Indeed it is a sad day, but all good things come to an end, I remember going on one bus looking at the road wizz by through the hole in the floor. Sitting in a bar by the side of the road with a old bus puffing its smoke all over me and Mrs Holidaymaker and that was in 1998. Like the old London busses ( route master ) some of them could have new engines, weld up the holes and use them just for tourist trips, but as you you say it will not be the same wizzing round the contry lanes hanging on for dear life wondering if the engine is going to blow up or even get to were you want to go, all good fun, better than Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

Dave.

It would be such a shame if the traditional Maltese busses were to slowly disappear. They are much a famous part of Malta as anything else and part of the holiday experience is travelling on a rickety old bus...and wondering if the bus will actually make it to its destination.(as we did travelling from Cirkewwa to Bugibba)

Sliema2 said: "honestly I feel truly choked by the prospect of this"

Unfortunately the locals are choked everyday by these dangerous vehicles. They are way beyond their use by date and the residents of Malta deserve a modern, efficient and clean form of public transport. If a few tourists won't come back because of a few old buses that let that be the case because there a many, many more things to see and experience in Malta. However, the health of the people who live in Malta day in day out must take priority.

Most of the current buses if not all are breaking the EU emissions regulations by many times. The regulations are there for a reason. A few of the best and maintained old buses will be renovated and used on certain routes at certain times of the year - a bit like some of the old Route Masters in London. The rest will be Euro III minimum standard with Euro IV a year later.

Malta's transport system cannot remain living in the past because at the moment the buses are so badly maintained, polluting, unreliable and to be honest quite rude to many tourists that change had to happen. Too many cars are present on the island so a new integrated transport system has been a long time coming and hopefully it will ween a decent number out of their cars.

With the new tariffs from next year with the incoming system, Malta will still be by far the cheapest public transport system in Europe with air condition, clean and quiet buses becoming the norm, just as you would expect in any decent modern European country.

You have to remember that Malta isn't a Museum, it's a living county with people who need to commute to and from work and live/breath in un-polluted air.

Surely new buses complying with emissions laws can be manufactured to look like the traditional old style buses?

I agree that the Malta transport infrastructure system badly needed over hauling, and yes I agree that nobody should have to live in a polluted smog..but there must be an answer that would keep all parties happy and comply with regulations/EU laws/requirements.

Ok so maybe I am an over sentimental romantic fool, and I know that Malta is a normal working country I go to great lengths myself to point that out to pepole sometimes, but I (as me) will really miss the old ones for my / our selfish over sentimental reasons, and I make no apologies for that, sure changes happen but not all change is for the best, surely the old busses can be converted to be safer etc, this must be the case as I read many letters in the Times of Malta saying this very thing.

Ps, good gag about the choking though that did make me smile (a bit).

One ofthe big problems is thatthe buses are too big for many of the streets and as people's quality of life expectation goes up they have less tolerance for large vehicles down the narrow street where they live. Part of the new scheme is to have smaller buses which is a great idea. The cost of attempting to convert old buses into safe 'new' ones is prohibitive and due to their age not really a starter, otherwise vehicles such as Route Masters in London would have gone through the same process. You need to consider not just the engines but crumple zones, emergency exits, proper aircon, electronic displays so people know where they are going and which stop is next (no info whatsoever at the moment), easy of entry for those not so mobile (nightmare with most existing buses) etc.

Of course even with new technology, it all has to have regular maintenance which unfortunately in Malta isn't a word that exists in their vocabulary. That will be the big test, to see how the new vehicles and service is maintained after the initial 'honeymoon' period.

it is quite a shame since as many have said they have become a national symbol. however, you have to keep in mind that a lot of them are waaaay past their use by date and can prove to be dangerous to passengers.

maybe they can keep a few just so they won't be forgotten?

it'd be a shame if they didn't - they should open a museum or something with them. anyone remembers when they used to have these colourful little statuettes of saints, etc right behind the driver? As a kid I used to love boarding a bus, just to see what colourful "exhibitions" they had

Hi Sliema2 & Others,

Yes, it will be a sad day when the old buses are finally gone. We like Sliema2 and his wife have fond memories of travelling on them over the many years that we've so frequently visited these magnificent Islands. We feel priviledged to have been able to have travelled on them and are so grateful that we had the chance to do so, since they are so much a talking point when we relate to others, about our holidays in Malta.

I have to say that we were somewhat scatheing and critical when we first experienced them in the early days. They were just a joke but with time grew understanding and great respect for these magnificent machines!

Malta will not feel the same without seeing these buses on the road and I doubt if the new bred will last as long or have the same following. If removing the old buses is an emmisions issue, then as I understand it diesel engines, as used in these grand old buses, are less polluting in that they generally produce less carbon dioxide than petrol engines. Mind you diesel engines do seem to belt out a lot of particulates in the form of sooty smoke as I have witnessed with some of the so called modern buses here in the UK. The new Malta buses will probably still do this as well!

However, I guess it's a done deal now and we'll have to get used to seeing the new buses in the near future. Will they still be painted yellow or will they revert to the green colour used way back?

Trev

Aye up Trev, as always it's great to hear from you mate , did you know that the Yellow / Red colour of the Malta bus was the original colour of Siggiewi busses ?, it's also the village colours of Siggiewi . ie Siggiewi town crest, festa bunting, Siggiewi footy team shirts etc etc, did you know that in the old days all Malta busses were identified by there colours, for example Siggiewi red and yellow, Valletta burgundy I think, SPB blue, Mosta white and black, and so on although I'm not sure of the colours except Siggiewi , anyhoo the colours you see on the Malta bus today is derived from Siggiewi because our bus always looked the best, but then again all the best things come from Siggiewi , our village is of course the best in all Malta, not that I'm biased of course in any way towards Siggiewi have you any plans to return to the magic Isles, we are back November, February, and June, it would be great to meet up again and sink a few snifters , we had a good time last time didn't we mate ?.

It,s about time these death traps were off the road, Malta is fast coming into line with the rest of Europe now and these things are long overdue for the scrapheap. Get rid, it will without doubt make the roads much safer for other drivers and pedestrians.

Blimey veedee that's not like your normal whimisical self is someone feeling a tad narked today about a certain happy event that took place on Merseyside yesterday ?

Can't they have a museum or something with them in..it could still be a tourist attraction?

Malta buses,you either love them or hate them.

Them busses are a bit like Christmas in that sence, some of us hate Malta and some of us love it, the same goes for Christmas. Perhaps those who hate Christmas but love Malta would be better of going to Malta over Christmas and buying a old malta bus turning it to a mobile home and staying there

Dave.

What a good idea Dave!

Better still, get all the grinches over to Malta and give them a free bus ride over Dingli cliffs.

It is an interesting but true fact that over the last 10 years only one very minor accident was caused by a fault on a bus. This was a rear shunt, with no injuries, due to a brake problem.

There have of course been many collisions caused by driver error or careless driving.

New buses will not alter this.

Going to miss the old busses, we used to catch the 49 from Qawra to Valletta on many occassions.

I have to say, like many here, I too have very mixed feelings about the passing of an era when the old busses finally go. However I am amazed at no one moaned about the dreadfull 'busses' replacing them. True they are quieter and much smoother but those seats??? anyone past a size 12 or over 12 stone feels like they are sitting in an plastic shoebox lid! and the scramble to the rear is like climbing the north face of the Eiger! I am realy hard pushed to think they are a total improvement, does anyone else feel the same?