More drivers ditch Arriva

Austin Gatt should resign and Arriva should go back to the old bus routes,and give it's workers the pay they truly deserve !

Jiena fuq il paga it Tort intih lid drivers Maltin ghax (1) L-ewwel net ghax dak il kuntratt ta 200 ewro fil gimgha QATT ma misshom ACCETTAWH (2) Jekk il kumpanija gabet haddiema Inglizi u qeda THALLASHOM il BELLI liri il haddiema li hemm bhalissa jahdmu mal Arriva IMISSHOM jaghtu lil Arriva NOTICE u ghidulhom li la qedin go pajjisna Malta jew THALSUNA bhal ma qedin THALLSU lid DRIVERS INGLIZI inkella ser NIEQFU mix xoghol

Sur Manuel Delia NIXTIEQ inkun naf min huwa dak l-INJORANT li LAHQEK Chairman tal Malta Transport Jidher li INT qied MOQDI bi DRIVER mieghek li ma kontux IMGIENEN min ghamel li SKEDA tar ROTOT jigi li jaghmel il Karozzi biex tirkeb min San Giljan ,sliema u Gzira IRRIDU noqodu nistennew il karozza tigi min Bugibba u ic Cirkewwa Qabel ma dahlet l-Arriva kienet tigi karozza min St Andrew's u Paceville kienu jigu MIMLIJIN AHSEB U ARA ISSA irridu nistennew il karozza tigi min BUGIBBA Mur ara li stages ta Sliema San Giljan u il Gzira MIMLIJIN bin nies jekk NISSEJHU NIES nistennew lil ALLA l-IMBIEREK forsi TINQALAXI karozza Haga wahda ghandkom tghamlu su Manuel Delia int u il ministru KESAHLU sieheb Dr Austin Gatt tkunu IGIEL U TWAEBU MIN HEMM ghax ma JISTHQILKOMX toqodu hemm wara li STRAGI li ghamiltu

If ARRIVA was wise enough to deduce in case the drivers will not show up, there must have been some contingency plan or PLAN B. ARRIVA never had a PLAN B and this shows how unprofessional it has been.

Hekk sewwa Sur Ministru Austin Gatt u siehbek Manuel Delia, rajtu kif ghamiltu u qridtu lill-Maltin li kienu qed jaqduna ferm ahjar minn dawn tal-arriva. Biex issa qed ibatu il-maltin li jkollhom bzonn it-transport pubbliku, billi qed jinqela fix-xemx jistenna. Vera ma tafx tisthi biex tidher quddiem il-poplu. Sur Ministru kieku minflokok nirrizenja u immur nistahba u ma noqghodx nistenna l-elezzjoni. jekk ma titlaqx int, Nitlob lill-PrimMinistru innehhiek hu. Issa xebbajtu poplu shih.

Yes more complaints from the south! The Zebbug route is a farce. Zebbug and Qormi aren't hamlets and always had a large number of commuters using the service. The Zebbug bus used to be a very dependable and frequent bus servicing Qormi, which got you to Floriana in 35 minutes maximum. Now it's turning out to be an existential nightmare. I am really having great doubts re the quality of the market research undertaken by the bright sparks at the Transport Authority.Someone should sue the people at the Transport Authority who came up with unworkable routes and are now passing the buck. One can see that the Transport Authority was thinking of the Tourist and the two tier paying system at the expense of the Maltese commuter.They certainly didn't think of the economic and social ramifications their less than efficient changes will create. Think of all those elderly people whose independence and mobility will be seriously limited! Who wants to spend an hour plus on a journey to Valletta that previously used to take 35 minutes? Getting to and from Materdei is a nightmare and this without the presence of the thousands of university students, God only knows what October will be like! Watching those hospital workers coming off the 12 hour nightshift trying to get home was appalling! Who ever thought that to get to the airport from Siggiewi you'd need an hour and a half!!! How does that improve the quality of one's life let alone the Maltese economy! Added stress does not auger well at the start of the working day either! Who is that very 'clever Richard’ that will estimate the loss in terms of working hours and its effect on the Maltese economy? Now factor in that we have it from the horse's mouth that we have to wait months for improvement! Of course the South is not amused,nor I suspect is the North of Malta! Punctuality is valued by the majority of Maltese workers , maybe for some politicians and those with political capital masquerading as technocrats it is not! .There is definitely no evidence of any cognitive problem-solution mindset at the Transport Authority. Shortage of drivers is not the real problem. Those that came up with the new bus routes should have the courage to admit their mistakes and come up with a solution, I seriously doubt they are capable of one. Their salary is a waste of taxpayer money, they should be sacked!

