Attard residents lose bus option

Before Transport Minister Austin Gatt’s dream of an excellent public transport service turned into a nightmare (for commuters, that is) almost a year ago, Attard residents enjoyed the option of travelling to Valletta via Msida on route 40, or via Ħamrun on one of the Rabat buses, which also passed through Attard.

Since July 3, 2011, this option has been lost, as route 54 to Valletta, which was introduced in one of the many changes since that ill-fated day, and was supposed to replace route 40, is taking the same route as the Rabat buses.

After the cold shower the minister got on his visit to the University campus, he seemed to have realised that things did not turn out the way he had hoped, and declared that since the people did not like the change, the routes will go back to what they were before. In spite of this declaration months ago, and in spite of other changes since then, we are still where we were then.

Balzan, Lija and Attard, which have always been known as the Three Villages and linked by a common bus route, have lost this natural connection. Lija is connected to several other villages but not to Attard. How absurd. How irrational. How inconvenient!