The finance minister had much to celebrate on October 28: he arrived in time for his Budget 2025 speech despite the maddening traffic.

Malta is jammed. A typical eight-kilometre commute takes nearly an hour, to the detriment of the environment, national productivity and personal well-being.

The lack of investment in vital mass public transport in the Budget 2025 is thus mind-boggling and reflects the short-term approach adopted by the government over the past legislatures. A long-term vision for a mass transport system is the only way to propel Malta towards a quality-driven future.

As a professional in the field, I have, over the past six years, researched the feasibility for a Malta metro and published my findings to enable a national debate on such an important subject.

Effective mass transport systems are designed to carry the largest number of passengers along the shortest possible routes. These are usually complemented by a network of buses and other modes of green transport, such as cycling, thus, forming an efficient multi-modal transport system.

My research has demonstrated that an underground metro would offer a faster, cheaper and healthier commute in Malta, thus reducing our dependence on cars.

The capital expenditure of an entire single-line metro project linking Malta’s main towns would be circa €4 billion.

The entrance to metro stations could be established in town centres, with escalators and lifts leading to deep, underground platforms with minimal visual impact at street level. The central locations of the stations in dense urban centres would allow people to walk or cycle to the stations.

Finances and timescales

I have proposed the feasibility of a Malta metro network, consisting of a single line and built in three phases, enabling it to start operating in sections, the first of which could even be operational within just five years.

Phase 1 would be 25km long with 13 stations. It would link Mellieħa to the airport, via St Paul’s Bay, Paceville, Sliema, the university/Mater Dei Hospital, Valletta and other key towns. This would cost circa €2 billion and could be completed in just five years – the duration of one legislature.

Phase 2 would be 10km long with four stations. It would link the airport to St Paul’s Bay, thus closing the loop. This would cost circa €900 million and could be completed in two years.

Canary Wharf, London underground station

Phase 3 would extend the metro beyond Mellieħa to connect Gozo, thus nullifying the need of a car tunnel, should a permanent connection be deemed necessary between the islands. It would allow Gozitans to commute to the university, Mater Dei Hospital or the airport in merely half an hour. This would cost circa €1.1 billion and could be completed in three years.

Malta is jammed. A typical eight-kilometre commute takes nearly an hour- Konrad Xuereb

Considering a current population of 535,000, and only a quarter of inhabitants and tourists using the metro once a day, this results in an annual ridership of nearly 55 million. Each journey would cost €2, capped at €5 daily. In tandem with additional revenue from leasing of spaces at stations and advertisements at stations and trains, this would result in an annual revenue of over €300 million, with total annual costs at under €200 million. The numbers work.

The above costs and timelines are backed both by the research we published and by similar international metro projects. The recently completed Metro Line B in Rennes, France, a city of just over 350,000 inhabitants, is 14km long with 15 stations, and cost just over €1.3 billion.

Paving the way for pedestrianisation

With its ability to reduce people’s dependence on cars, an underground metro would provide the opportunity to return traffic-choked urban centres to the community for leisure and enjoyment.

Cities such as Barcelona can allow such prominent roads like La Rambla to be pedestrianised because they have an efficient underground metro that allows people to ditch their car in favour of an efficient and reliable public transport.

Once an underground metro is in place, urban regeneration projects like the Msida Park proposals by the Chamber of Architects as an alternative to the pointless Msida Creek flyover project would become more feasible.

Similar pedestrianisation projects of beautiful avenues can be envisioned for Mosta, Paola, Żejtun and other towns lying along our proposed Malta metro route.

The inert waste that is generated by the excavation of underground tunnels would be used for sensitively located land reclamation projects to create a nature reserve, possibly complemented by wind or solar energy generation.

The country needs to close the bonnet on senseless road widening and flyover projects and implement this long-term vision for a Malta metro. It is the only way forward to a healthier, sustainable and quality-driven future.

Konrad Xuereb is the founding director at KonceptX, an architectural and structural engineering firm with offices in London and Malta. He holds a doctorate in structural engineering/future-proofing buildings from University College London.