The government-run public transport service is losing an average of €2.2 million a month and if this continues taxpayers will have to foot a bill of at about €30 million by the end of the year.
The government said last night there was a “positive” response to its call for bids to take over public transport for the next 15 years.
“The level of public transport service we asked for filtered down to four bidders, three of which were received on time and who are confident that they will meet our expectations for an efficient and reliable bus service which takes into account the social and economic aspect of the island,” a spokeswoman for the Transport Ministry said.
The three final bidders were Autobuses de Leon SL, Gozo First Travel and Island Buses Malta.
Saying the adjudication board would have to go through a huge amount of documentation, the ministry said it was premature at this stage to say when the government would be in a position to make a final decision.
Sources close to the ministry said the only overseas firm to bid was from Spain. The other two were owned by Unscheduled Bus Service and by Gozo Coaches Cooperative, a group of Gozitan coach owners only interested in the service on the sister island.
The sources said it was unknown what sort of State subsidy the three companies had asked for as Transport Malta officials were still studying the proposals.
However, the figure is estimated to be much higher than the average €10 million a year given to Arriva.
Following the election in March last year, Arriva started discussing with the government the possibility of pulling out of its 10-year contract to run the service after two-and-a-half years.
Although it was registering huge losses, the final straw came last summer when Transport Minister Joe Mizzi ordered it to remove bendy buses from the network following safety concerns.
The government took over the public transport service in January through a new company called Malta Public Transport Services.
Mr Mizzi told Parliament that while the company’s monthly revenue in the first quarter was an average of €1.4 million, operational costs climbed to €3.6 million a month.
These costs are expected to increase substantially as the government has leased 45 buses from a UK company – a one-year contract expected to cost some €2.4 million a year on top of hiring drivers and paying for fuel and maintenance costs.
Replying to questions by Times of Malta, the Transport Ministry said yesterday there had been an increase in passengers and in the first three months of the year, Malta Public Transport Services Limited made operational savings of €200,000.
“Through the deal for the lease of buses for the peak season, the government will be making about €1.6 million in savings,” it said.