Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has proposed the setting up of a modern train system for Malta and Gozo, saying that the way traffic congestion is increasing will soon make it difficult to go around.

Dr Busuttil made his comment when he addressed the Youth Parliament this morning.

Speaking from the government side of the Chamber he remarked early in his speech that everything had to be seen from a new perspective.

When he spoke about transport, he said Malta needed a new, modern train system which would connect various nodes in Malta and also travel through a tunnel to Gozo, thus reducing the need for cars and providing a fast alternative.

He criticised the government for having wasted time as the transport problem got worse, pointing out as an example how the former PN government proposed a tunnel between Malta and Gozo but the present administration proposed a bridge before going back to the tunnel idea after years were lost.

He said the Gozo tunnel project was a national project which should extend beyond linking Cirkewwa and Mgarr. It should be part of a new transport infrastructure where a train could carry passengers direct from Victoria to Valletta and the airport, among other destinations.

The setting up of a rail network would mark a return of the train to Malta. A train service was operated between 1883 and 1931, linking Valletta to Rabat but its life was cut short by the introduction of cars and buses, which a new train service would now replace.

Coincidentally the Parliament where Dr Busuttil spoke was built on the site of the Valletta train station.