Never in my life have I written a letter in the paper but the bus service has obliged me to do so.

First of all, when Malta Public Transport issued the Tallinja card, mine was marking ‘error’ all the time, after I had already topped it up by €10 on the internet.

So I queued up in the scorching sun and, after several attempts, each time having to stay for an hour or more, they finally gave me a €21 card to use for a week as a refund since my Tallinja card had to be replaced. They declared it was “not good”.

A week passed and I started buying €2 tickets again, as they had told us they were refundable. I decided to queue again in the hope of obtaining the replacement Tallinja card, which had not yet arrived in the post.

The same thing happened – mine was declared “not good” and they gave me another €21 card.

When it expired I went back to Valletta and told them I still had not received my card but they told me “no more cards now” and that I had to buy my own!

What about the €2 tickets I have been buying, I asked: “Sorry they are no longer refundable.”

Very nice! So I am now having to purchase a €21 card every week.

Are we getting a better service? It used to cost me €36 a month to get to work and now it is costing me €84. Malta Public Transport has ripped us off and how! And, to this date, I still haven’t received my Tallinja card. Disgusting.