Passengers evacuated from bus

Steven Smith

Oct 2nd 2012, 21:20

12 meter buses can not exceed 60kmh as they are governed the bendy buses can just reach 80kmh on a flat road when they get to a hill they slow down drastically between 15 and 30kmh which answers your other statement that they were crawling...this was more then likely because it was going up hill!

Lawrence Camilleri

Oct 2nd 2012, 17:08

"The bus - a relatively old one which was also used in the old bus service -" If one reads well and the report is correct, the bus was in service before Arriva took over " .. used in the old bus service". So if as you say buses used in the old service served a lifetime this bus was the exception.

C Borg

Oct 2nd 2012, 17:42

as far as I know Kinglong buses used by Arriva are equipped with Cummins engines

Andrew Holland

Oct 3rd 2012, 11:13

@C Borg The new buses supplied by King Long in 2011 have Cummins engines (apparently this was at the request of Arriva so that they would be able to use their existing engineering knowledge from their UK operations where British-made Cummins engines are commonplace). No idea what the older buses have but I suspect they would not be Cummins purely by the sound they make...

Andrew Holland

Oct 3rd 2012, 11:09

@j brincat - approximately 2/3rds of the fleet is new (or rather was new as at July 2011, but is now most likely looking and sounding like they're 5 years old if what I read elsewhere here is true!), the remainder of the fleet comprises modern second-hand buses drawn from Arriva operations elsewhere (including the Mercedes bendies, these came from Arriva London) and some of the newest/best condition (alledgely!) former ATP route buses, like the one failed here. Not sure how many of them actually where refurbished other than being given a new paint job! I travelled on a couple of the former ATP buses back in June and was struck by how dirty, old and poorly maintained they seemed (and sounded).

Ivan Falzon

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:25

jien personalment ma nhobbx indahal politika f'dawn l-affarijiet imma kif ma tistax meta qalulna tant diskors sabih qabel ma s-servizz gie ntrodott? il-verita hi li minflokk li s-servizz qieghed jittranga sejjer lura bhall-granc. hinijiet ineziztenti, nofs il flotta bla ac jew jekk ghandhom ma jixgheluhx, xufiera bhall ta qabel ghax nofshom jafu jmorru man-nies u nofshom le u mitt problema ohra.

Frank Gauci

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:29

Naqbel mieghek 100 %..... 'Traqqa l-Pannu bil-Qargha Ahmar'

A Trapani

Oct 2nd 2012, 16:59

jien laqwa li bhal eluf ta nies li ma juzawx it trasport pubbliku, ma niblax exhaust f'wicci meta qed nimxi fit triq jew nehel wara xi karozza tal linja..... the rest of the issues are secondary. If a bus is late or stops, stenna or catch another one, if the AC is not working, hu pacenzja (ACs were in existant on the yellow busses anyway)... whilst improvement should always be seeked.... none of this will kill you like black smoke in your face does.

Charles Carabott

Oct 2nd 2012, 18:27

X' ghandha xtaqsam il politika. Mela jek tighd il verita fuq il mega falliment ta l arriva qiesek ghamilt xi dnub mill kbar net.

Ivan Falzon

Oct 3rd 2012, 00:10

@ A Trapani

int bis-serjeta jew? mela l-gvern nefaq dal-flus kollha ghalxejn ghax int ma tuzhomx. mhux hekk?
addio l-anzjani u l-istudenti u dawk li ma jaffordjawx/jew ma jaqbilhomx juzaw il-karozza taghhom kuljum.

la darba l-gvern iddecieda li jaghmel riforma kellu jara li s-servizz ikun wiehed ahjar minn ta qablu.

Joseph John Camilleri

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:21

This could also happen to a new car.

R Axisa

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:59

@Joseph John Camilleri - these supposed new buses have been having a lot of trouble from the very beginning. I wonder what your reaction would be if you buy a new car and gives you trouble during the very first year. I'm sure you wouldn't say "This could also happen to a new car" and let things as they stand!

Ivan Falzon

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:15

there are quite a few of these noisy buses you speak of. myself i've been aboard some of them and the sound is like that of a driver doing 80mph whilst stuck on 2nd gear - surely a transmission problem

paul camilleri

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:26

no that is probably a turbo problem

joe attard

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:01

TKELLEM GHALIK

James Dewar

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:29

More to the point perhaps is to what extent does the word "maintenance" exist in the vocabulary or work practices of Arriva? I suspect that due to lack of proper facilities there may well be issues. Having said that no vehicle is bulletproof and breakdowns will occur even to the best maintained vehicles.

C Cassar

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:33

Just look at most of the commercial vehicles in Malta, most are completely unmaintained. Maintenence doesn't mean fixing something when it's broken. It's work regularly carried out to prevent something breaking in the first place. That's what the Maltese simply don't understand, they think it's a waste of money if something is still working.

How many commercial (and private) vehicles do you see emitting black or blue smoke on Malta's roads? I see many of them daily. These vehicles have in no way been maintained to a service schedule designed by the original manufacturer.

This will be the next area for rationalisation, the VRT 'system'. The government should model the Maltese system on the German TuV system where strict vehicle testing takes place and no modifications whatsoever can be made to any vehicle unless the parts used are TuV approved. Hopefully this will be here within the next 3 years.

J Micallef

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:39

C Cassar - what on Earth are you talking about?

In Malta, thanks to proper maintenance, we make things last decades more than expected....!!!

