238 buses, coaches more than 41 years old

There are 238 licensed buses, coaches and mini-buses that are more than 41 years old, figures given in parliament yesterday show.

A further 445 are between 21 and 40 years old.

The figures were given by Transport Minister Censu Galea in reply to a parliamentary question by Dr Adrian Vassallo (MLP) yesterday.

They show that at the end of September, there were 193,784 licensed private vehicles, 44,893 commercial vehicles, 7,602 hire cars, 1,129 buses, coaches and mini-buses and 12,971 motorcycles.

The biggest category of private vehicles, 53,739 are between six and 10 years old, but 46,861 are between 11 and 15 years old while 41,916 are less than five years old. There are 11,749 private vehicles that are more than 31 years old.

Well over half of the hire cars, 4,527, are less than five years old.