Transport in Gibraltar
Encyclopedia
Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

has a limited public transport system, due to the small size of the territory and the impact of the constitutional dispute with Spain.

Private transport

Gibraltar has 49.9 kilometres (31 mi) of highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...

s, all of which are paved. It has one of the highest levels of per capita car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 ownership in the world, with as many motor vehicles as people. Unlike the United Kingdom, traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...

 in Gibraltar drives 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.

Roads in Gibraltar 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 the neighbouring country of Spain. Some people from nearby Spain even enter Gibraltar for the sole purpose of filling their cars' fuel tanks.

Gibraltar's international vehicle registration is GBZ, and Gibraltar car number plates consist 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. The Chief Minister
Chief Minister of Gibraltar
The Chief Minister of Gibraltar is the leader of the largest party elected to the Gibraltar Parliament, and is formally appointed by the Governor of Gibraltar, representative of the British Crown.-List of Chief Ministers:...

's official car has the registration number G1, while the Governor
Governor of Gibraltar
The Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...

's car, following tradition, has a crown, in place of a number.

Public transport

There are five bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 routes in Gibraltar (numbered one to five) and buses run to most areas of the territory apart from the Upper Rock, which is a nature reserve. The Gibraltar Bus Company runs routes 1 to 4 exclusively, with its distinctive modern fleet of blue-liveried Dennis Dart
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....

 buses. These buses came into use on 28th May 2011, when the timetables and routes were also revised. Fares have increased on Route 5 busses from £0.60 to £1 for an adult single or £1.50 for a "Hoppa" All day pass, all other busses are free to residents and tourists.

Route 5 Bus Fares

Single "Hoppa" All Day Pass.
Adult £1.00 £1.50
Pensioner £0.80 £1.20
Child £0.50 £0.80


The Calypso Bus Company and Gibraltar Bus Company jointly run the remaining route (route 5), which is a shuttle service from Reclamation Road to the Frontier, using a more elderly fleet of red double-decker bus
Double-decker bus
A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or 'decks'. Global usage of this type of bus is more common in outer touring than in its intra-urban transportion role. Double-decker buses are also commonly found in certain parts of Europe, Asia, and former British colonies and protectorates...

es. Although at first sight similar in appearance to London's red buses, these left-hand-drive vehicles are actually secondhand from Germany (Berlin continues to operate similar double-deck buses).
Route 5 buses run regularly from the frontier/airport terminus to the city centre, this is a shuttle between Reclamation Road (British Steps) near John Macintosh Square and the frontier/airport terminus via the central bus station outside Grand Casemates Square, by the market place.

Additionally, taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

s are available around the Rock
Rock of Gibraltar
The Rock of Gibraltar is a monolithic limestone promontory located in Gibraltar, off the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is high...

. Many cater specifically to offer tours of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. These can be picked up from the frontier or the city centre, where there are a number of taxi ranks. Taxi drivers are however obliged to take normal fares as well as tours.

As of November 2011 there have been additional changes to the routes and pricing, see http://www.7daysgibraltar.com/article.php?id=5389 for further details.

Rail

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 the Rock of Gibraltar
Rock of Gibraltar
The Rock of Gibraltar is a monolithic limestone promontory located in Gibraltar, off the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is high...

, 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
Catalan Bay
Catalan Bay is a small bay and fishing village in Gibraltar, on the eastern side of The Rock away from the main city.-Etymology:The true origin of the name of Catalan Bay is unknown, but a couple of theories exist...

, Rosia, and Calpe.

Today the nearest railway station (in Spain) is "San Roque - La Línea
La Linea
La Linea may refer to:* La Línea de la Concepción, a town in Spain bordering Gibraltar* La Linea , a series of animated shorts from Italy* La Linea , 2008 action crime thriller...

"
station on the ADIF
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...

 line from Algeciras
Algeciras
Algeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar . Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container,...

 to Bobadilla
Antequera
Antequera is a city and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" because of its central location among Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, and Seville...

 Junction via Ronda
Ronda
Ronda is a city in Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about West from the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is approximately 35,000 inhabitants.-History:...

. Until 1969 a ferry from Gibraltar provided convenient access to Algeciras station.

Sea

Being a peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

, the sea has long been vital to Gibraltar's transport links. The Royal Navy Dockyard
Royal Navy Dockyard
Royal Navy Dockyards are harbours where either commissioned ships are based, or where ships are overhauled and refitted. Historically, the Royal Navy maintained a string of dockyards around the world, although few are now operating today....

 was formerly Gibraltar's major employer. There is still a harbour on the west side
Gibraltar west
Westside is an urban area of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It lies between the western slopes of the Rock of Gibraltar and the eastern shores of the Bay of Gibraltar and contains over 98% of the territory's population....

 of the territory. The Gibraltar-registered merchant marine consists of 26 ships of 1000 tonnes and above. There was a direct regular fast ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 service to Tangiers, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 until 2003, but passengers must now travel from Algeciras
Algeciras
Algeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar . Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container,...

 or Tarifa
Tarifa
Tarifa is a small town in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, on the southernmost coast of Spain. The town is located on the Costa de la Luz and across the Straits of Gibraltar facing Morocco. The municipality includes Punta de Tarifa, the southernmost point in continental Europe. There are five...

.

The ferry between Gibraltar and Algeciras, which existed until 1969, when communications with Spain were severed by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

, was reopened on December 16, 2009, served by the Spanish company Transcoma, which used a catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...

, Punta Europa Segundo in memory of the original ferry that served the cross-Bay route in the sixties. The maritime operations of Transcoma were taken over by Grupo Medex on 10 November 2010, which announced a higher-capacity new ship for 2011.

