Some of the famous yellow buses salvaged by Heritage Malta four years ago are expected to find a new home soon, as the agency offers 45 of them to people interested in purchasing a piece of the island’s transport history.

However, the agency is still trying to find a permanent location to display the rest of the 103 iconic buses currently in its ‘collection’.

It salvaged 140 of the vehicles after they were replaced by Arriva’s new aquamarine buses when that company took over public transport in 2011 and had sold off some of them the following year.

Heritage Malta issued a second call for expressions of interest from prospective buyers earlier this month.

Its plan is to eventually display the remaining fleet in an industrial museum.

The buses are an important part of our public transport heritage

However, neither a storage space nor a place to set up this museum has yet been identified.

The buses are in the meantime being temporarily stored in the old Malta Shipbuilding premises, part of which the government intends to turn into a maritime hub.

Some of the vehicles have been vandalised and the perpetrators broke parts of the buses and stole ornaments. Others have been exposed to the elements since last October.

The Culture Ministry said the government was aware there was “no easy solution” to the challenge of finding a permanent venue for them.

“Inter-ministerial talks are under way with the aim of finding an adequate place to eventually display the Maltese traditional buses, which are a touristic attraction and also an important part of our heritage,” a spokeswoman said. Heritage Malta has so far received positive feedback about the sale and the viewers have included former bus drivers, enthusiasts and foreigners.

This sale will help fund the restoration of the remaining 58 buses that Heritage Malta will be keeping.

It has chosen to keep one from each local coachbuilder and also different types, such as those known as “tax-shape” or “bulldog” and even the more recent low-floors.

Curator Justin Vella.

Others represent the colour-coded routes of the 1970s and 1980s, of which there were at least 14. Some buses were actually built to serve particular routes and had to be narrower because of the streets they had to pass through, such as those of Lija, Balzan and Attard.

“The idea is to be able to tell the story of the buses along the years through the buses themselves,” Curator of Industrial Heritage Justin Vella said.

“The buses are an important part of our public transport heritage and they survived for some 60 years,” he said, adding that Heritage Malta was also planning to keep a record of former drivers’ accounts.