2 comments so far.Late departure of Fast ferry results in missed bus connection – GUG
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The Gozo University Group has expressed its disappointment after numerous complaints were received this morning regarding the fast ferry service from Mgarr.
The GUG said that the 7am Fast Ferry left a little late from Gozo to Valletta, meaning that the arrival in Valletta was a little later than 7.50am instead of the scheduled 7.45am.
According to GUG, the bus routes 300 and 150, “that are supposed to be coordinated with the Fast Ferry left empty and they did not wait for the many students and workers that commuted early this morning.”
“This has happened numerous times and we have discussed it with Transport Malta however nothing has improved as of yet. The situation was not rectified, if anything it keeps repeating itself,” the GUG said.
Yes, I suffered for this very reason when I was attending the Mater Dei for a month from Gozo, and I did miss the bus connections to the hospital on a couple of occasions.
I am not defending the fast ferry operation – in fact, there needs to be a comprehensive review of their service, (and of the bus connection), given the recent truncation of their timetables this winter – but that is a broader issue.
However, I have seen that late arriving pax at the Mgarr ticket kiosk can be part of the issue as they can delay the ferry’s timely departure.
I do not know if this was the reason for the delay yesterday, but if it was, and these late arrivals are regular daily users, they should up their game.
Having said that, on the sea journey, and with the type of boat being used, surely there is ample time to make up a few minutes here and there so that boat’s arrival is on time in Valletta?
Also, a slight change of the bus departure times from Lascaris to allow a further 5 minutes at the bus stop, may be an easy solution to adopt. It would certainly allow some leeway if the ferry is taking a longer time to dock in unfavourable harbour/wind conditions.
Simplest way would be to move the bus stop at Lancaris so the buses can see the ferry dock and not leave until passengers have come off.
The buses do not have to stop at other bus stops so do not need to leave empty simply to be on time.
Same with the pointless buses at the Mgarr to Xlendi and Marsalforn which often run when there is no Fast Ferry service and are nearly always empty anyway. Buses direct and non stop to Victoria would be more sensible!