Looking forward 2026 | Malta’s metro dream: Another study cometh

What is always in front of us, yet never within reach? You might be thinking of the horizon. No. Another object dangled in front of our eyes over the last few years has proven more elusive than trying to reach the horizon.

Malta’s dream of a metro connecting key population and work centres seems forever stuck in tomorrow.

In 2021, a few months before the general election, government proposed a three-line underground transport system with 25 stops. It was estimated to cost around €6.25 billion and its construction would span over 20 years.

Four years later, the idea of a mass transport system has changed to one with a €3 billion price tag.

But for the time being, all Malta has to show for its metro dream are a glitzy presentation that has been ditched and feasibility studies on the re-dimensioned idea that have yet to be published. It might all change in the coming months, if the studies are completed and the government decides to publish them.

Public debate around the metro comes at a sensitive time, especially for the Labour Party. The new year is all that is left for this administration to show that it has solutions to ease the traffic problem and although a metro will do nothing for the immediate concerns it can set the tone for change.

But the government is also aware that another glitzy metro roadshow with no tangible targets will be perceived as yet another pre-election stunt by a cynical electorate that also refuses to admit that human behaviour is much to blame for traffic congestion.

Malta has seen an increase of over 39,000 vehicles since 2022 alone, and while road projects have eased the pressure, this is only temporary.

The traffic problem is no longer one of inconvenience, but one which has economic and mental health repercussions. It requires action in the form of short-, medium- and long-term solutions, accompanied by a shift away from the glorification of the car as a status symbol.

But despite the lower price tag, the costs behind a new mass transport system are still high enough to cause alarm.

When talk of a metro resurfaced in September 2025, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana quickly pointed out that it would make no sense for government to spend billions on a mass transport system while ignoring the Maltese love affair with the car.

Private cars are for modern Maltese what statues of the Fat Lady were for the islands’ inhabitants in Neolithic times.

It won’t be an easy decision to make, especially on the eve of an election. But then again, clamping down on car use will not happen overnight, especially with the long timeframes for the construction of a metro system.

How the debate on a metro will unfold in 2026 depends on the outcome of the ongoing study but in the meantime, a more tangible solution is an expanded ferry network to encourage more use of the sea for ordinary commutes.

It will serve as a testbed to determine whether commuters are willing to leave their car at home or in a park and ride to travel by alternative means. In 2026, the Abela administration will be looking closely at the number of ferry users, especially when the Bugibba connection starts being used.