Passengers in Gozo and Malta have been using their tallinja card for the first time today. Problems with topping up the card has been experienced by users. While in Gozo many residents have been complaining that although they applied for their cards weeks ago, they have still not received them.

In a statement today, Malta Public Transport has said that overall, “the system is working,” and it is “generally satisfied” with the changeover process which involved the installation of 300 new ticketing machines and vehicle tracking systems on all buses, and the training of over 800 drivers with the new systems and fare structure.

New specialised software was installed which was customised to take into consideration the local requirements, it said.

“As with any transition, it is expected to experience some minor technical problems, especially in such a major change. However the company is confident that these will be resolved quickly. A small number of instances were in fact reported. In such cases, drivers have been briefed to allow the passengers to board for free.”

The company said that it has received some complaints where passengers may have still been charged the fare. Malta Public Transport apologised for this inconvenience, and assured the public that all these tickets will be refunded.

The company said that it has also increased the amount of call centre personnel for the next few days to deal with any enquiries that may be made.

“Some technical problems that were reported with some customers not being able to top up their card this morning have been resolved.”

Due to the quality of some photos that were taken at registration stage, the company has issued some temporary cards which can be used normally. The cardholders will be contacted by Malta Public Transport to organise a free replacement of this card.

Due to the quality of some photos that were taken at registration stage, the company said that it has issued some temporary cards which can be used normally. The cardholders will be contacted by Malta Public Transport to organise a free replacement of this card.

Malta Public Transport thanked the public for their cooperation in this transition and once again apologised for any inconvenience that this changeover may have caused.

Children aged between four and 10, holders of a Kartanzjan (or a Maltese 60+ identity card) and Blue Badge holders will be charged a reduced fare of 25c for every single journey of up to two hours, including bus interchanges. However they will never be charged more than 50c in a day or €2 in a week.

For Gozo residents travelling in Gozo only, the automatic capping for a month is set at €10.

As of today, the only ticket that it will be possible to buy on board the bus will be a single journey ticket for up to two hours at €2.00 in summer or €1.50 in winter for day-time services, or €3.00 at night. This is irrespective of whether the passenger is an adult, a child, a Kartanzjan holder, etc.

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