Following the chaotic start to the changeover to the tallinja card services yesterday, the situation today has improved substantially and more personnel have been dispatched to Valletta to ensure a more efficient service. A separate registration point has been set up next to Christ the King monument.
The waiting time to top up cards at Valletta today has reduced from two hours to approximately 25-30 minutes.
In comments to The Malta Independent, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said that he is still disappointed with the situation however things are improving. “I’ve always said that to change mentality is not straightforward, but seeing the number of people who registered for the card, it seems the culture is being accepted. I am making sure that shortcomings are addressed quickly and efficiently. I apologise to the public for the inconvenience,” he said.
Few teething problems – commuters
Commuters this morning woke up to a smoother bus and top-up card service as most described it is near to perfect except for a few who described the service as a “disgrace”. Some said that there were teething problems which will easily sort themselves out once commuters become accustomed to the top-up card system.
This comes after the chaos which unfolded yesterday at the Valletta terminus where commuters were left to queue for hours in the scorching sun to top-up their tallinja card. A number of card holder applicants complained that they hadn’t received their card and were forced to pay two euros per trip. However, the bus operator - Malta Public Transport – said that those who were still waiting for their card to arrive by post will be refunded. But MPT’s statement was not comforting enough for some since a number of commuters said that they refuse to queue up to get their money back once their card arrives.
“I have spent as much as €8 on buses and refuse to wait for hours to be refunded,” a commuter said.
Smoother operation
Buses were seen entering and exiting Mater Dei’s bus terminus smoothly this morning.
While some said that they did not encounter any problems with the top-up card system, others said that the system needs some brushing up. One commuter asked what one must do to know how much credit is left in the tallinja card and whether it needs topping up.
Another commuter said: “The system is fine, we Maltese just enjoy grumbling.” However, one commuter complained that the least the bus operator could have done is to leave the two-hour ticket prices as they were and not increase them to €2 from €1.50 for – at least until all the cards are delivered to card applicants. She said that she definitely won’t go through another ordeal to get a refund on the tickets she purchased.
A number of card applicants said that they hadn’t received their card as yet. Some received it this week while others received it without their photo displayed on it. MPT said that those whose card is without a photo still can use the card.
In comments to this newsroom earlier this week, MPT vowed to have the cards delivered by this weekend. Around 128,000 applied for the card since the system was announced in April. On Monday, MPT said that it received a great deal of applications during “the last 10 days”.
The Valletta situation
More personnel were today dispatched to Valletta to ensure a more efficient service following yesterday’s chaotic start. A separate registration point was set up next to Christ the King monument.
Security personnel ensured that queues remain organised, especially in the light of an incident where a Hungarian man was spat at and slapped by a woman who hurled racist insults at him and then manhandled by three police officers after he took the initiative to get those who were waiting to get their card topped up to form a line.
A commuter who was waiting to board a bus said that at first she was told to go to MaltaPost to top her card only to find out that Maltapost only assisted applicants to register for a card and did not offer a topping-up service.