Malta’s much-derided bus drivers are actually “a good bunch” but they have lacked direction and support in the past, according to Arriva Malta managing director Keith Bastow.

With less than two months to go before Arriva begins operating the new bus service as part of public transport reforms, Mr Bastow expressed confidence that the current bus drivers Arriva are contractually obliged to retain will be able to meet the company’sstandards.

“There are some really good guys (bus drivers) out there today but perhaps there has not been a lot of pride in the job in the past. We can give them the tools, training and direction required.

“There will be a number of people who will need more re-training, and there may be some who can’t adjust to the very structured way we operate, but by and large I’m optimistic,” he told TheSunday Times.

Bus drivers and owners were given the option of working for the new public transport operator under the terms of the compensation package agreed with government. Those who accepted the offer to work for Arriva and abide by the company’s terms and conditions were guaranteed a 10-year contract.

Around 200 current bus drivers and owners will be driving Arriva buses when the new system starts operating on July 3. By then they should have completed one day of Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) training and up to six days of additional trainingcovering roadcraft skills, safe driving, customer care and routefamiliarisation.

Mr Bastow said Arriva has had to adopt a flexible approach so as not to interfere with drivers’ existing employment commitments, but he insisted all the drivers would have completed their training by July 3.

He also pointed out that despite the 10-year contracts, all Arriva employees would be subject tothe same rules and disciplinary procedures.

“All of our staff will have to meet the standards that both Arriva and the public expect from them. Our approach is to provide remedial training to employees in need of support but ultimately there are formal disciplinary procedures in place if needed,” he said.

Despite having confidence in the drivers, the British managing director said he was somewhat surprised by the poor standard of English of some of them, and he thinks Arriva will have to provide additional English language training since many bus users are tourists, although this will not happen before July 3.

Mr Bastow also thinks that improved working conditions under Arriva will raise levels of drivers’ performance. From what he can gauge, it is not untypical for drivers to work up to 90 hours and drive from 66 to 70 hours per week at the moment.

“That can’t be right from a safety point of view and must lead to a lot of frustration,” he said.

Under Arriva they will not work more than 54 hours per week, their cabs will be air-conditioned and they will not be in charge of maintaining and cleaning vehicles.

“Once they adjust, their quality of life should be much better and their performance should reflect that,” he added.

Added to the bus drivers, Arriva was contractually obliged to employ a similar number of drivers who already held a D licence entitling them to drive a bus or minibus but who had left the sector.

The final third of bus drivers are new recruits who have never driven a bus before.

The training of new drivers is much more comprehensive than it is for existing drivers, lasting up to 20 days. Training is led by nine local instructors who were selected and trained by specialist UK instructors earlier this year, and the performance of the local instructors and new drivershas given Mr Bastow cause for optimism.

“The instructors we selected were typical Maltese bus drivers and they responded extremely well to the training. They are highly motivated and that has given me a lot of confidence in the existing drivers,” he said.

The training and assessment process for new drivers is almost identical to the UK and Mr Bastow said first time pass rates for new drivers have been higher than in Britain.

So will everything run smoothly on July 3?

“It’s such a transformational change that with the best will in the world we’re unlikely to get it right on day one and that will cause a degree of frustration both on our part and for our passengers. But we have the resources and experience to get it right.”