Malta Metro

[danielson00]

Hi,

The Maltese government have funded a study in to a potential mass transit system.

More info here: https://www.metro.mt/

Of course, being Malta this may never happen, and there is also an election soon.

But I found it interesting, the website seems serious.

 

[hexagon789]

and there is also an election soon.

Which will almost certainly return thr incumbent government as they have been consistently leading by about 10+% in the polls for ages.

So I'd argue its not necessary to ensure re-election but equally if started the election is unlikely to affect its continuance as a project.

 

[Roast Veg]

Seems a bit of a waste not to have a direct service from the airport to Valetta, surely? That's where the nicest hotals are.

 

[capitalconnect]

Hi,

The Maltese government have funded a study in to a potential mass transit system.

More info here: https://www.metro.mt/

Of course, being Malta this may never happen, and there is also an election soon.

But I found it interesting, the website seems serious.

I am surprised there is no plan to operate it to and from Gozo as well. It would be rather useful for a bridge and tunnel to be built linking the main island with Gozo to avoid the ferry. Especially during busy times when it can very busy on the ferry services. If they are going to build a metro i think it would certainly be a good idea to build a line going there.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

That's covered in an FAQ answer (on the homepage but not the FAQ page, helpfully).

In order to make a metro route to Gozo feasible, there needs to be an increase of at least 50,000 residents on the island of Gozo, and this can have a negative impact on Gozo. With a redesigned bus network as well as the introduction of new transportation means such as the Gozo Fast Ferry, Gozo is able to easily connect with the network without the need for the actual metro to cross to our sister island while still ensuring that Gozitans that work in Malta and have to commute between the two islands on a daily basis, are able to do this with ease.

 

[rf_ioliver]

Nothing to Mdina following the original railway line and as for Gozo, at least a line to the port at Cirkewwa would have been interesting. On the other hand still lots of interesting busses to ride there.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Valletta to Sliema and St Juiian seems a bit of a faff for 3 places which are within walking distance of each other

 

[Beebman]

I’m currently in Malta paying my first-ever visit. When I arrived in Valletta I was surprised to see a temporary building at the Main Gate by the Triton Fountain housing an exhibition for the Metro project:





I picked up a brochure and some postcards:



The brochure only contains much the same info as the website but it’s made an interesting and unexpected souvenir of my visit!

 

[Roast Veg]

I shall be there next week for my own first visit. I may stick my nose in!

 

[Roast Veg]

Ok having now spent 11 days here in Malta I can safely say there's no place for Light Rail on the island of Malta. I'll do my best to explain why below.

1) The existing road infrastructure would be impaired by the presence of on-street running, and the net safety of the roads would be reduced.

The roads are, to put it politely, extremely challenging. There are large roundabouts in many places which help longer distance traffic flow, but there are also motorway-esque busy roads with sliproads sometimes joining into fast lanes. Merging lanes frequently merge slow-to-fast (which never appears in the UK), signage is often poor, and lane discipline is non-existant. The additional traffic from a metro can only be another safety concern.

2) Malta has an excellent existing transport network.

Despite the demise of Arriva on the island, the air conditioned bus network is prominent in all the built-up areas. Buses have dedicated lanes, priority traffic signalling, and Valetta bus station can rival many major light or heavy rail station in its ability to move people, and destinations served at all hours of the day. Don't let current (Oct 2021) Google Street View fool you - it has been redeveloped since the photos were taken.

There are rival electric mobility companies vying for dominance in the most built up areas. Bolt, the most prevalent e-scooter marque, serves Valetta, Floriana, Sliema, and even St Julian's in one contiguous area at a very reasonable price point.

The Sliema ferry is extremely popular, and a new terminal at the Sliema end is under construction. It doesn't currently take contactless payments or bikes, and isn't suitable for wheelchairs, but these are all to be addressed by the redevelopment.

The Gozo Channel line takes foot passengers at very reasonable rates, and there are bus stops with frequent services at both ends. Although the metro is not planned to reach Cirkewwa in the first instance, it would only replace a well used existing link if it did. Better to introduce integrated ticketing on both modes if possible.

3) The proposed routes (as I suspected) don't really represent the movements of people around the island, and likely are based on crayons over real loading.

People (read: those that I observed as a tourist, an admittedly small subset of all travellers) want to get in and out of Valetta at all hours of the day and night, and the existing bus network radiates from this focal point exactly as it should. This isn't an accident - it's where the passenger loading has encouraged buses to serve.

 

[Beebman]

@Roast Veg Interesting to read your post following my visit to the island 2 weeks ago. I agree that the existing transport network is very good and I was able to travel right across the island by bus with nothing more than a 7-day Tallinja Card (cost 21 Euros). I only paid for the Sliema and Gozo ferries as well as the vintage bus which runs every 2 hours from Valetta to St Julian's.

However I found travelling into and out of Valletta in the evening rush hour to be quite challenging. The traffic was very heavy which caused delays and meant that departure times at the bus station came and went with no sign of the buses. I was staying in Sliema which is served by 4 routes from Valletta but on my first day I had to let 2 buses go before I could get on the third (a route 15 which is effectively a short-working of the other routes). The bus then sailed past 3 stops with frustrated-looking would-be passengers waving in vain for the bus to stop. A similar thing happened the following day.

Then I realised that some 2xx routes began and finished at the Sliema Ferry Terminal which was only about 300 metres from my hotel. These don't go through Valetta, they go directly to places such as Rabat, Mosta, Buggba and the Gozo Ferry at Cirkewwa. These were all places on my 'to do' list and it was great for me to be able to travel easily to and from them. What was interesting was that on arrival in Sliema I noticed that many people headed for the ferry to Valetta and indeed at around 17:00 there was a rather long queue for the boat. Did all of these people prefer to use it rather than struggle through the traffic on the bus?

In the Valetta contiguous area there are many narrow streets and I can't see any way of major widening without demolishing buildings. It would seem to me that maybe one solution would be a metro network in the conurbation with park and ride at the outer termini. Yes I agree that Valetta bus station has a great capacity to move people but it was disappointing for me to see crowds at empty bus stands waiting for delayed services in the evening peak. Something needs to be done (apparently bendy buses were unsuccessfully tried and double deckers are not considered to be a solution) but I don't know how bus services can be improved in the current situation?