Bus operator Arriva has asked ticket retailers to return all their stock to the company by Thursday, in a move that has fuelled speculation about its plans to leave Malta.

Private ticket resellers received a text message from their distributor that read: “Arriva have requested every retailer to return all Arriva tickets to their office in Qormi where Mr **** will issue a refund. Urgent by 31.10.2013.”

Retailers who spoke to The Sunday Times of Malta said they were given no explanation.

“This has never happened before and that message is all I received. I don’t know why it is happening, I guess we’ll find out when we return the tickets,” one retailer said, echoing the comments of other retailers.

The move has continued to fuel speculation about Arriva’s plan to quit Malta following pressure from the mother company, the transport giant Deutsche Bahn, which is concerned about the financial losses and reputational damage from the Maltese operation.

More than two years since taking over public transport in Malta, Arriva’s operations have endured a bumpy ride.

Arriva’s spokesman declined to say why the company had recalled the tickets from resellers: “Talks with the government continued on Thursday and a conclusion is imminent. We are expecting a positive outcome.”

The talks concern revision of existing bus routes and the permanent phasing out of bendy buses.

People complain about everything related to Arriva, yet when they brought in old coaches to replace the bendy buses, nobody did

The changes requested by the Transport Ministry would add one million kilometres to Arriva’s current journeys. While the Government is prepared to pay for the extra routes, the two sides differ significantly over the cost of the additions.

Despite Arriva’s expectations of a positive outcome, sources close to negotiations said the two sides remained poles apart on the money question.

The company has been giving mixed messages in other areas.

‘Uncertainty since the beginning’

General Workers’ Union transport section secretary Jeremy Camilleri said Arriva bosses remarked during talks with the union on Thursday that it was “not going anywhere”.

Sources close to the company insisted Arriva was under pressure from Deutsche Bahn to turn around the financial situation or withdraw from Malta. Moreover, the company never publicly denied that it had suggested as much during talks with the Government.

“What I can say is that Arriva said clearly they were here to stay during talks but I personally find it very strange that the company did not make this statement in public after Sunday’s story (in The Sunday Times of Malta),” Mr Camilleri said.

Speaking on Tuesday, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi declared that he had a “plan B” should Arriva opt to leave.

However, Arriva employees who spoke to this newspaper were not particularly comforted by the statement.

“We’ve had uncertainty since the beginning and it’s become really tiring to be honest. A transition of this magnitude cannot be smooth and, besides, I think that the problems will remain if the same crop of people are left to operate the new service,” said a driver who was recruited after 2011.

He complained that the drivers who formed part of the old system joined the company with resentment and this compounded the company’s problems.

“These people lost their ‘trucks’. You cannot take someone’s woman and then invite him over to have lunch with you,” he said, pointing out that the company suffered sabotage from these individuals.

He was also critical of the hostile public opinion, which, he said, was often illogical.

“People complain about everything related to Arriva and yet when they recently brought in some of the old coaches to replace the bendy buses, nobody complained even though they’re really uncomfortable for senior citizens and people in a wheelchair cannot get on them,” he said.