The bulk of costs involved in the overhaul of the three-month-old Arriva bus service announced last week will be covered by the company itself, according to a Transport Ministry spokesman.
However, Transport Malta will have to foot part of the bill and the expense is still being calculated based on the contract between Arriva and the transport regulator.
Since Transport Malta will have to share the cost, the government’s €4.8 million subsidy on the bus service is expected to rise, though it is not yet clear by how much.
“It is much too early to say what the costs to Transport Malta will be but what we can say is that they will be added to the subsidy to Arriva and that the subsidy will still be well below that paid to the Public Transport Association (which ran the old bus service),” the spokesman said.
The subsidy for the previous bus service amounted to €9 million a year.
“A discussion on these costs is ongoing,” the spokesman said.
“The contract between Transport Malta and Arriva regulates the methodology of calculating costs when routes are added, adjusted or removed and, generally speaking, it is that formula that will be applied, with Arriva already committed to shoulder all costs connected to the July 22 changes (when 27 route changes were announced).”
The ministry did not say whether the changes were expected to prompt requests for compensation by Arriva as had happened when the government made changes to the Sliema route.
The spokesman said the modifications in the system would not bring major changes to the Valletta terminus even though these will involve all towns and villages having a direct link to the capital. “Though the matter is still being assessed in detail we are informed that Valletta will probably need two to four additional departure bays that would be developed in line with the existing terminus in the area not yet developed.”
Asked if any costs were likely to be recouped through penalties that are expected to begin being imposed on Arriva from November, the ministry spokesman said: “No. Penalties are not imposed to recoup costs that are paid on the basis of a contract. Penalties are imposed for breaches of the contract.”
Transport Minister Austin Gatt announced last Saturday that the bus routes would revert to the old system, with each town and village having a direct link to Valletta and Mater Dei Hospital from next month.
Dr Gatt admitted the new system, which included interchanges around the island rather than a system that revolved around the Valletta hub, was over-ambitious and had failed.