BUSES GO TO PORTUGAL

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 13137, 11 September 1940, Page 7

BUSES GO TO PORTUGAL

Crowds which poured into Lisbon to celebrate Portugal’s 800th anniversary of independence found that their capital had just been equipped with a fleet of motor-buses as modern and efficient as any in the world. Before the celebrations began the buses made at. the big engineering works which turns out vehicles for London’s passenger transport, arrived in Lisbon with British engineers to instruct the Portuguese in operating and maintaining them. The buses are the first of their type i'a Portugal, and the first of any type of bus to be acquired by the Brit-ish-owned Lisbon Tramways. They were purchased primarily tocope with the increased traffic expected during the octocentenary celebrations. They incorporate many special features, including new devices for ventilation, the reduction of exterior heat and the elimination of strong sunlight. Green predominates in the interior decorative scheme, the chief purpose of which is to give passengers restful surroundings when travelling in their hot climate; green tints above the toughened safety glass windows merge into the white ceiling, and the green upholstery is. tropically treated. All fixtures, such as handrails and ashtrays, are stainless and rustless. The buses are single deckers, and represent British engineering and bodybuilding at its best. It was with special pride that in spite of war’s demands the firm and its workpeople were able to deliver the vehicles for the celebration of Britain’s oldst Ally, a country with intimate links with Britain ever since Charles 11. married the'Portuguese Princess, Catherine of Braganza.