Frequent users of bus route 47 operating between Valletta and Golden Bay complained on the unreliability of the service.

Tourists and other commuters who depend on this bus route to commute to the hotel at Ghajn Tuffieha report that sometimes the scheduled bus does not appear at all.

Many summer student workers who are too young to drive and depend solely on this bus service have to turn up late for work or not at all because the service is not run according to schedule.

According to the public transport summer schedule on the Public Transport Association website the Golden Bay route bus leaves Valletta every 45 minutes, with the first bus leaving at 6am. The service increases in frequency to every 30 minutes during the day and slows down again in the evening, stopping at 7.30pm

At weekends the situation is worse as the route is operated by one bus at 6.45am with the next bus leaving Valletta at 8.15am. If workers starting their workday at 8am miss the 6.45am bus or the bus doesn’t turn up they would have to wait for the 8.15am bus to take them to work.

Unfortunately, this puts younger workers at a disadvantage as employers could prefer those who have their own transport over those who depend on the bus service.

Tourists often end up stranded at Golden Bay in the evening as they make their way home at sunset since the last bus from Golden Bay is at 7.30pm unlike the other routes, which operate until 9.30pm. The situation is leaving tourists with no choice except to hitchhike or get a taxi back home.