My albums house a good number of photos which document how the harnessing of mechanical energy changed the traditional panorama of transport, which for long centuries depended exclusively on human or animal motor power. This pictorial feature is limited to land carriage and does not cover sea or air transportation.

All the major modes of mechanical conveyancing at some time or other made their appearance in Malta, sometimes complementing, at others competing with each other − the railways, the tram, the lift, motor cars, public ‘charabancs’, minibuses, motorcycles, with or without side-cars, trucks.

A truck carrying passengers through Strada Reale in the 1920s.

The railway, known locally as the vapur tal-art, spanned seven miles, all the way from Valletta to Rabat. It lasted 48 years from 1883 until it became clear it no longer remained commercially attractive. The tramways enjoyed a life shorter still since their hopeful inauguration in 1905; they too folded up after barely 16 years. The predominance of buses and private cars became well-nigh unchallengeable.

Motor cars appeared in Malta rather early in the 1900s. The licensing police authorities then estimated their number would never exceed 300. They assigned number 1 to the Governor’s car and number 300 to the Commissioner of Police. They underestimated the inevitability of cars by a factor of thousands.

A train in the Mtarfa Railway Station in the 1920s.

A route mini bus on the Cospicua line in the 1930s. Photo by Joseph Cassar, Ħamrun

The Prince of Wales in Malta in 1921 on a Packard car. To the right is a Lancia. Scroll right to see more images.

The tram in the 1910s outside Kingsgate, advertising Simonds beers.

A very early 1905 photo of the tram.

A heavy duty steamroller used in Malta in the 1910s

A Wolseley brand motor car in Malta in 1902.

Public transport buses used for a xalata in the late 1920s.

Early 1930s motorcycle with sidecar. Note the US flag in front of the number plate.

Buses were for many years built locally, converting the chassis of large trucks to ‘char-a-bancs’ – carriages with benches. Up to the 1970s, destinations were colour-coded – blue for Rabat, green for Sliema, light blue for Mellieħa, red for Birkirkara, light green for Cottonera, brown for Mosta. Was this an acknowledgement of the rampant illiteracy prevalent on the island?