Transport in Gibraltar

Gibraltarhas a limited public transport system, due to the compact size of theterritory.

Road

Private transport

Trafficdrives on the right

Gibraltar's country identifier isGBZ

A currentGibraltar rear number platefeaturing the country identifier GBZ

Gibraltarhas 49.9 kilometres (31.0 mi) ofhighways,all of which are paved. It has one of the highest levels of per capitacarownership in the world, with as many motor vehicles as people. Unlike the United Kingdom, along with theBritish Overseas Territories,traffic in Gibraltardrives on the right,as it shares a land border with Spain. Traffic formerly drove on the left; the change to driving on the right was made at 5.00 a.m. on 16 June 1929.

Older roads in Gibraltar, primarily in the city centre, are fairly narrow with a typical speed limit of 50 km/h (31 mph). Gibraltar has ten fuelling stations, and fuel prices are lower than in neighbouring Spain. Some people from Spain even enter Gibraltar for the sole purpose of filling their cars' fuel tanks.

Gibraltar's international vehicle registration is GBZ, andvehicle registration plates of Gibraltarconsist of the letter 'G' followed by up to five digits (1-99999) or four digits (1000-9999) and a single letter. These are as standard, the same shape, type face and colours as those in the UK, however non-standard number plates have been permitted. TheChief Minister'sofficial car has the registration numberG1,while theGovernor'scar, following tradition, has a crown, in place of a number.

The two highways in Spain leading in the vicinity are the A-383 which ends in La Linea, and the CA-34, which leads to theborder.

The traditional sole road into Spain,Winston Churchill Avenue,intersected with the airport's runway requiring movable barricades to close when aircraft landed or departed resulting in congestion. A new tunnel was constructed to solve this problem although delays pushed back its official opening until 31 March 2023.The new road and tunnel is named Kingsway with the approval ofCharles IIIand passes under the terminal and the eastern edge of the runway before connecting withDevil's Tower Road.Runway access is now closed to everyday road traffic but is still available for exceptional, specific, or emergency use as well as pedestrians, cyclists and mobility scooters although an alternative subway is provided.

Public transport

Gibraltar Bus CompanyDennis Darton route 4 at the Both Worlds bus terminus,Sandy Bay.

Calypso Transportopen top buson discontinued route 10

There are a total of eight different bus routes in Gibraltar. There are two companies who provide stage-carriage bus services in Gibraltar: Gibraltar Bus Company and Calypso Transport.

TheGovernment of Gibraltarowned Gibraltar Bus Company operates routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9 with a fleet of 21 buses, 18 of which areDennis Dartlow-floor midibus withCaetano Nimbusbodies and featuring 28 seats and threeMercedes-Benz Sprinterminibuses with Unvi bodies and catering for 15 seated passengers.The Darts entered service the day the company was officially formed, Saturday 10 April 2004, when it took over the operation of private company Rock City Services, who had been unwilling to invest in its fleet. The trio of Sprinters entered service during November 2010 and operate Service 1 to the Moorish Castle Estate in the Upper Town area of the city. This route is well worth travelling in order to see how narrow and winding the roads are in this part of town. The latest timetable is dated 1 September 2012.

Calypso Transport operates route 5 between the Frontier (the land border with Spain), the airport and the city centre and tickets between this route and those operated by the Gibraltar Bus Company are not inter-changeable. An adult single fare on either operators' services currently costs £1.00 and an all-day Hoppa ticket costs £1.50. A year-long trial period where free travel was permitted aboard the buses of the Gibraltar Bus Company ended in May 2012 and only qualifying residents, commuters andmilitary personnelnow qualify for free travel in the territory.

Bus Fares - Both Operators' Services

Timetable on a bus shelter

	Single	All Day Pass.
Adult	£1.80	£2.50
Pensioner	£1.00	£1.50
Child	£1.50	£2.00

Calypso Transport uses a fleet of reddouble-decker buses.

Gibraltar Bus Company bus routes (right-click to enlarge).

