I must say that Malta Public Transport is very up-to-date, participating in 20 per cent cuts, not in fares but in services.

On Black Friday, at 12.25pm, I waited for a route 45 bus,specified as arriving at 12.31pm. Allowing for timetable fantasy, nothing had arrived by 12.45pm. Hopefully I remained there as another route 45 bus was scheduled for 1.01pm (what accuracy!). By 1.20pm nothing had appeared, so I was forced to change my plans.

In Valletta, I was at the route 45 stop at 5.15pm waiting for the 5.30pm trip. The crowd grew but no route 45 bus appeared. Many other buses serving other routes passed by, including the very popular Malta Public Transport destination “Sorry not in service”. The crowd became quite restive as nothing appeared at the next specified time either, 6pm. Eventually, at 6.15pm, a route 31 bus appeared, which, at least, did go to Buġibba.

It would be interesting to know who is ultimately responsible for the running of Malta Public Transport. I would have suspected that it is the government. If it is, it needs to propel the minions who operate the system.

Does nobody realise there are some people in Malta, both permanent residents and tourists, who want to either get to work on time or to an attractive destination using buses rather than a car or a taxi?

It is all very well having an efficient ticketing system but it is of little use if no bus appears to use it on.