'Fantasy politics': Momentum says PN and PL transport plans are not credible

Momentum has accused the PN of engaging in “fantasy politics” with its pledge to build a €1.4 billion underground metro line within five years, saying Malta’s transport crisis cannot be solved through “five-year miracle projects”.

The party criticised both major parties on Saturday, saying Labour and the PN were continuing to treat traffic as an electoral spectacle rather than a national emergency requiring serious, long-term planning.

“After decades in which both major parties failed to seriously tackle transport reform, suddenly promising a metro in five years is not credible governance, it is fantasy politics. Where are the geological studies? The archaeological ones?” Momentum said.

The PN on Friday pledged to build an 11.5km underground rail line between the airport and Pembroke, with eight stations and a projected cost of €1.4 billion. It said the project would be completed within five years and partly funded through EU funds and loans.

Momentum said the proposal was “completely detached” from Malta’s administrative, financial and infrastructural realities, arguing that major transport reform required years of groundwork, technical studies and public consultation.

The party also took aim at Labour’s recently announced light rail plans, after Transport Minister Chris Bonett said initial coring tests would start in Floriana and Qormi as part of geotechnical studies for a proposed 24km rail line linking St Paul’s Bay to the airport. The government’s plan is projected to cost €2.8 billion and be implemented over 15 years.

Momentum said starting geological core testing so close to an election was “another example of knee-jerk politics designed for headlines rather than solutions”.

“If the government truly believed in long-term transport planning, these studies would have been undertaken years ago as part of a coherent national strategy, not rushed out at the last minute before voters go to the polls,” it said.

The party argued that both Labour and the PN had spent years worsening Malta’s dependence on private cars through uncontrolled development, weak spatial planning and road-building policies which, it said, only generated more traffic.

Momentum's traffic plan

Momentum contrasted those proposals with its own transport plan.

The party has proposed leveraging Malta’s network of Y-Plate cabs to create a shared cab system in which people can catch shared rides for €2, along with greater investment in public transport, better bus stops and shelters, fewer excessive bus stops, an expanded bus lane network and safer walking and cycling infrastructure.

Momentum has emphasised that its transport proposals, unlike those presented by Labour and the PN, can be rolled out quickly without any major new construction.

Mark Camilleri Gambin.

The party said Malta needed “competent planning, realistic targets, and the political courage to reduce car dependency in a serious and consistent manner”, rather than major projects announced during election campaigns.

Mark Camilleri Gambin, a Momentum candidate on the third and 11th districts, said the transport crisis would not be solved through “five-year miracle projects” or last-minute studies announced for political effect.

He said Malta needed steady, evidence-based reforms implemented transparently and with national consensus.