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Buses of Malta (Including Gozo)

Thylacine

Thylacine

master brummie
This subject has been discussed recently on the "Birmingham Buses" thread, and earlier on the "Very Very Old Buses" thread. In view of the degree of interest shown in the subject, I thought it deserved a thread of its own.

Malta is much loved by many Brummies (and exiles) as a holiday destination. And who can ever forget the brave and noble contribution of the people of Malta to the allied cause during World War 2?

Jean's friend on Gozo has sent her a splendid collection of bus pictures from the 1960s and 1970s, which I am posting here in installments. Thanks, Jean. And please pass on our thanks to your friend.

Here are the first four:
 
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Wouldn't it be wonderful to be waiting to catch the bus to Birmingham city centre and have a bus as colourful and handsome as one of these turn up.
Lovely photos. Alberta
 
Thylacine,
A lovely collection of their buses i have been to Malta twice and used those buses to go around the island and with it being a small island you are soon where you want to go.
 
Thanks Thlyacine for starting a new thread and Jean's friend for the great photos.

It is worth a reference to Lloyd's comment (#693) on the Birmingham buses thread...

https://forum.birminghamhistory.co.uk/showthread.php?t=10742&p=355343#post355343

It is sad to see the modernisation going to Aviva now owned by a German company!

Repeated here are 2 links to the only old buses I could find at the Valletta Terminus in 2005...

https://www.panoramio.com/photo/20945811

https://www.panoramio.com/photo/20945826

For anyone interested in Malta I have about 38 photos accepted for Google Earth that can be seen here, again click to enlarge...

https://www.panoramio.com/user/2465971/tags/Malta?photo_page=1

Best wishes Peter
 
Been on some of those buses in Malta, we used to wait for a really old one to take us to Valletta, some of them had a rope strung along the ceiling which you pulled to strike a bell if you wanted to get off.

I recall recently that EU regulations might force them off the road like the London Routemasters have been,:crying:
 
Yes, Izzy. It seems that the days of variety and colour and individual enterprise are numbered. The now German-owned Arriva is about to "modernise and standardise" (click BHF link in post #7 for details). At least we have the pictures ... :rolleyes:
 
The bus operators in Malta have been able to make their vehicles last a long time by judicious rebuilding and adapting of parts to fit. Who would have thought that DBY 429, seen here splashing through the rain in 2003, had started life as a 1939 Midland Red bus? Rebodied, re-engined, re-axled, there is probably nothing other than the chassis frame left of the original - by then 64 years old!
It was GHA 323, and for comparison GHA 337 as restored at the transport Museum Wythall

2404 GHA 323 in Malta.jpg 2418 GHA 337 Wythall.jpg
 
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Found this article that may be of interest...

There is a saying in Malta that ‘The Italians drive on the right, the British on the left and the Maltese in the shade’. This article was written and first published in March 2003, it is posted here as a celebration of the past ‘Buses of Malta’...

https://www.heritage-now.com/content.php?page=48

All the best Peter
 
Lloyd said:
... DBY 429 ... started life as a 1939 Midland Red bus ... GHA 323 ...
Click to expand...

Thanks for that delightful story, Lloyd! And the veteran in question still boasted "BMMO" when the picture was taken in 2003. This is what I mean by the word "honourable".
 
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