Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said this evening that he considered it 'a victory' that three companies had submitted interest in running the bus service.

Mr Mizzi was replying to Opposition questions in Parliament during which he presented figures showing that revenue by the bus service declined in the first three months of this year compared to the first quarter of last year.

Earlier, the Nationalist Party expressed concern about the financial losses of the bus service, saying that in three months Maltese taxpayers had paid as much as the subsidy to Arriva in a year.

PN public transport spokesman Toni Bezzina observed that state-owned Malta Transport lost €7 million in the first three months of this year. The losses were borne by Maltese taxpayers and were equivalent to the subsidy given to Arriva in a year.

He said the current situation was unacceptable, when the government had claimed it was running the bus service more efficiently than Arriva and when the Arriva operation had been described as ‘a disaster’.

Not only were taxpayers paying more, but the bus service had deteriorated, Mr Bezzina said. Several night services had been stopped and the vehicles used on some of the routes were inaccessible for the elderly and people with disabilities.

Furthermore, the interest in the provision of the bus service, which minister Joe Mizzi had spoken about, had not materialised. Only three companies had shown an interest to operate the service, and it was a godsend that two Maltese companies were among them, as the governemnt would otherwise had have to accept the conditions laid down by a single company.

This lack of interest showed that the government had discouraged foreign investment, with several companies having changed their mind after showing initial interest, Mr Bezzina said.

He augured that taxpayers would not continue to shoulder this burden and that the service would be improved.

REVENUE DOWN

Meanwhile, replying to questions in Parliament this evening, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi gave the following figures on revenue, excluding the government subsidy: 2013 -January €1.460,099; February €1.475,167; March €1.638,568; April €1.952,564; May €2.058,295; June €2.150,358; July €2.438,553; August €2.486,079; September €2.171,748; October €2.207,080; November €1,678,411 and December €1.510,076.

For this year, revenue excluding the subsidy was: January - €1.379,728; February €1.333,142 and March €1.572,300. Total January-March €4.285,170.

Arriva had a €10m subsidy and accumulated a debt of €70m.

The number of passengers increased by 300,000 in the first three months of the year and the government had saved €200,000 in operations.

Asked by Mr Bezzina how revenue had decreased when the minister had boasted of an increased number of passengers, the minister said the decrease was due to the reduction in fares for non-residents to align them with local residents.

Replying to other questions, he said that Arriva, which operated the service until January 1, had wanted a €45 million subsidy in order to operate the routes with the increased mileage which the government wanted. Arriva had a subsidy of €10m.

He described as 'a victory' the fact that three companies had expressed interest in running the bus service, saying that the Nationalists had not expected anyone to apply in view of the government's requirements.

Although 15 companies had initially shown an interest, Mr Mizzi said it was the company which had shown most serious interest that had made declared their interest.

In a separate statement, Mr Mizzi said the government's decision to hire 45 low-floor Euro V buses (from the UK)  would yield a saving of €1.6 million between May and October.

The new operator would continue to use the hired buses and then decide whether to extend the lease, buy them or return them.