Works on doubling the size of the Valletta bus terminus will start as soon as possible but permits are still being awaited, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said.

The enlarged terminus will cater for 40 additional routes to be rolled out in July by Spanish company Autobuses de Leon.

Mr Mizzi said the preparations were in hand but he could not announce a completion date for the terminus. “We have set target dates, however, I will not be presumptuous and declare a date until I have all the permits,” he said.

The extended terminus will be able to handle the entire bus fleet, vacating the area around the Triton Fountain outside Valletta, which is now used to park some of the buses, and allowing it to be pedestrianised.

The National lottery building at St James Ditch has meanwhile been demolished.

In January, Mr Mizzi said a detailed information campaign on the new bus fare structure would be unveiled in March. Although the campaign does not seem to have yet made it to the public sphere, Mr Mizzi said information on the new structure had started to be disseminated and the campaign was under way. 

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