it!

Mr W Cassar

Sep 5th 2011, 20:11

Is there a direct bus to hospital that passes through Cospicua, elderly people do not have the stamina to stop off at Paola and then wait for another bus in the heat and rain.

Still not good enough!

Mr J Busuttil

Sep 5th 2011, 20:10

What about the bus that passes next to my house with the stage a few meters up or down the road ?

S. Camilleri

Sep 5th 2011, 20:10

Where can we see the NEW routes? I like the note on routes 22/32. They were 2 of the best new routes... Are these routes swapping Mrabat for Rue d'Argent or are we in for a Tour of Gzira??

john farrugia

Sep 5th 2011, 20:08

FEJN HIJA X5........GHALL GUDJA U GHAXAQ

James Camilleri

Sep 5th 2011, 19:57

With all the new changes the service will still be a far cry from the one we had before (as routes and times are concerned).

Mr Paul Micallef

Sep 5th 2011, 19:46

Come Sunday and especially Monday morning and we will once again have total confusion

Ludgard Scicluna

Sep 5th 2011, 19:31

What aboit route 121 from Xghajra passing through ST.PETERS' AREA to Zabbar and vici versa? From
Xghajra or from St. Peters to Zabbar, we have to walk all through. Before we had the no21 bus.
I hope that things will change for a better service.
Thank you

aldo Attard

Sep 5th 2011, 19:31

U fejn hi il karozza li lilna l - gharghurin tehodna dritt in - naxxar/ jew mosta dritt ghal birkirkara imsida u l - belt.
Mela ahna suwed.
Nahseb ahjar jaraw kif kienu ir - rotot qabel u jirrangaw / jolteraw fuqhom.
Zball ma jitrangax b' iehor.

Mr Peter Murray

Sep 5th 2011, 19:29

Better late than never but why oh why didn't Arriva adopt this sensible course of action prior to commencing operations?

Ryan Navarro

Sep 5th 2011, 19:21

Is this a joke? And what are the people who live in St.Paul's Bay are supposed to do? Today, I caught the bus number 41 and the bus was jam packed!! All this because there is only one bus from Valletta to cater for St.Paul's Bay, Mellieha and Cirkewwa residents EVERY HALF AN HOUR. Oh, and how are us residents going to go to Mater Dei or to the University??? What a shame before we had 4 buses for Tal Qroqq and now none!!

Shameful indeed!!!

j brincat

Sep 5th 2011, 19:17

What Transport Malta should have done is change the drivers (not all of them) and the buses BUT leave the excellent routes as they were.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Experience of Arriva to date has been very sour. We see how things develop.

(jb)

Ms E Grech

Sep 5th 2011, 19:15

i cannot believe that the promised "direct routes to mater dei" from birzebbugia are not gonna happen!! so now, in order to get to university and mater dei i have to catch 2 buses early in the mornin and since all the students: MCAST, jc, uni, naxxar and mater dei + normal commuters have to get the same bus (no.82) i expect that at least the buses would be more frequent and that they would stop detouring to hamrun and qormi. otherwise...i'm gonna start using my car! so much for reducing traffic!

JOSEPHINE BORG

Sep 5th 2011, 19:10

NO CHANGES TO BUS NO 91 PASSING THROUGH FGURA????!!!!! DO WE ALL HAVE TO GO ON A HUNGER STRIKE TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHAME ON MTA AND WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MESS AND FRUSTRATION CREATED TO US FGURA DAILY COMMUTERS

Steve Aquilina

Sep 5th 2011, 19:10

WHAT ABOUT THE DIRECT ROUTE FROM COTTONERA TO MARSASCALA ????????

Mr joseph mifsud

Sep 5th 2011, 19:07

mela ta siggiewi minsijin.se jkollna nibqaw ninzlu il park &ride biex mmorru mater dei.

Mr Tony Camilleri

Sep 5th 2011, 19:03

WHAT ABOUT WIED IL-GĦAJN, ĦAŻ-ŻABBAR, IX-XGĦAJRA AND OTHER SOUTH LOCALITIES?
A CRAP SERVICE BY A CRAP GOVERNMENT BROUGHT BY A CRAP GOVERNMENT.

Loredana Formosa

Sep 5th 2011, 19:01

and still nothing for the forgotten gudja/ghaxaq people! We do exist arriva and when we phone and you inform us that you will have info on what is going to happen to this route (not that the x5 will begin, only info!!!) mid september, that doesn't help us to arrive to work!

Peter Seebohm

Sep 5th 2011, 19:00

Good news. Now we need ticketing machines at every station. Europeans are used to use it. Even at MALTA it should be possible.
Means, it will speed up the loadings of passengers, but there will be more controls. I am fine with that

Liam Caruana

Sep 5th 2011, 18:57

Nemmen li kien hemm bzonnhom dawn ir-rotot, izda nahseb li l-ahjar haga hi li jkunu izjed frekwenti u mhux kull siegha, kull siegha hija ftit u haga ohra nemmen ukoll li postijiet ohra bhal San Pawl il-Bahar hemm nuqqas ta rotot jahdmu hemmhekk fejn qabel kien hemm xi hames numri, issa kull m'hemm tnejn.

A Caruana

Sep 5th 2011, 18:54

What about MARSASCALA ROUTE NO 91??? STILL NO DIRECT BUS TO VALLETTA FOR MARSASCALA RESIDENTS IN CERVIOLA AND JERMA AREAS!!! DISABLED AND OLD PEOPLE STILL ARE WITHOUT A DIRECT BUS AS THEY CANNOT GET ABOARD THE MINI VANS. WHY IS EVERYONE IGNORING MARSASCALA RESIDENTS?? WHAT IS THE COUNCIL DOING?? WHEN IS A PROTEST GOING TO BE HELD IN MARSASCALA, WHO WILL HAVE THE GUTS TO ORGANIZE A MASSIVE PROTEST OUTSIDE THE PRIME MINISTERS HOUSE? SHAME ON ARRIVA, SHAME ON TRANSPORT MALTA, SHAME ON AUSTIN GATT, SHAME ON THE PM AND SHAME ON THE LOCAL COUNCIL! THIS IS UNBELIEVEABLE!!

Tessa Taylor

Sep 5th 2011, 18:54

How much longer do the residents of the area between Marsaskala and St Thomas Bay (old 17,19,buses) have to wait for the 91 to be amended?

Ramon Mangion

Sep 5th 2011, 18:49

What about the route N3 which at night does not stop in Senglea. Arriva and TM expect that WSenglea youths walk from Bormla in the middle of the night after a night in paceville

D Agius

Sep 5th 2011, 18:48

"Route 3

Route is being modified to improve access within Xgħajra."

LOL! What kind of announcement is that? I was expecting Arriva/TM to set up a proper route finder on their website... so far their website is no better than a brochure.

Mr Joseph Calleja

Sep 5th 2011, 18:43

Alleluia, Alleluia, finally. There is a God after all. Let us wait and see what the results are and then we can comment. It seems like big changes are on the way. Never say never!

Mr Jay Oatmon

Sep 5th 2011, 18:42

Good news - I went by bus to Floriana and you can actually breath the air at city gate now.

Lena Hahn

Sep 5th 2011, 18:39

Please increase trips for Bus 62!