24 The Independent I Tuesday 12 Nove~ber ~019 News

Transport in Malta in the early years (part 2) pany ~as formed. It was known as the Cottonera Motor Com­ pany. Its president began giving licences to operate foom Cotton­ era to . Their were powered by American Chevrolet engines and Ford V8 engines, which were mounted on a frame which had a wooden body, made Fr Hermann by local carpenters called 'bus body builders'. During this pe­ Duncan riod, there was a great demand for local carpenters to increase the number of buses. Years later, in 1929, public n this article, we will take a transport regulations were en­ look at :he second part of the forced, such as those regulating history of transport in Malta. In dimensions, colour types and the 1857, a Maltese company re­ engine capacity that had to be quested permission to import used. By 1930, there were 385 the first 'karrozzin' (horse-cab) to buses with route licences. Unfor­ Malta. These were very similar to tunately, many companies were the Irish cart but later came to re­ liquidated and thus every owner semble Spanish and Italian carts. had to work on his own initiative. The cab was beautiful, light and Finally, in 1931, the Traffic Con­ elegant and was a far cry from trol Board was formed. The those noisy and heavy 'kalessi' board managed to enforce disci­ (caleches) of the past. The roof pline and control schedules and had a fringe that rested on four also introduced new routes. Each pillars. Two front facing shiny bus route had a different colour lanterns '.vould illuminate the and bus owners were very proud darkness. of their vehicles. The British services would rent After the 1971 general election, these cabs to get around Malta. there was a reorganization of the The cabs used to be stationed at public transport. A study was fi­ terminals or close to churches or nalized and a decision was taken police stations. In 1894 cabs whereby the bus routes would be began to operate in · and amalgamated into one group so were often hired for funerals. that every owner would earn the They were used until the first same amount of mqney from world war when taxis came into every bus. use and soon disappeared from In 1973, three groups were use in 1920. formed, each under the control of Between the years 1876 and a committee. Group A used a 1879, a British company named green colour (Bormla), Group B London Company used a red colour () Ltd made an agreement with the and Group Ca white colour with Maltese government to bring a a blue stripe (Mellieha). train to Malta. In 1880, an English Two years later, in 1975, the architect drew up a report and re­ buses were all sprayed green leased statistics on how many like those of Group A. Finally, in people emered Valletta and the . ., 1977, after a long period of tur­ ·profits were calculated. Shortly The train station in moil and competition between afterwards, they started prepar­ Valletta, courtesy of the bus owners, all routes began op­ ing the land for the laying of rail­ vassallohistory website erating as a single group once way tracks. On 28 February 1883 again. A centralized office was the first operational train was in­ opened and named Public augurated by Archbishop Mons Transport Association (ATP) Scicluna. Throughout the lifetime under the control of a commit­ of the trair. service in Malta, there tee. Until July 2011, the ATP Malta Railway 1921 were ten locomotives in use. Lija handled 508 buses. Following On 23Fejruary1905, Malta saw this, Arriva started operating the first in operation near new buses and continued to op­ the Marsa Power Station. Mons erate until the end of 2013. Grech blessed the enterprise and On 1 January 2014, the govern­ Governor Mansfield Clarke ment created a company called turned on the switch to inaugu­ Malta Public Transport Services rate the tram line. The rails were Limited, which began operations wide and :here were two classes instead of Arriva. The following of tram. Thay had planned to run year, in 2015, another company through but this did not started operating named Auto­ materialise. Sadly, seven months buses Urbanos de Leon, which till today is the public transport serv­ later tragedy struck when a tram ~.. ..n travelling ~rom Paola to PAOLA ...... __ f..., ice in Malta. derailed by accident and crashed <) l, Much more can be written on into a wal:, ending up in a ditch. Z£88U(i -... ~ ...... ~ the subject of transport in Malta TARXIEN - -- ' but I have limited myself to the Tragically four people died and • $:l.ltbli) 00 !(>() lOOO l!SOO ·-'rants. t...... ,,.,.._~OIR~ major developments of transport around twenty were injured. C>B. L. Rigby The same company also built cb ~··(ltGJ in our country. the lift tha[ would transport peo­ I would like to acknowledge Mr ple from Customs House by the The train route of Malta Guido Lanfranco from whose sea in VaEetta up 196 feet to the in 1921, courtesy of the book 'L- Istorja tat-trasport [Malta' Upper Barrakka gardens. The in­ vassallohistory website a lot of interesting information auguration took place on 17 De­ was taken, and a1so the site vas­ cember 1905. The service appear in Malta, one of the own­ import the first bus to run be­ service. In time, due to the high sallornalta.com with particular ref­ operated for 70 years. Finally, in ers being the ~arquis Apap tween Valletta and St Andrews maintenance cost of keeping the erence to their page on 'Maltese January 1975, the manager and Testaferrata from Zejtun. The car where there was a British military trains running, the service was History & Heritage'. the contra:tor' s jobs were termi­ used kerosene lamps as head­ and naval base, and transport stopped. The last train voyage nated as profits had declined lights. Three years later, route was essential for the officers. took place on 31March1931 be­ Fr. Hermann Duncan is a drastically. buses began. In 1905, a certain Mr Slowly, the popularity of the tween Rabat and Valletta. Carmelite Friar at the Carernlite In 1902, :he first cars began to Spiller was granted permission· to buses began to affect the train In 1921, a public transport corn- Priory in Balluta I I