No backtracking on Euro 5 buses

But 20 Euro 3 and Euro 4 buses can still be seen on the roads, just a few weeks before the end of May deadline for these buses to operate in Malta.

The original contract stipulated that all buses operated by Arriva had to match Euro 5 emission standards.

But in October 2011, the government waived this condition in order to allow Euro 3 and 4 engines.

36 new buses were added to the Arriva fleet in a bid to improve the current public transport network, the Transport Ministry has announced.

But to expedite their deployment, government has temporarily suspended the requisites of the new buses: there will be no air-conditioning, no official green Arriva colours, and Euro 3 and 4 engines instead of the lower-emission Euro 5 engines right up until May 2012.

"As announced in the statement you refer to, Transport Malta waived the Euro 5 requirement on the bus fleet for a limited and pre-determined period of time. The waiver expires in May 2012 and Transport Malta is not considering extending this beyond this date," a spokesperson for the Transport Ministry told MaltaToday.

According to the Ministry, Arriva is currently using around 20 Euro 3 or Euro 4 vehicles, mostly restricted during peak passenger hours.

"This amounts to around 8% of the current bus fleet and it's a negligible portion of the actual bus-kilometre operation."

European emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles sold in EU Member States. The emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards. Euro 5 buses have to abide to more stringent conditions than Euro 3 and Euro 4 buses. Euro 6 engines are currently being developed.