Tuesday, July 17. At 6 p.m. I was on the bus stop at Triq il-Pitkali, Attard, waiting for bus 202/203 which was due to arrive at 6.15 p.m. It didn’t come at that time; it didn’t come at 6.45 p.m. (again as scheduled) and, when it hadn’t come by 7 p.m., I went back home because I had missed my appointment. I phoned Arriva customer care to complain. The very gentle lady on the phone sounded puzzled and told me that that route should be running on time and that she would tell “them”. Great!

The same thing had happened to me a few days earlier when I waited for an hour at Mosta Technopark to take this same route to Attard.

Whatever government and Arriva officials choose to tell us, the fact remains that a year after its introduction Arriva cannot be trusted to get you where you want to be on time, however much you plan your journey on paper beforehand. It just isn’t working.