Transport Minister Joe Mizzi is staying mum.

Bus fares will remain “affordable”, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said yesterday while refusing to say anything else about the expected rise revealed by The Sunday Times of Malta.

Asked to confirm that the cost of a ticket will go up when the public transport service starts being operated by the Spanish company Autobuses Urbanos de Leon, Mr Mizzi said he was not going to comment as negotiations were still under way.

Pressed to deny that the fares were going to increase, he repeated that “negotiations are still ongoing” and that he could not say anything more.

He specified however that “the bus fares will still remain affordable”, insisting this was his main political promise.

The Sunday Times of Malta revealed that negotiations between the government and the Spanish bidders have been practically wrapped up, with the company expected to start running the service as from March.

A source told this newspaper that the government had conceded to the company the right to raise fares while the annual government subsidy for the running of the service will shoot up from the current €10 million to between €24 and €29 million.

If they are going to increase the number of buses it is logical that all the current drivers have their place of work safeguarded

The only outstanding issue before the contract is signed concerns the future of the workforce, with the government insisting that all the 600 employees of Malta Public Transport Ltd will be taken on by Autobuses Urbanos de Leon.

On the other hand, the Spaniards want the right to employ Spanish drivers to operate the routes, according to the source. On this point, Mr Mizzi said that he did not have any information to the effect that the company would be bringing over Spanish drivers. He insisted the entire Maltese workforce would be employed by the new contractor.

“If they are going to increase the number of buses it is logical to me that all the current drivers have their place of work safeguarded,” he argued.

In a statement yesterday, Transport Malta reiterated that it was still in negotiations and could not give any details on the deal.

However, it confirmed that the subsidy requested by the Spanish was substantially lower than the requests presented by the two Maltese companies that also wanted to run the service.

At the beginning of the year, the government took over the running of public transport temporarily following Arriva’s decision to cut short its contractual obligations.

The current service is running at huge losses – believed to be in the region of €3.5 million a month.