Route 5 buses operate every 15 minutes Monday to Saturdays, and every 20 minutes on Sundays,this is a shuttle between Reclamation Road (British Steps) near John Macintosh Square and the Frontier/Airport terminus via the Market Place bus stationGrand Casemates Square.

Gibraltar Bus Company increased the bus fares for all routes in Gibraltar in May 2013.

Taxis

Taxis are available from a number of taxi ranks around theRock.Many taxis cater specifically for tours of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve and these can be picked up from the frontier or the city centre, however, taxi drivers are also obliged to take standard fares as well as tours.

Rail

Historical

There are no extant railways in Gibraltar. There was formerly an extensive railway within the Gibraltar Dockyard, and neighbouring works and storage facilities. It included tunnels, one of which went through theRock of Gibraltar,and is still in use today as a road tunnel. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries there was also a temporary industrial railway in Gibraltar. At the period when both railways were operational, it was possible to travel right round the entire coastline of Gibraltar by train.The dockyard railway had a roster of 17 locomotives, distinguished by numbers, but four of which also carried names:Gibraltar,Catalan,Rosia,andCalpe.

Access to the rail system in Spain

Whilst railway track extends to the outskirts ofLa Lineafrom the abortedSan Roque-La Línea railwayline expansion project in the 1970s,the nearest actual railway station (in Spain) is"San Roque - La Línea"station on theADIFAlgeciras-Bobadilla railwayline Junction viaRonda.In 2021, after details emerged about a possible accession agreement of Gibraltar into the Schengen Area, the Chief MinisterFabian Picardocommented on the potential of railway development upwards towards Europe.

Until 1969 a ferry from Gibraltar provided convenient access to Algeciras station, which along with the railway line to Ronda was built by a British company known as theAlgeciras Gibraltar Railway Company.

Access to the rail system in Morocco

Ferries byFRSrunning twice a week from Gibraltar toTanger-Medport provide access to theMoroccan railwaysystem.

Sea

Gibraltar'sRoyal Navy Base

MVAurora(2000)berthed adjacent to theGibraltar Cruise Terminalat the Western Arm of theNorth Mole

Being apeninsula,the sea has long been vital to Gibraltar's transport links. TheRoyal Navy Dockyardwas formerly Gibraltar's major employer.

There is still aharbouron thewest sideof the territory. The Gibraltar-registered merchant marine consists of 26 ships of 1000 tonnes and above. There is an irregular direct regular fastferryservice toTanger-Medport,Moroccobut many passengers now travel fromAlgecirasorTarifadue to a more regular service being present at those ports.

The ferry between Gibraltar and Algeciras, which existed until 1969, when communications with Spain were severed by the Spanish dictatorFrancisco Franco,was reopened on 16 December 2009, served by the Spanish companyTranscoma,which used acatamaran,Punta Europa Segundoin memory of the original ferry that served the cross-Bay route in the 1960s. The maritime operations of Transcoma were taken over byGrupo Medexon 10 November 2010, which announced a higher-capacity new ship for 2011.Freight ferries between Gibraltar and Algeciras for shipments of food goods were started after the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Variouscruise linersvisit thePort of Gibraltarthroughout the year, and dock at theGibraltar Cruise Terminalon the Western Arm of theNorth Mole.This provides the means of transport for a significant proportion ofday-trippertourists arriving in the territory.

Air

During World War 1, theRoyal Naval Air Servicebrought one of the first seaplanes to come to Gibraltar, aWight Seaplane,to search for submarines.

In 1931 the seaplaneSaro WindhoverCaptained byEdgar PercivalforGB Airwayswas the first of regular passenger flights from Gibraltar to Morocco. If there was alevant wind,then the seaplane would land on an aerodrome in Morocco instead of Tangier harbour.