Ħbieb, morru idħqu ftit ħalli tneħħu ftit id-dwejjaq li hawn bin-NON-Arriva-L u l-kriżi ta' l-ewro jew kif isejħilhom ħabib tiegħi ewrinari. http://andrewazzopardi.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/tal-arriva-ghandhom-wiehed-kbir/

P.s. If you want to see how the crap euro crisis has been developing go to http://www.eupettydictators.webs.com/ and check the various links Now you may realize why all those adverts from companies wanting to buy your old gold and also silver. You know why? Because the crap euro and the eu itself are on the way out and nothing can save them. Put extreme pressure on your MP's to hold another referendum so that we leave the crap euro and the equally crap eu before they crumble and bury us under their rubble. Save yourselves, your children and Malta. Let's leave the crap dictatorial colonialist eu and its equally crap euro and tell the eu petty dictators where to shove their orders.

jbrincat.LL.D. This is what happens when we have a foreigners obsequious lackey as Prime Minister together with his henchmen and henchwomen not to discriminate between them. This is also what happens when you become dependent on foreign eu petty dictators from brussels who order that the government privatize any parastatal companies and in turn order parastatal companies to shed anything not strictly connected with their operations. This is also what the eu petty dictators ordered that everything be given to foreigners as has also happened to the public transport so that we will become dependent on foreigners as when we were a colony. We have again become a colony, this time of the eu petty dictators in brussels. This is exactly what happened to many of our parastatal companies, including the Shipyards, Sea Malta, now Air Malta and the pbulic transport. This is besides being inundated by foreigners including illegal immigrats who are all undermining the Maltese workers in our own country, the latest example being having our sad joke of an obsequious lackey for a Prime Minister who obeys everything the foreign eu petty dictators orders him to do to the detriment of the Maltese people such as by allowing NON-Arriva-L to import foreign SCABS as they are called everywhere to undermine the Maltese workers. Yes foreign drivers, I hope that you are reading this posting or that it will be brought to your attention that you are SCABS and shall be treated as SCABS. GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRIES AND STOP BEING SCABS. Maltese people, the only way we can get out of this mess which eu membership has brought us is to leave the eu as we have every right and duty to do to ourselves, our country and our future generations. Yes, we can do it. Go see this European Parliament video which shows how any country can leave the crap eu, either from the CNI link on http://www.cnimalta.org/ or directly from http://www.europarltv.europa.eu/en/player.aspx?pid=f5077c6b-3b92-4a1f-8271-c7a49c3bc6e8 You can choose the subtitles in any language including Maltese.

Ara l-problema ta' l-Arriva mhiex xejn hlief ic-cheap labour li qed joffru. Xufier Malti b'anqas minn 2 ewro fis-siegha, xufier fl-Londra 20 ewro fis-siegha. Austin Gatt ma tantx jahdem bic-cheap labour ghax ta' lilu nniffsu zieda ta' 500 ewro fil-gimgha li zgur li ma haqqux ghax falla f'kull m'ghamel. https://mazzun.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/il-ph-u-t-tahwid-fit-trasport-it-tielet-parti/

L-ewwel irridu naraw sakemm mhux se jibqghu jghidu li m'ghandhomx xufiera. Suppost li solvewha. Suppost li kellhom lista ta' nies li applikaw u m'ghazluhomx. Wara naraw liema skuza gejja. L-iskuzi l-aktar li jigu malajr. Tajjeb nisimghu minghand in-nies li juzaw tal-linja llum. Ma hawnx wisq traffiku. Anqas nies sejrin ix-xoghol. Kemm iddum ma tigi tal-linja u kemm iddum biex tasal ?

