172 Arriva buses arrive in Malta

Keith Bastow, Arriva’s Managing Director in Malta, said he looked forward to see the buses – 66% of which will be King Long buses - entering service on coming July 3.

Bastow said Tumas Group and Arriva had the skills and expertise to create a “21^st century public transport system.”

Of the 172 new King Long buses, 48 are 9-metre buses and 124 are 12-metre. All buses are diesel low-floor vehicles providing easy access and will feature Euro 5 engines, air-conditioning, comfortable seating and Real Time Passenger Information displays – including next scheduled stop announcements.

The 12-metre buses will mostly operate on main-line services. The 9-metre buses will be used on feeder services throughout the islands, providing links to the urban centres of towns and villages.

When Arriva won the 10-year contract to operate public transport services in Malta and Gozo, it committed to replacing a large part of the island’s ageing bus fleet to greatly improve passenger comfort and reduce the environmental impact of transport in Malta.

Bastow, who was present at the port of Xiamen for the departure of the buses from China, said “When considering bus suppliers for the Malta contract, we thought of King Long. In recent years King Long has developed as a bus manufacturer and I have been impressed by their hard work and commitment to improvement.

“King Long has earned a good reputation for quality, design and customer service within the international bus industry. I believe that King Long have demonstrated they have the high quality manufacturing standards to produce vehicles to deliver upon these requirements for this important contract.”