Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1535170
THE first buses on Gozo started to run 100 years ago in 1925. To celebrate the centenary of this important aspect of Gozo's cul- tural heritage two events are tak- ing place during 2025. The first over the weekend of 17/18 May will see four classic buses, all of which used to op- erate on Gozo, visit a number of villages around the island so that local residents can come and see the buses. The second event will be held at the end of September in cen- tral Victoria-Rabat where it is planned to display around a doz- en buses with strong Gozo con- nections. This event will also see a major book covering the his- tory of the industry launched, a specially commissioned painting unveiled and the launch of a spe- cial bus. 100 years of bus service on Gozo: from one man's vision to a lasting legacy Motor-buses recommenced service on Malta in 1920, but it was not until the spring of 1925 that buses started to operate on Gozo. The first bus owner was local businessman Loreto Xuereb of Qala. When he returned from working in the United States of America in the summer of 1924, he decided that Gozo was behind the times and needed a bus ser- vice. He contacted a friend he had worked with in Detroit and or- dered a Model T chassis from Ford, to be bodied on Malta. The completed bus arrived on Gozo in 1925 and instantly the local karozzin drivers were up in arms as they saw motorcars and buses as being a threat to their industry. By the end of 1930 24 buses were based on Gozo, each seat- ing on average 12 passengers, but this number of buses was deemed to be too many and by the end of the 1930s the total was reduced to 14 buses - a number which re- mained static until four addition- al buses were purchased in 1962. The fleet size slowly increased, especially from the mid-1970s onwards as the number of tour- ists visiting the island started to increase. By 1997 the fleet stood at 39 buses and coaches when the government decided that each bus owner would be given a extra licence for each bus or coach they owned – doubling the fleet to 78 vehicles almost overnight. In 2011 a new network of local bus routes passed to internation- al bus operator Arriva Malta. This saw the number of vehicles reduce back to around 40. Like any industry the people who work in it are just as impor- tant. The centenary therefore also celebrates the bus owners, drivers, conductors, those who built and maintained the vehi- cles, and those who worked in supervisory roles. Some families have worked in the wider trans- port industry for many gener- ations. One such family is the Caruana family (better known as ta' Kelies). As well as three generations of the family having worked with buses and coaches since at least 1930, at least one generation prior worked as driv- ers of the horse-drawn Karozzin in Victoria-Rabat. A comprehensive book is be- ing written to commemorate the centenary and aims to include as many photos as possible of every bus, coach and minibus to have run on the island. The author is still looking for photographs of a number of the buses (espe- cially from WW2 and earlier), so would love to hear from anyone with photos showing any Gozo buses down the years (even if the vehicle is just in the background). Over the weekend of 17th & 18th May four classic buses which have operated on Gozo for at least some of their life will be touring the island, stopping at various villages for around half an hour to allow for photographs to be taken and for local residents to come and see the buses – an ideal opportunity for parents and grandparents to bring along children who will be too young to know what the buses used to be like. The buses were all new between 1950 and 1970, so are between 55 and 75 years old. There are a limited number of seats available if anyone wishes to come for a ride on the buses (joining around 40 bus fans who are travelling all the way from the UK to join in the celebrations). The seats are available on a first come first served basis and a do- nation of €15 will be welcome to help cover the costs of running the buses. Contact the organiser Richard Stedall via maltabusar- chive@gmail.com to reserve a seat. "Gozo 100" is being organised by Richard Stedall, the co-ordinator of the Malta Bus Archive at the National Archives of Malta and forms part of the NAM's "MEMO- RJA" project. National Archives around the world have tradition- ally focussed on preserving official / state records, but Memorja is gathering information of a more personal nature. Interviews have been carried out with people who worked in various industries (in- cluding the bus industry). Collec- tions of photographs, film, diaries and other documentation are be- ing given a safe permanent home. These can then be digitised so that researchers in the future can easily access them to further their studies. 4 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 9 MAY 2025 NEWS Marking 100 years of buses on Gozo Full list of villages being visited in May Saturday 17th May Nadur (in front of the church) 1030 to 1100 Marsalforn (on the water-front) 1130 to 1200 Zebbug (in front of the church) 1230 to 1300 Kercem (main square) 1325 to 1355 Xewkija (main square in front of the church) 1430 to 1500 Xaghra (Triq il-Mitħna) 1515 to 1545 Sunday 18th May Gharb (the square in front of the church) 1130 to 1200 Munxar (main square - to be confirmed) 1420 to 1450 Qala (in front of the church) 1515 to 1545 Photo above: Richard Stedall, photo below: Godwin Mizzi