‘Bring back our bendy bus!’

The controversial bendy buses were taken off the streets temporarily last week after three of them went up in flames. Commuters seem happy with the arrangement but Arriva drivers want them back. The Arriva bus drivers at the Valletta terminus are concerned about the fate of the bendy buses which they drive, day in, day out. “We want them back,” they say. Most of them are in their 30s and 40s, fully kitted in their uniform, and make their arguments politely and with conviction. “Bendy buses are not the problem: they are even more comfortable than the other trucks to drive and they are the best for commuters because they take lots of people at one go.” The Transport Ministry temporarily suspended the buses from service on Tuesday after three of them burst into flames in separate accidents: two last Sunday, in Marsa and in Mellieħa, and another one on Tuesday in Xemxija. No one was injured. Six other less serious cases have been reported over this year. An international and independent authority has been assigned to certify the safety of the 68 articulated buses. The experts are expected to draw up a report by Tuesday. But the Transport Ministry confirmed yesterday that the buses...