Transport Malta wants Arriva bendy buses phased out permanently even if the company manages to address the safety concerns that forced the fleet into temporary retirement, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.
The authority cannot order the removal of the buses since their use is integrated in the 10-year contract that Arriva undertook in 2010, but Transport Malta’s top brass has started lobbying the company in that direction, sources told this newspaper.
The development comes as a report commissioned by the authority concluded that overheating in a part of the buses’ engine is the likely cause of the fires that led to the fleet being temporarily suspended last month.
Three bendy buses had caught fire in as many days towards the end of August in Marsa, Mellieħa and Xemxija. However, before that, another six buses were involved in fires this year, even though the incidents were less serious.
An authority source said the buses involved in these incidents were scanned with infrared equipment which indicated that a particular area in the engine, close to electrical components and fuel lines, was prone to overheating.
The test was also performed on a bus that had not caught fire and this too showed the same signs of overheating in the same area, the same source said.
Arriva is still analysing the report but has informally insisted in recent talks that at least one of the fires could have been the result of arson.
On Friday the company submitted its own report to the authority, that includes certifications from the manufacturer, Mercedes, concerning post-production modifications to the vehicles, such as the inclusion of air conditioning.
The authority and the Transport Ministry will now digest the information, comparing Arriva’s investigation to their own and coming up with a way forward.
In the meantime, however, it is costing the tranport operator some €30,000 per day to hire coaches from the unscheduled bus service to cover for the removal of Arriva’s 68-strong fleet of bendy buses.
The blow adds to the company’s serious financial losses, which reportedly stand at €35 million for the first two years of operation.
The permanent removal of the bendy buses will be a tough sell for Transport Malta, precisely because of the financial considerations. Replacing a fleet of 68 buses will require a capital investment that was not accounted for.
Moreover, with a capacity of some 140 passengers, the mammoth buses are very cost effective.
This means that their removal would most likely require compensation from the Government, seeing as their use is specifically factored into the contract.
“We are very aware of this situation,” the authority source said, “which is why a balance needs to be struck so as not to face a prohibitive financial obligation to operate the service.”
Arriva was asked to give its reaction to Transport Malta’s request to phase out the articulated buses but none was forthcoming by the time of going to print.