Driver inglis imhallas 20 euro is-sija il-malti 35 euro ghall 15 il-sija, issa dawn id-drivers li gew min barra irridu jhallsulhom l-acomodazzjoni wkoll , ma nahsibx ha joqghodu ghand is-sur delia jew ghand Austin Gatt, mela ara xi spejjes dahlu fijhom ! il-Ministru l-iktar wiehed li qadt ezzista arroganti haseb li ha taghddi tieghu u jibbuldozja lil-kullhadd ! biss nghidlu wahda IL-MALTI HUW INTEIGENTI HAFNA IKTAR MILLI TAHSBU INT sur ministru tal-arroganza u bully kemm int bully ...hadmuk wahda nobis....issa il-problema hija xha taghmel ? Ma tantx ghandek min fejn tohrog ..issa nistennew il-gimgha id-diehla Gwerra mal-ARRIVA ...ghax dawn se jispiccaw iwahhlu f'xulxin .il-min se jbati...dejjem il-poplu...inhallsu it-taxxi u iktar ma Inhallsu iktar issiru frejjeg ! U il-frazi li se tibqa imsemi ghalija hija din Austin ..ZMIEN IL-Buzullotti SPICCA!

Thought for the day. Life at work is like a tree full of monkeys, All on different limbs at different levels. Some monkeys are climbing up, some down. The monkeys on top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. The monkeys on the bottom look up ans see nothing but A***holes.

NCE as they say more Chiefs than Indians. incredulous, if the Maltese bus owners made a profit when the fares were 46C and pensioners and school children paid less, then NON-Arriva-L should have kept the same fares and not increase the fares by more than 300%

incredulous NON-Arriva-L can go make its profit elsewhere not in Malta by treating the drivers as slaves. Why should we pay NON-Arriva-L €8 million in subsidies and not pay the same amount to the local bus owners? Why should the Governemnt spend millions to upgrade all the bus shelters and the infrastructure for a FOREIGN company and never did anything when the service was run by the Maltese bus owners? These are questions that must be answered by the incompetents in Government.

Maltese drivers should be paid what drivers working for Arriva are paid abroad. No more, no less.

Where is Mr Emanuel Delia ? Is he planning routes ? I have received a reply from him. It said : "I told you so. This is a historical revolution in public transport. Only Noah's deluge compares with it. Within months the floods will subside and the Maltese would have learnt how to arrive at work on time. The Maltese are inventive. Just look at me"

Dr KNOWITALL has always insisted that normal humans must be salaried according to productivity. IF THEY DO NOT PRODUCE THEY ARE NOT TO BE PAID. If they produce havoc (as HE) what are they supposed to do? PAY BACK

If Arriva buses had wings they would have already flown over back to UK like the Gozo helicopter did to Spain a few years back! . AG I cannot say you made a fool of your self, cos a fool you have always been!

I have a suggestion to Arriva. If it's difficult to find Maltese drivers, instead of bringing over personnel from abroad, why doesn't Arriva show solidarity to regulated migrants living in Malta, and employ some of them? I'm sure there are some who speak Maltese, have good manners and are able to be trained as bus drivers.

Progett iehor li ma rnexxiex daqs tas-CVA u l-parking fil-Belt Valletta.

Wara li qrajt il kummenti kollha, nemmen li il protesta li trid issir hija li waqt li nibqaw niktbu fuq il gurnali, kullhadd jibghat dak li qeghed jikteb lil l-arriva, ghanke bil malti. Specjalment ittri bhal ta " Just Ray ".

