When is Malta ever going to have an efficient public transport service?

The problem has defied every Administration, with people who have no transport of their own having to grin and bear it.

Perhaps the best hope of a steady improvement lay in the arrival of Arriva two years ago but this has fallen short of expectations and there is even talk now of the possibility of the company saying goodbye to the Malta operation if it continues making heavy losses.

All the hype that surrounded the launching of the new route bus service by the previous Nationalist Administration evaporated into thin air in no time as flaws in the network became all too obvious.

The flamboyant mayor of London, Boris Johnson, may have made a good joke of getting rid of the bendy buses by sending them to Malta but the Maltese did not take to them either, first because they are too cumbersome for the island’s roads and, second, because at least three caught fire. This has led to their temporary withdrawal from service, a matter that could not have served the company any good because the bendy buses can take far more passengers than the normal ones.

The Labour Party had made much political capital of the flaws evident in the route network during the general election campaign and promised a quick solution. Seven months down the line and there does not seem to be a solution in sight.

The contrary is the case. Talks over additional routes are now deadlocked and there is also disagreement over the Government’s request to Arriva to phase out the bendy buses.

On top of all this comes the news that Arriva may very well decide to leave Malta, well ahead of the expiry of the 10-year contract.

As the story unfolds, the transport minister assures commuters that he has an alternative plan of action up his sleeve if Arriva does decide to leave. He boasts he has already proved he had been well prepared to meet any new contingency, as was the case, he remarks, when the bendy buses had to be withdrawn. He points out that both the public and school bus services were running smoothly.

The question is: are they really?

Withdrawing the bendy buses is one thing but, surely, withdrawing all the buses is quite another, unless the minister has some magic formula that would immediately restore the old public transport service in case of need. For the minister to be able to say he has Plan B, it means he must have had an inkling that the talks with the company were going to fail. Alternative arrangements of this nature are not made overnight.

As the plot thickens, people keep seriously wondering whether there will ever be an Administration that will find a long-lasting solution.

Not that there is agreement across the country that Arriva is failing completely in its operation. However, many feel that Arriva could provide an efficient service if only the routes were to be seen to, as shown by the results of a consultation exercise. But for this to be done, Arriva would want to be adequately compensated. It would appear that the main disagreement with the company is over the cost of the new routes the Government wants to add to the existing ones.

Much time, effort, and expense have gone into the attempt to reform the public transport service. Hopefully, the Government and the company will come to an agreement that could finally lead to a lasting solution.

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