Gibraltar Airportand border area. Showing runway (Gibraltar) and pier behind (Spain). Officially, anyexact line is still disputed

Work began in 1939 to build what is todayGibraltar Airportand is the territory's only airport. It is situated very close to the border with Spain.Winston Churchill Avenuethe road which runs from theGibraltar–Spain border,crosses the runway, requiring the road to be closed each time an aircraft lands or takes off. Scheduled civilian passenger flights are operated byEasyJet,British AirwaysandRoyal Air Maroc.

Followingan agreementsigned inCórdobabetween the Governments of the United Kingdom, Spain and Gibraltar in September 2006, the use of Gibraltar Airport by both Gibraltarian and Spanish services was agreed. Gibraltar Airport will be adapted to have an entrance from Spain (as well as Gibraltar), in a similar manner to Basel and Geneva airports (which are also adjacent to borders).

Iberiacommenced direct flights betweenMadridand Gibraltar on 16 December 2006 withGB Airwaysfollowing on 1 May 2007. However, GB Airways discontinued its Madrid service on 30 September 2007 and Iberia subsequently considered using smaller aircraft, possibly from itsAir Nostrumregional partner – indicating that neither operator may have been able to fill their planes with passengers. Iberia eventually withdrew its service in September 2008. In 2009Ándalus Líneas Aéreasstarted flights between Gibraltar and Madrid. However, on 13 August 2010, the airline ceased operations because the Spanish aviation authorities withdrew their licence.

Following the takeover by EasyJet, GB Airways dropped its direct Gibraltar–London Heathrowservice on 28 October 2006despite apparently remaining popular. The reason cited by GB Airways was the "convenience of" concentrating all its London services onto a single hub atGatwick.Later, a sale of several of GB Airways' Heathrowslotsis believed to have netted GB Airways with up to £80m.In late 2007 GB Airways was bought by EasyJet (and thus ceased to be aBritish Airwaysfranchise partner); all flights were rebranded as EasyJet in 2008.

Flights are available from Gibraltar to London Heathrow,London Gatwick,Luton,Bristol,Casablanca,TangierandManchesterairports. During 2012bmibabyoffered a service toEast Midlands Airport,but the airline ceased operations in September 2012.

Cable car

Main article:Gibraltar Cable Car

Gibraltar Cable Car

Acable carruns from just south of the city centre to theApe's Denand the Top of the Rock, which despite its name is actually the second highest peak of the Rock.

Proposed tunnel

Main article:Strait of Gibraltar crossing

In January 2021, it was reported that theUnited KingdomandMoroccowould discuss building aStrait of Gibraltar crossingbetweenGibraltarandTangiers.

Dispute with Spain

See also:Disputed status of Gibraltar

The road crossing into Spain was closed by the Spanish authorities in 1969 and only reopened for pedestrians in 1982 and for vehicles in 1985.

A ferry operated betweenAlgecirasand Gibraltar until 1969. For a few months in 2004 Spain banned cruise ships which had visited Gibraltar from going to Spanish ports on the same journey. In 2003, the land frontier was closed for a day by Spain on the grounds that a visiting cruise liner, theMVAurora,was affected by contagious food poisoning.No cases in Gibraltar were reported.

The airport is built on theisthmuswhich the Spanish Government claim not to have been ceded in theTreaty of Utrecht,thus the integration ofGibraltar Airportin theSingle European Skysystem has been blocked by Spain. The 1987 agreement for joint control of the airport with Spain was rejected by the then Government of Gibraltar. All successive Governments of Gibraltar have rejected it, although welcoming joint use of the airport (which being next to the border could operate in a similar manner toGeneva AirportorEuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg). Following theCordoba Agreement(between the UK, Spain and Gibraltar) in 2006, the joint use of the airport was finally agreed.

The road crossing from Gibraltar into Spain can often be subject to long delays. A loop road is located next to the border to hold cars waiting in the queue to cross into Spain. Motorists (and sometimes pedestrians) crossing the border are randomly subjected to long delays and searches by the Spanish authorities.

External links

Media related toTransport in Gibraltarat Wikimedia Commons