"We prefer employing local people who speak Maltese and English and know the country but since Malta is in the EU, any European citizen can apply for a job," says Mr Cosmen.

The company is currently recruiting 100 Maltese drivers and will be recruiting another 200 people by the end of the year. Recruitment will be done locally. The myth that Alesa will be bringing over hundreds of unemployed Spanish drivers has been debunked.

But will the company find enough Maltese drivers to fill these vacancies? "It is a challenge but we are in the process of recruiting people at the moment and there are several interested people." Mr Cosmen says.

All drivers will be retrained, he says. "We need to improve their driving skills. We will be using the latest simulators to help them hone their skills and they will also be taught how to deal with a myriad of situations they might encounter on the road. If they are involved in a crash with a car they have to know how to deal with the bus passengers and also the occupants of the other vehicle. They have to know how to be helpful."

The Alesa director was asked about the frequent traffic jams that were caused by broken-down Arriva buses in narrow roads. "We are bringing over smaller buses, which are nine metres in length. This will make things easier. We are also working with the authorities so that, in the eventuality of an accident, we can get the road cleared in as short a time as possible."

 

A new fleet of buses

Mr Cosmen says the company will keep upgrading its buses over the course of the 15-year contract. The newly ordered buses are all of Euro VI standard and eventually all the older buses will be replaced. They will all be low-floored and have two main doors to speed up passenger movement. Double-deckers and bendy buses are out of the question.

The company is spending much of the €40 million it is investing in Malta on new buses and the relevant infrastructure. It has already spent €8 million on the purchase of Malta Public Transport from the government.

"All our buses will have CCTV cameras for security and a two-way radio system with the control room. This was a government requirement," said Mr Cosmen.

40 new routes from Valletta

Over the coming months, the company will be introducing 40 new routes from Valletta, but this will require a bigger bus terminus. Alesa is currently discussing this issue with the government. Will the routes be drastically different from what we have now? "Some will be different, others not so much. Some will remain the same. The Expression of Interest was clear: the government has stipulated a new network that we will implement."

Mr Cosmen says the interchanges introduced by Arriva will remain and more will be added around the country. Alesa will determine where to place these according to passenger data it collects from the buses. "Since passengers have to validate their tickets we will know how many people are travelling on a particular route. We can alter our bus frequency accordingly. The introduction of new interchanges depends on the same patterns."

 

Agreed subsidy should be enough

Alesa has been given a subsidy of €23 million for the first year, which is set to increase to €29 million next year, when the full service is in place. "Our offer was clear: we asked for a fixed amount that should not increase without a valid reason. However, we have to factor in things like inflation. Imagine if, three years down the line, there is a petrol crisis and the price of petrol increases by 200 per cent. That would certainly affect our service but we have a clause in the contract that covers this. In the end it is up to the government to agree on a subsidy increase."

Mr Cosmen said all public service provides in the world are subsidised by their respective governments. "This is because we are giving a public service and we are required to cover the whole network, including the routes that are not profitable."

The Alesa director is reminded that one of Arriva's biggest problems was an insufficient subsidy. So is he confident that the agreed amount is enough? "We think our offer was a good one. We have a very good business plan, based on the focus groups we sent to Malta in the past. We are confident that we will not fail."

More seats, more passengers

The Spanish transport company has boasted that it will provide 3,000 more seats in the network. But filling them is another thing entirely. "We think we'll manage to do it because there are routes that are under-served," said Mr Cosmen. "Through the validating system we will know exactly where these seats are needed and take action accordingly."

He concedes that the Mediterranean people tend to do things the comfortable way and would rather use their cars than the bus. He hopes, however, that Alesa will bring about a shift in mentality. "We hope to convince people to leave their cars at home and use the bus. In order to do this we have to run an efficient service, which gets you from point A to point B more quickly than your car."

So how will Alesa differ from Arriva? "I think Arriva is history. It has left the country now. We are the new operator and we need to fix the small problems that we are facing and increase our fleet to cover the bigger network that we will serve. We need to prove that the public transport service in Malta can be operated in a proper manner. It is a challenge but we made it in other countries so why shouldn't this also be the case in Malta? Only time will tell but we are confident that we can be successful."