Shayne Howarth reports on the changes that are coming to Madeira’s bus services, and takes a look at the interesting variety of vehicles in service on the island
The archipelago of Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal, covering an area of some 309 square miles. A beautiful, clean, and picturesque island with stunning views for miles on end. Situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, it sits just under 250 miles to the north of the Canary Islands and 320 miles west of Morocco.
Other than expansion as the road network has developed, bus operations have been relatively settled since the turn of the century. The first major shake-up for many years is now due to take place over the summer when the new public transport concessions are due to commence, reflecting a similar situation to that which took place in Malta in 2011.
Modernised fleets
The largest operator in Madeira is government-owned Horários do Funchal (Funchal Timetables) which operates all local bus services wholly within the capital of Funchal. Longer-distance services out towards Camacha and as far north as Arco de São Jorge are also operated as part of its Autocarros da Camacha (Camacha Buses) operation, though the trading name is not used with all buses operating under the Horários do Funchal umbrella.
There has been a massive investment in the Horários do Funchal fleet over recent years with just three operational Volvo B10M types of 1987 vintage remaining in the city, working alongside more modern Volvo B8R, B9M, B12M and B12BLE types, not to mention the truck derived 4×4 Scania P114CB and Volvo FL types for the most extreme gradients!
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