Transport company Arriva is paying more than €30,000 per day for private coaches to replace the temporarily suspended bendy buses, Times of Malta has learnt.
The company had to hire 61 coaches from the Unscheduled Bus Service not to disrupt its service after the articulated vehicles were forced off the road over safety concerns.
Arriva has not disclosed the cost for the temporary replacement of bendy buses but sources said the company was paying an hourly rate of tens of euros per coach.
Even though the hourly rate was described as hefty, the sources said it was almost half the expense Arriva shouldered two years ago when short of drivers and buses, the company had to temporarily charter UBS coaches.
The hefty cost will add to Arriva’s financial woes since it started operating on a 10-year public transport contract in July 2011.
Arriva is a subsidiary of German transport company Deutsche Bahn.
In its annual report for 2012, Deutsche Bahn said it had to adjust its provisions to make good for “pending losses in regional transport in Great Britain and in Malta”.
Contacted yesterday with questions about the financial arrangement with UBS, a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn said Arriva would get in touch with Times of Malta.
However, nobody from the company had replied by the time of going to print.
UBS chief executive Ray Bartolo said it was not the organisation’s policy to disclose commercial information.
With a capacity of 143 passengers, bendy buses were a crucial cog in Arriva’s logistical and financial planning. The 68 bendy buses were responsible for carrying almost half the commuters that used the service. They were forced off the road by the Transport Ministry after three bendy buses caught fire in as many days last month.
Arriva was given until today to respond to a technical report drawn up by experts appointed by the ministry and Transport Malta, the industry regulator.
The contents of the report have not yet been divulged and a ministry spokeswoman said this was done not to prejudice the ongoing magisterial inquiries into the three bus burning incidents.
Asked about Arriva’s reported financial woes and whether this will have an impact on the decision to allow the long vehicles back on the roads, she said the ministry and the regulator were focused on improving the service.
“The ministry will continue its efforts to insist that Arriva provides the required resources to meet the requirement of the network.
“Ultimately, our aim is to reach a win-win situation. The losses reported do not affect the decision which will be taken about the future of the bendy buses,” she said.