An open letter to ARRIVA. . Dear Arriva, I honestly pity you, for you have dealt with the most arrogant Minister this country has ever had. Anything that had a Labour flavour was his aim to DESTROY IT! You are being used so that he could get back on the old system bus drivers because they striked way back in 2008. . He has no limit as to where his arrogance will lead and pretty soon you too will have a taste of it too. He has declared that he will not be contesting the next general elections because he said he had enough in politics. But the truth may be that he knows that in the next general elections he will not be in power anymore and his actions of the past might be investigated by the new government and only God knows what might come out! . The old system bus drivers are not angry with you as Arriva for they know that if it wasn’t you it would have been someone else; their anger is because the government took their jobs and gave them to someone else. May be one day you will understand when the time comes for Arrive to go as well as the old system did and then you will understand what these people and their families are going through. When someone has his own business, as small as it may be, one will never except to go and work for someone else. Personally I work more than 10 hours a day and even though I do not have sick leave or optional leave or maternity leave I will never go and work for someone else even though my income is not so incredible. . Still I wish you good luck and hopefully you get the system going in the least possible time, because while you may be making some money, many Maltese are losing it through you incompetence in delivering them late for work and at times leave them on the bus stops for hours without end. . Just Ray.

Imma kif kisrilna kollox dan Austin Gatt, l-importanti għalih kien biss li jkeċċi lill-ħaddiema laburisti. Bejn wieħed u ieħor kellna trasport pubbliku li kien jaħdem u irħis. Kien hemm bżonn jibdlu l-karozzi l-qodma li kien hemm u ċertu drivers jgħalmuhom ftit aktar edukazzjoni man-nies, imma xejn aktar minn hekk. Issa spiċċajna kellna nġibu drivers minn barra, imma meta sejrin nimpurtaw xi ftit ministri sura ta' nies. B'dana kollu qiegħdin ferm għar milli konna qabel u s-sistema l-ġdida trid ħafna żmien biex tidra u qatt ma sejra tkun aħjar minn dik li kellna, meta t-trasport pubbliku kien jieħdok il-Belt u mbagħad sta għalik li tgħażel fejn trid tmur. Dak li naf li dan il-gvern ħarbat dak kollu li kien tagħna l-Maltin u dan biex dejjem morna għall-għar u mhux il-quddiem. Issa stenna oħra l-gimgħa d-dieħla f'Air Malta.

Dr Austin Gatt RAJTX kif l-ex haddiema ta Trasport Publiku JABUK ghal KUBTEJK Kull ma ghandek taghmel HUWA TWARRAB min HEMM ghax ZGUR LI MA HAQQEKX TOHODHOM dawk il 500 ewro zieda li ghadek KIF HADT anki SHABEK ta TRANSPORT MALTA IMMISSHOM iwarrbu min hemm ghax ghalxejn ma JISWEW hlief FREJJEC ma GHAMILTUX

@Windaloo. He is trying to get hold of two pairs of chocolate colourd pants.

@Haha. The previous drivers got a wage from which they had to manage all the fuels costs and maintenance of their buses with an amount of subsidy. It is a well known facts they drove long hours in a very unsustainable system. It was cheaper yes but was everyone happy, of course not. Now we got what we deserve by importing another white elephant instead lifting up our socks and sort it out ourselves. You have drivers working daily with supposedly spare buses in reserve and enough mechanics to maintain the new buses. Someone has to pay for that too now. Arriva is a commercial company bent on making more profit from a system that's sustainable for its own interests or are you living on the moon? Of course they'll pay drivers cheap wages if Maltese people want it all hobla u tredda' and pay peanuts for it. (p.s. I have bus drivers in the family before you accuse me of not sticking up for them). I know too well what I pay in London and how the bus drivers are treated here. If you want decent working conditions for the drivers, be ready to pay for them.

On Dissett Dr Gatt when asked about bus shelters in the terminus he said we didn't have them before and neither now so what's the problem Mela sew we spend 60 million in a transport reform so today we are without a bus shelter as 30 years ago and a worse service ever. And you stil in your office Dr Gatt or at a restaurant during your working day dining whist getting a 500 euro weekly increase. Misskhom tisthu tal PN kissirtuh pajjiz f'25 sena fil gvern dejn xejn tal gvern kollox mibjugh u servizzi rribli. Pero ghandha l-mars :)

