Discussion
You know those ancient things that look like throwbacks to the 30's that Malta has had forever with there own Alters and decorations. Well they are going. No more belching of smoke, weird timetables and drivers who think they rule the road. So instead of the Yellow White buses which averaged an age of 35 years, (the buses the drivers were worse), as of the 3rd July Arriva replaced them all with "nice" new ones. Many of the drivers decided they did not want to move so didn't turn up anyway. Still it will get better.
Great shame. Having visited Malta around three times a year since 1990 and owned a property in Mellieha, this is definitely a bad move, (imo).
Yes the buses belched out a lot of black smoke now and again, but they certainly had character, can you imagine a London bus driver taking his pet canary to work with him and hanging it's cage from the driving mirror?...
EEC Bureaucrats.....
Yes the buses belched out a lot of black smoke now and again, but they certainly had character, can you imagine a London bus driver taking his pet canary to work with him and hanging it's cage from the driving mirror?...
EEC Bureaucrats.....
They were great funI got back from my annual week on the island yesterday - it was incredibly sad arriving to the trusty old buses (as always, they got me and my massive case from the airport to the other side of the island for princely sum of 2 Euros) and leaving with the new ones in place (we booked a nice Merc instead for the return transfer, having had enough of the new public transport system already!)...
I can only offer a view of the new buses from a tourist's perspective, but the whole operation is currently a shambles - ok, the strike (for which I can't tell who is to blame) was probably responsible for the 3 hours we spent waiting for buses between Sliema, Valletta and Golden Bay, but the whole thing smacked of incompetence - no numbers on the front of the buses (some had routes printed on the side of them, but this just added to the confusion as they were being used for completely different journeys!).
The layout of the main bus station at Valletta's been much improved, but it wasn't completely clear (to both customers and drivers - they kept parking in the wrong bay) as to which queue was for which stop - this is basic stuff that Arriva must have done time and time again, and should surely know how to get right!....
The routes also seem ill-conceived (although we only managed one ride before resorting to alternative transport, after giving up waiting for a bus on several subsequent occasions!)... the bus from Valletta to Golden Bay (which used to take 45 minutes and is popular amongst both tourists and locals thanks to the beach and hotel facilities) took nearly 2 hours, going through every little village it could find and every small road that was nearly impossible to negotiate!
I'm sure it will get better once the teething troubles are sorted (but why make such a drastic change in the middle of high season???!) - and some of the old buses were absolutely knackered - it's one of those things that just doesn't feel like progress at all though - they've even pulled down the old bus shelter in front of the airport, forcing everyone to wait in the searing heat!...
Part of the charm of the island as a tourist was being able to hop on a lovely old bus having waited a few minutes, pay pennies and travel all over the place!
I can only offer a view of the new buses from a tourist's perspective, but the whole operation is currently a shambles - ok, the strike (for which I can't tell who is to blame) was probably responsible for the 3 hours we spent waiting for buses between Sliema, Valletta and Golden Bay, but the whole thing smacked of incompetence - no numbers on the front of the buses (some had routes printed on the side of them, but this just added to the confusion as they were being used for completely different journeys!).
The layout of the main bus station at Valletta's been much improved, but it wasn't completely clear (to both customers and drivers - they kept parking in the wrong bay) as to which queue was for which stop - this is basic stuff that Arriva must have done time and time again, and should surely know how to get right!....
The routes also seem ill-conceived (although we only managed one ride before resorting to alternative transport, after giving up waiting for a bus on several subsequent occasions!)... the bus from Valletta to Golden Bay (which used to take 45 minutes and is popular amongst both tourists and locals thanks to the beach and hotel facilities) took nearly 2 hours, going through every little village it could find and every small road that was nearly impossible to negotiate!
I'm sure it will get better once the teething troubles are sorted (but why make such a drastic change in the middle of high season???!) - and some of the old buses were absolutely knackered - it's one of those things that just doesn't feel like progress at all though - they've even pulled down the old bus shelter in front of the airport, forcing everyone to wait in the searing heat!...
Part of the charm of the island as a tourist was being able to hop on a lovely old bus having waited a few minutes, pay pennies and travel all over the place!
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