hi toasted mallow, how right you are,i visit malta twice a year and have a timeshare at the dolmen resort hotel in bugibba,quite a few maltese bus drivers give their passengers a hard time,tourists in particular are singled out for some rough treatment, the drivers own their buses and seem to have a law of their own, good news though,all these old buses and most of the drivers will not be on the road from this summer when arrivia bus company take over the service with new buses shipped in from china and new drivers behind the wheel,malta,at long last is heading into the 21st century with a brand new public transport service which is long overdue in my opinion.

You can keep up to date with progress on the Arriva Malta website http://www.arriva.com.mt/home?l=1

I'm sure it'll be a more comfortable experience but I'll be very sorry to see those great old buses go. I'm surprised they didn't retain the yellow/orange livery as it's so distinctive.
Also surprised that drivers will lose jobs---- that's awful........no wonder they're grumpy

Must agree with you there, such a shame to see the old buses go, most have been passed down through families for generations and have served and still continue to serve both Malta & Gozo exceptionally well providing a very reliable, regular, safe and above all cheap service for locals.

The prices on the new bus service I am sure will be much more than the current € 0.47 (40p) fare, while any increase in fares might not be much to visitors and tourists who visit Malta to the locals who have to use the bus every day this will be a significant and unwelcome increase that they cannot afford.

Mind you it will be interesting to see how the new company will provide a similar reliable and regular island(s) wide network service with 260 buses (of which only 174 will be new) compared to the 508 busses currently serving the whole islands.

Lets hope they don't provide only popular tourist routes but provide a decent low cost island wide network for the Maltese & Gozitans who rely on the bus to get around all parts of Malta & Gozo.

If I was a driver / owner and been told that I have to go off the road and loose my income I would be very surly also.

I would be very surly also

Actually I should probably say even more surly than I normally am

Aw now, Kiltman.........I'm sure ur a cheerful Scot?!
Malta's going to lose a big part of its quirky character once these buses go. Maybe some enterprising drivers will start private tours of the island using their vehicles?

Presumably the old buses are going because they don't meet current EC regulations.

Kiltman HT Mod wrote:

The prices on the new bus service I am sure will be much more than the current € 0.47 (40p) fare, while any increase in fares might not be much to visitors and tourists who visit Malta to the locals who have to use the bus every day this will be a significant and unwelcome increase that they cannot afford.

There is going to be a lower rate for residents last I heard and the fares are going down.
It will be €12 for a weeks ticket and €2.60 for a day ticket at the tourist rate.

But the only fare that seems to be increasing is they are removing the single ticket for a 2-hr ticket.

There is going to be a lower rate for residents last I heard and the fares are going down.
It will be €12 for a weeks ticket and €2.60 for a day ticket at the tourist rate.

There is some doubt as to whether this will be allowed under the EU treaty that Malta has signed up to, the EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas has already stated that they will be looking in to this as it contravenes Article 18 of the Treaty for the Functioning of the European Union.

Personally I would be happy to pay €12 for a week or what ever a monthly ticket costs and have a greatly subsidised fare for locals.

I knew Brussels was looking into it,
But I think there is a loophole as somewhere else in the EU does a resident/tourist thing and can get round things that way.