Nitlob lil Pm Lawrence Gonzi u ikun RAGEL u JITLOB IR RIZENJA TAL MINISTRU AUSTIN GATT ghax ir RIFORMA li ghamel kienet FROGA MIL KBAR U SWIET lil poplu Malti il BELLI LIRI u hlief FJASK fuq kull ROTTA ma hawnx XINT tistenna Dr Austin Gatt biex TWARRAB min HEMM ghal FJASK u TBATIJA li GIBT fuq il HADDIEMA MALTIN li JUSAW it TRASPORT PUBLIKU ghax hafna minhomm qedin jaslu tard kemm biex imorru ghax xoghol kif ukoll biex JIRRITORNAW lejn id djarhom Ghalhekk Dr Austin Gatt WARRAB MIN HEMM U GHAMLILNA PJACIR AKKA TISWIHOM UKOLL IL 500 EWRO li HADT fil gimgha ZIEDA l-izjed ghal dan il FJASK li ghamilt bit TRASPORTPUBLIKU bhal ma l-ARRIVA TALBITEK KUMPENS xser taghmel INT ghat TBATIJA LI HLOQT LIN NIES ghandek BOCCI biex ITFITTEX GHAL KUMPENS LIL KUPANIJA ARRIVA JEW BIEX TITKESSAH TAJJEB

The people need someone to lead them. Let's boycott the service. Leave arriva with her drivers and her buses. Anyone please help us maltese get on our feet. Xbajna laghqa tal barrani jistmana ta skjavi biex jaqla l-miljuni. Austin Gatt malayr taghom il miljuni sussidju imma ma talabhomx kumpens ta servizz hazin. Sussidju biss in 6 days ilahhaq 132, 000 euros nahseb bihom stajna frana ftit diesel jew elettriku mill kont kieku qassamthom mal polu. Tberbiq hela bziezaq fl-arja politika mhanzra bla direzzjoni ghandna. Imbghad jghidulna inbiddlu l-COLA tal cost of living u tinghata skont kemm int rufjan al imghallem skont kemm tithalla tinghasar mill imghallem fi kliem sabieh isejhula efficjenza. Kieku l-paga tal ministru ibbazata fuq l-efficjenta bil minus qgheda

Xgaralu Mr. Delia? Bella ilsienu daqs kemm tnaffar qabel ma beda is-servizz qisu skoppra l-Amerka. HELLO. Xgaralu Mr. Delia? Bella ilsienu daqs kemm tnaffar qabel ma beda is-servizz qisu skoppra l-Amerka. HELLO. Xgaralu Mr. Delia? Bella ilsienu daqs kemm tnaffar qabel ma beda is-servizz qisu skoppra l-Amerka. HELLO. Xgaralu Mr. Delia? Bella ilsienu daqs kemm tnaffar qabel ma beda is-servizz qisu skoppra l-Amerka. HELLO. Xgaralu Mr. Delia? Bella ilsienu daqs kemm tnaffar qabel ma beda is-servizz qisu skoppra l-Amerka. HELLO.

What are the British drivers getting for the same job ? Don't you think that Maltese drivers would be furious to see that they are treated differently, when working under the same conditions ? Arriva may lose even more Maltese drivers. This takes us back to old times. A British soldier and a Maltese soldier being injured, were treated different when it came to pensions ! I suspect the same is happening now.

Six days is enough of chaos. Even if all the bus drivers had turned up for work the routes are unworkable. Terminate the contract with Arriva and start afresh with a local company catering for us Maltese. We need small buses, frequent ones and ones which take us from our home to our destination. Getting more managers creates more chaos but then Arriva likes that. It detracts from the poor service they provide. I say to the goverment tell Arriva to pack their bags and bring the old ones back until something sensible is thrashed out. And minister please be a gentleman and resign.

and this Minister passes the buck...the buck stops with him. Yet another mix up from this know it all whose law degree is a ticket to omniscience! What do honourable persons do in civilised countries when such disasters occur regarding something they themselves brought about?sh! whisper it....re...... Meanwhile people continue to suffer paying taxes to subsidise a shambles! What cheek! Problem with many people in this country is that they do not know their limitations.

Fellus ta Gahan you forgot Air MAlta which used to pump millions every year into Malta's coffer before it started being managed by incompetents appointed by equally incompetent PN Governments who are complying with the eu diktat to destroy Air Malta.

incredulous can you then tell us how the previous bus owners managed to make a profit when the fare was less than 50c and pensioners and students paid a lot less?

martin borg the contract between the government and NON-Arriva-L is disgusting. They should not have been given a monopoly which is against eu principles and regulations. Honest patriotic Maltese citizens should BOYCOTT NON-Arriva-L to get rid of them and their crap service. If the government wants to really give a service to the people it should repeal the NON-Arriva-L contract and open licenses without any restriction as to numbers to all those who want to operate in the public transport sector.