The worst enemy for the 'new' buses are the poor roads (mind you, TM has been resurfacing and patching the ones that Arriva buses drive through, like they did in Zabbar and Fgura).

Then, to make matters worse, I observed that the Arriva buses are too high geared for Malta, and given that they have automatic gearboxes, they end up driving on 1st and 2nd gear, which destroys the engine as its on high revs for too long. In summer, they have to cope with air conditioning, wich puts further stress on the engine.

Please revise your antiquated thinking that the Maltese are unable to properly maintain anything of mechanical complexity (you remember when, many years ago, people were afraid of buying French and Italian cars because, according to some, there were no proper mechanics in Malta to perform repairs? Well, that has changed!).

Peter Bonello

Oct 2nd 2012, 16:26

im sorry but when they were under Maltese admin, we rarely heard of this kind of thing. We had buses going on for 50 or 60 years for God's sake! The problem is with the Arriva money-saving mentality... il Konsumatur ta l-ahhar!!

Peter Bonello

Oct 2nd 2012, 16:33

C Cassar so you really want stricter VRTs? I am not one who ignores his.. i spend hundreds of euro to maintain my car to the highest level but i still have one or two issues related to poor driving conditions, namely my steering rack is making a noise... this is a regularly serviced (at least twice a year) 2008 30000eur German built car!! A steering rack should never fail, its designed so that it requires practically no servicing (it has no replaceable parts). Now i know of this since i am into cars and the problem i have is just that it makes a noise under certain condition and is not dangerous, but think of the accidents someone who would not be able to identify a sound which would mean something has become dangerous in their cars? then we wonder on how accidents happen! sometimes it really isnt an accident but the roads have destroyed that car rendering it dangerous.

C Cassar

Oct 2nd 2012, 16:57

@Peter Bonello:
Sure the buses were kept 'going' for 50 years but the all spewed carciogenic black fumes. Here we have one bus do the same and it makes headlines.

The reasonn the old wrecks all spewed black smoke and most had broken lights, missing trim, painted with brushes, rust etc is because they were'nt MAINTAINED. Just because something is running doesn't mean it has been maintained.

The Maltese have yet to go through a cultural change of investing in proper maintenance of pretty much anything on the islands.

For example, take the Sliema promenade. Each year the railings are painted black and the supporting walls painted beige. Guys turn up and apply paint and that's it, no washing down, no preparation, nothing. The professional way to maintain such infrastructure is to first wash down, remove as much of the old paint as possible, preferrably by removing each railing section and sand blasting, apply primer, undercoat and then top coat with finally replacing the railing. That's maintenance, not simply slapping paint on. It's terrible to see this going on all over Malta, there's no clue how to perform a professional job anywhere. Take a trip to Germany or Austria to see the professionalism and attention to detail. In the long term performing proper maintenance costs a lot less than letting infrsatructure deteriorate due to lack of professional skills.

Steven Smith

Oct 3rd 2012, 07:41

@J Micallef you are wrong ...what you are talking about is repairing NOT maintenance these are two totally different things

James Dewar

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:32

Thomas, albeit the much maligned (not without some justification) Dr Gatt bestowed the dreaded Arrtiva upon the unsuspecting Maltese commuters I don't think that we can hold him responsible for every mechanical malfunction that may subsequently occur!

B Attard

Oct 2nd 2012, 14:39

This is the best comment. And thanks Austin.

paul camilleri

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:29

what charm?? sitting next to a diesel tank breathing in its fumes or sitting with your feet open because on a empty bucket , the rock hard seat? or even the odd spring sticking out of the seat, ore the hot exhaust blowing up from a massive hole where the gear lever is?

how charming!!!

James Dewar

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:39

Pretty close to the mark! I have said from the outset that Malta lost a massive amount of its character overnight with the wholesale withdrawal of the old buses albeit some upgrading and modernisation was well overdue. As regards the comment "masked as state of the art" I would suggest that this also applied to the bulls....t propaganda spewed out by Arriva in advance of and at the launch. Marketing is one thing but mis-representation and / or an inability to fully honour obligations and promises is quite something else.

Joseph John Camilleri

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:26

Re B. Attard's comment: Yes, thanks Austin for ridding us of the polluting buses we have had for ages..

Thomas Rubicon

Oct 2nd 2012, 14:34

"......and demand their removal from the islands."

Believe me sir, I pray for that every day.

Robert Murrant

Oct 2nd 2012, 20:47

Removal of Arriva from the Island !!!!!! so what are your proposals regarding replacement of bus services ??? Rickshaws ? Camel trains ?

paul camilleri

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:31

by old bus they were refering to the busses brought new long before Arriva

Thomas Rubicon

Oct 2nd 2012, 14:32

Quite a few has seen a resurrection here and there.
Oh yes, nothing is perfect.... tell me another.

C Cassar

Oct 2nd 2012, 14:51

yes but only a handful and they are barred from public service, only private excursions.

Thomas Rubicon

Oct 2nd 2012, 15:20

So Black carciogenic smoke and funny smells are limited to private excursions where they do less damage!?

R. Cilia

Oct 2nd 2012, 17:07

You are wrong C>Cassar, Arriva was supposed to retain 64 of the old buses but they were obliged to change the engines to Euro V . The question is did they equip the old buses with new engines as promised?

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111208/local/64-old-service-buses-retained-german-company-to-replace-their-engines.397477