New buses add hours of travelling time (1)

On October 12 at 2 p.m. I left the office in Mellieħa to commute to Birkirkara where I live across from Mater Dei Hospital.

Before the introduction of Arriva, I used to board bus 450 from the Mellieħa bypass and vice versa as follows: I left home at 7 a.m., boarded the 450 at 7.10 and arrived at Mellieħa by 7.50 latest.

After work I used to get the bus at 2.10 p.m. and arrive at my destination at approximately 2.45/2.50. Now for the Arriva saga. I now leave home at 6.25 a.m. to get the 6.30 bus 31, which is never on time. I stop at Technopark 2 and wait for bus 41 hopefully making it to Mellieħa by 8 a.m. For the return journey, I leave the office at 2 p.m., catch bus 11 at 2.25, stop at Buġibba to change buses and wait for bus 31. After a complete tour of Qawra then it’s a tour of Naxxar, where loads of students from the Upper Secondary try to get a place on the bus. When it’s not a bendy bus, the situation is chaotic. I arrive at my destination at 3.55 p.m. The complete travelling time by Arriva bus is one hour 55 minutes each way, an increase of one hour 15 minutes each way when compared to the old system – an unnecessary increase in travelling time of two and a half hours.

Now my question for Arriva and Keith Bastow. Is this efficiency or disaster? Give us back route 450 or call the service a complete failure.