John Azzopardi The british and other foreign drivers are known as SCABS because they are undermining the Maltese workers. Maltese people should boycott NON-Arriva-L and only use totally Maltese owned transport and not fatten the foreigners pockets with our money. Use the Minibus service which takes you from your doorstep to your workplace and back for less than a euro and don't pay €1.50 for a crap service to a foreign company. Let NON-Arriva-L go bankrupt in Malta.

[email protected] if you are happy with the wages and working conditions offered by NON-Arriva-L go work for them as a driver.

So we paid about 50 million Euro to the previous bus owners , we are forking out another 8 million Euro a year to Arrive and thanks to Dr Gatt and co. we are in a worse mess than before. And please forget about teething troubles when a certain Mr Delia , who has noew disappeared from the scene, has been assuring us that everything was prepared to have the best bus service ever from day one.

And we thought that by us joining the EU, things will change for the better!!! we should have known, nothing will ever change for the better on this banana republic!!!!!! Qazziztuh pajjiz Wistin! Just disappear, vanish, go enjoy your money in Timbuktu!!!

Talking about roads someone should come and have a look at Triq il Palazz lahmar st Venera. For the last 3 months we have been living in the Sahara desert. On one who should be responsible can be seen on site. Bloody good job for the government that no Arriva buses pass through otherwise the Government will be bankrupt more than it is!

what a schambles. In any civilized country, the minister involved would not even be allowed to re-enter his ministry and forced to resign on the spot. Here, the minsiter does not even feel the need to apologise! Viva Gonzistan.

What a big mess on this Arriva plan. Gatt, where are you. Who in his right mind decided to hire these former bus drivers if they knew that this was happening. Also. it's hard to believe that no one knew this was happening. In Malta, rumours and talk is always out there. It goes to show that you could bring the greatest companies or managers from abroad but if you don't have people from the local population involved and managing you will not succeed. This should be a lesson for international business. Do these british drivers know how to speak Maltese..........No. Thus it is hard for them to succeed.

@The Alchemist No Austin Gatt will fire Delia and retain HIS place...ma tarax...issa jgawdiha sa l-ahhar!! Umbaghad igawdi Delia ghax hiereg ghall-elezzjoni!

You peanuts and you get monkeys. Arriva pack up and leave - you failed miserably in your delivery despite all the hype and gloss! Dr Gatt should also go!

@aleo2 Obviously you are not familiar with maltese working regulations. Notice is given after more than six months work then rises according to the number of years. . The driver who are walking off need not give any notice as they hardly worked six days with arriva. Like tTonio Fenech you are a cuc in these matters.

Apparently we don't have to wait and give arriva much time before we start criticizing, the fact that in order to run the service thay had to import UK drivers earing wages 8 to 10 times more than a maltese one is no surprise that more maltese drivers are leaving. If UK drivers are kept permanantly it means that either the government ups the subsidy by about another €2 million or else fares have to rise drastically. . Time for things to change seriously, starting with this incompetent government whose only aim is to secure a good future for itself and its children.

Maltese drivers wages are one-tenth of what an English driver gets. Do you blame them for dropping out? https://mazzun.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/il-pn-u-t-tahwid-fit-trasport-l-ewwel-parti/

It is time it is made clear to drivers that you cannot just walk out of a job without giving notice. This causes unacceptable inconvenience to the travelling public. As happens to other employees in Malta they ought to pay damages they cause ARRIVA by going AWOL. A student of mine ended having to pay a company 6000 euros for leaving before the end of his contract even though he had a thousand justified reasons for doing so. Imagine if a person working in a security role suddenly decided not to turn up. Unfortunately the work culture amongst our drivers had been such that there is no way you can change it. Starting afresh should mean starting with a completely fresh crop of drivers not tainted by past practices. As I said before one solution is to engage temporary migrants who can often teach us a lesson in hard work, discipline, politeness and courtesy . Alternatively ARRIVA should tap into the market of Maltese females who are under-represented in the transport industry. I am sure many female factory workers doing humdrum repetitive production jobs will gladly given encouragement and training exchange their current workplace.

