Arriva may continue to subcontract routes up to March

Arriva has told the Transport Authority that it will be able to directly operate all the bus routes as from next March, Transport Minister Austin Gatt said in parliament.

Arriva is currently subcontracting 13 routes, with numbers 24, 54, 55, 103, 104, 109, 124, 201, 204, 205, 209, 213 and 244.

Dr Gatt told Nationalist MP Philip Mifsud that that when the new service was launched there were 61 routes in Malta and 10 in Gozo, along with 13 night services.

From Novmber 6, the number of routes was raised to 73 in Malta, with no change in the Gozo and night services.

Arriva started subcontracting some of the routes when it suffered an exodus of almost a third of its drivers when the service was introduced in July. It also opted for subcontracting when the routes were increased and more buses needed to be allocated to keep up with the published schedules. The company said it was importing more buses and training more drivers.

In view of the increase in routes, the Transport Authority has temporarily waived rules on the colour of the buses and the requirement that they have airconditioning and Euro V engines, although they have to be compliant by May.