Arriva’s logo will be making a vanishing act come Thursday, when the British transport operator will officially end its ill-fated two-and-a-half-year journey in Malta. A spokeswoman for the Transport Ministry confirmed that Arriva Malta’s brand name would start to be phased out from January 2.

“The short timeframes do not allow for all bus liveries to be changed overnight but an effort will be made to remove the Arriva logo from tickets and other instances where it appears,” she said.

The start of the transition should be a normal day for commuters as Transport Malta will “prioritise customer service over branding”.

In a move which averted the company filing for liquidation – a messy prospect for both Arriva and the government – Transport Malta has taken over the company and a portion of its substantial debts. However, the government will not remain the owner and will eventually issue a call for expressions of interest for another private operator.

The ministry would not commit to a timeframe for the re-awarding of the licence. “We are working to make this process as efficient as possible: an expression of interest will be issued in the coming weeks,” the spokeswoman said.

Paramount Coaches, a leading private bus and coach operator, has already expressed interest in taking over the business by setting up a consortium that would include a number of locally-based companies. However, the government said it had no talks with Paramount, adding that the call would be open to both Maltese and foreign consortia.

The spokeswoman would not comment on whether the bus fares would be rising once a new operator took over. “Our priority is for customer service to improve and bus use to increase. We are determined to make it pay for people to use public transport,” she said.

She did say, however, that non-Maltese bus users would now be paying the same fare as the Maltese, thus putting an end to the controversial fare differentiation.

This was one of the issues mentioned by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who, on Sunday, said: “The public transport disaster, from bad route planning to the EU ticket pricing probe, is a clear example of the legacy this government inherited.”

Arriva, a subsidiary of German firm Deutsche Bahn, was on a 10-year exclusive contract but is believed to have lost in excess of €50 million since it took over the public transport system in the summer of 2011.

The company has maintained its silence despite its departure having been announced officially. Multiple attempts to contact officials from the company yesterday proved futile.

Where will the bendy buses end up?

It appears that the fate of the 68 bendy buses that were taken off the roads after three of them caught fire in August will remain an enigma till the very end.

Transport Malta has bought all of Arriva Malta’s assets, except the articulated buses. The Transport Ministry said they were now “Arriva Malta’s responsibility to dispose of”.

“Everyone knows that the bendy buses were not suitable for Maltese roads. Bendy buses were already problematic in much larger cities like London because they are only suitable for long stretches of straight road,” a ministry spokeswoman said.

The Gozo bus service

Gozo commuters have contacted Times of Malta concerned that the transport system there will now go back to its pre-Arriva operation.

Unlike the experience in Malta, Arriva’s presence in Gozo has been very positive. “Arriva worked like clockwork here. Unlike the Maltese, we are very happy with it,” said one anxious commuter.

The Transport Ministry said the system would remain unchanged until a new operator was chosen. “When a new operator is chosen, all routes will be reviewed to make sure they are optimal and able to cater for people’s needs,” the spokeswoman said.

She added that Gozitan bus users should not fear any major changes because the system was largely thought “to be working well”.

“However, it is not perfect and we are determined to keep improving the system as we go along. If any changes take place, they will make the system better, not worse. We cannot afford to get this wrong a second time.”