In London we use Oyster cards which reduces the waiting time at bus stops significantly...cannot understand why in little Malta people still have to buy tickets from the driver...I thought Malta was SMART :) Btw...the average salary for BUSDRIVERs in London is approx. 600Euros a week plus benefits..In Malta I hear it is 35 Euros a day...no wonder bus drivers keep leaving. GonziPN used to say "You pay peanuts you get monkeys" for their consultants"...well the saying applies in this case too!

Additionally if you want the buses to run on time, forget about chitty chatty drivers, buying tickets on the bus itself or expect it to reopen the doors for you or open doors elsewhere than an official bus stop. All the bus drivers in the UK have a protective glass and they just check that you touch in below a huge notice saying DO NOT DISTRACT THE BUS DRIVER WHILE DRIVING

@Solidarity Well said. As if with €6.50 7 day ticket you can get it right and give the drivers a proper wage. Not to mention the state of the roads in Malta, just imagine what compensation to Arriva could run into each time there'a road closure affecting a route, especially if it continues to take us 2 years to finish a road!

@ Realistic Are you aware that we are subsidising Arriva to the tune of 8 million ewro per year out of our taxes? Yet SeaMalta which NEVER RECEIVED ONE CENT O F SUBSIDY in its life, was considered a burden and destroyed.

@ realistic. We are already paying UK bus fares. Part from what you give to Arriva when buying the ticket and the other part of your ticket s being paid by your own taxes. We are giving arriva from our taxes 8 Million euros a year meaning 22,000 euros a day.

It is clear that Arriva tardi got it wrong again. Now there seems to be a two tier system in the works. Does not auger well for the european standard bus services that WE were promised. I invite the PN cabinet in particular to go and wait in the blistering sun this weekend in Ghadira bay. They will enjoy it! I invite the PM to hold arriva responsible for the adverse economic impact the shoddy service is costing the country I invite Minister Gatt to resign over this flop. I urge Maltese to get things organised and provide a fast and reliable service. If Arriva wants they can carry on driving with NO passengers. I urge commuters to support Maltese services I urge Maltese drivers not to discriminate between Maltese and foreigners

It will take Arriva a while to slay the beast that was the old transport system. They will get there in the end but it will be difficult. With regards to comments about the drivers work conditions I am sure these can be improved to meet the earnings of UK based drivers , on the other hand though are Maltese consumers prepared to pay the same fares as British consumers ?

Quote from Arriva Website As an Arriva London bus driver you will enjoy all the benefits and support of working for one of Europe’s largest transport providers, yet still experience a friendly close knit community atmosphere at the local garage. We offer an attractive salary package with annual holidays and free travel for you and your partner on London’s Buses and Underground system. Current wages are around 20Euro an hour for a driver with arriva in UK. Here in Malta Euro 35 for 15 hours. Stop fooling around Around. If the Prime Minister and Austin Gatt beleve the Maltese wages should not be compared to those of UK then why did they compare the minister salaries with those of house of commons and took 500 euro rise a week. We are not a country where investors thing we work as cheap labor. And remember Malta is giving Arriva 8 million a year to keep fares down so they are not doing anything that harms their income

This is a clear sabotage by the drivers. Add to that the inefficient way the routes have been planned and we end up with what we have now. Arriva is not the culprit - the route planning deparment and the drivers are.

And even more will keep not showing up. The more the bus drivers chat with their foreign workers regarding wages the more they realise how cheap Arriva is paying the Maltese and how well it pays in other countries of Europe. We are European as much as the british are. Wages of Maltese Drivers should be as good as those of the Brits. After All Austin Gatt told us he is getting a serious european company nt a company wanting to make millions using Maltese drivers as cheap labor. And By the way Austin Gatt is the one who should be talking he s the minister responsible for transport where is he? Did he deserve the 500 euro weekly rise for efficiency?