Arriva Malta bowed to pressure from Transport Malta today, saying is has  initiated work aimed at enhancing and improving bus services on Routes 71, 72 and 73, that serve  Zurrieq, Mqabba, Qrendi, Kirkop, Safi and Luqa, among other localities.

"Arriva Malta acknowledges that there have been problems with the scheduling of services on these routes, and they have been suffering from reliability issues. A number of factors make the current timings on Route 71, 72 and 73 unachievable and unsustainable. These are also aggravated by traffic problems and congestion at particular hotspots, chiefly the roundabout by the airport where traffic flows are unpredictable and where bus priority measures would also greatly improve the service," the company said.

"Arriva Malta has reached a conclusion that will improve the operations on these routes for the benefit of commuters. The bus operator will shortly be implementing strategies geared at improving the delivery of services on these routes. Arriva will commence the ‘interworking’ of Routes 71, 72 and 73 along with the integration of an additional vehicle into the route group, a solution that will see an increase in the number of buses serving stops along these routes."

The company said that through agreement with Transport Malta, it  will be increasing the number of buses working on route 73 to raise the frequency to half hourly to enhance the level of service.

Moreover, following a detailed timing and reliability exercise carried out last week, Arriva has today started the rescheduling of these routes and will be proposing the implementation of a dedicated driver roster for their operation to be delivered later this year, thus further enhancing their operation. 

Revised services on these routes will start by Sunday, December 2.

The company said nothing about other routes which have been the source of public complaint.