Various cruise liners visit the Port of Gibraltar throughout the year. This provides the means of transport for a significant proportion of day-tripper
Day-tripper
A day-tripper is a person who visits a tourist destination or visitor attraction from his/her home and returns home on the same day.- Definition :In other words, this excursion does not involve a night away from home such as experienced on a holiday...

 tourists arriving in the territory.

Air

Gibraltar Airport
Gibraltar Airport
Gibraltar Airport or North Front Airport is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use by the Royal Air Force as RAF Gibraltar. Civilian operators use the airport; currently the only scheduled flights operate to the...

 is the territory's only airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

. It is situated very close to the border with Spain. The road to Spain crosses the runway, requiring the road to be closed each time an aircraft lands or takes off. Scheduled civilian passenger flights are operated by EasyJet
EasyJet
EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports...

, British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...

 and Monarch Airlines
Monarch Airlines
Monarch Airlines, often shortened to and trading as Monarch, is a British charter and scheduled airline based at London Luton Airport in Luton. It is one of the United Kingdom's largest charter airlines, operating to Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, India and Africa, serving mainly leisure...

.

Following an agreement signed in Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...

 between 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).

Iberia commenced direct flights between Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 and Gibraltar on 16 December 2006 with GB Airways
GB Airways
GB Airways was a UK airline; prior to its dissolution it was headquartered in "The Beehive," a former terminal building, at City Place Gatwick, London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, England. It operated scheduled services as a British Airways franchise to 30 destinations in Europe and...

 following on 1 May 2007. However, GB Airways
GB Airways
GB Airways was a UK airline; prior to its dissolution it was headquartered in "The Beehive," a former terminal building, at City Place Gatwick, London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, England. It operated scheduled services as a British Airways franchise to 30 destinations in Europe and...

 discontinued their Madrid service on 30 September 2007 and Iberia subsequently considered using smaller aircraft, possibly from its Air Nostrum
Air Nostrum
Air Nostrum, Líneas Aéreas del Mediterráneo, S.A., also known as Iberia Regional, is a regional airline based in Valencia, Spain. Air Nostrum is an independent carrier which operates as a franchisee of Iberia Airlines. Iberia Regional franchise is a regional partner of Iberia and an affiliate...

 regional partner — indicating that neither operator may have been able to fill their planes with passengers. Iberia eventually withdrew its service in September 2008. In 2009 Ándalus Líneas Aéreas
Ándalus Líneas Aéreas
Ándalus Líneas Aéreas also known as just Ándalus was a regional airline based in Málaga, Spain. It offered regular flights, charters and Adhoc services aiming to attract tourist traffic to Andalucia and opening up new destinations for the community....

 started 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–Heathrow service on 28 October 2006 despite apparently remaining popular. The reason cited by GB Airways was the "convenience of" concentrating all its London services onto a single hub at Gatwick. Later, a sale of several of GB Airways' Heathrow slots
Landing slots
Landing slots or Airport slots are rights allocated to an entity by an airport or government agency granting the slot owner the right to schedule a landing or departure during a specific time period....

 is believed to have netted GB Airways with up to £80m. In late 2007 GB Airways was bought by EasyJet (and thus ceased to be a British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...

 franchise partner); all flights were rebranded as EasyJet in 2008.

Flights are available from Gibraltar to London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Luton, Liverpool and Manchester airports. As from 2012 bmibaby
Bmibaby
Bmibaby Limited is a small British low-cost airline and a subsidiary of British Midland International. It flies to destinations in the UK and Europe from its bases at Belfast-City, Birmingham and East Midlands airports....

 offer a service to East Midlands airport.

Cable car

A cable car
Aerial tramway
An aerial tramway , cable car , ropeway or aerial tram is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion...

 runs from just south of the city centre to the Ape's Den
Gibraltar Barbary Macaques
The Barbary Macaque population in Gibraltar is the only one in the whole of the European continent, and, unlike that of North Africa, it is thriving. At present there are some 300 animals in five troupes occupying the area of the Upper Rock, though occasional forays into the town may result in...

 and the Top of the Rock, which despite its name is actually the second highest peak of the Rock.

Dispute with Spain

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

A ferry operated between Algeciras
Algeciras
Algeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar . Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container,...

 and 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, the MV Aurora
MV Aurora
MV Aurora is a cruise ship of the P&O Cruises fleet. The ship was built by Meyer Werft at their shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. At 76,000 tonnes, Aurora is the fifth largest of seven ships currently in service with P&O Cruises...

, was affected by contagious food poisoning. No cases in Gibraltar were reported.

The airport is built on the isthmus
Disputed status of the isthmus between Gibraltar and Spain
The Gibraltar territory currently contains an long section of the isthmus that links the Rock with mainland Spain. Spain does not acknowledge British sovereignty over Gibraltar beyond the fortified perimeter of the town as at 1704...

 which the Spanish Government claim not to have been ceded in the Treaty of Utrecht, thus the integration of Gibraltar Airport
Gibraltar Airport
Gibraltar Airport or North Front Airport is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use by the Royal Air Force as RAF Gibraltar. Civilian operators use the airport; currently the only scheduled flights operate to the...

 in the Single European Sky
Single European Sky
The Single European Sky is a European Commission initiative by which the design, management and regulation of airspace will be coordinated throughout the European Union ....

 system 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 Gibraltar governments have rejected it, although welcoming joint use of the airport (which being on the border could operate in a similar manner to Geneva Airport or Basel Airport). Following the "Cordoba 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.
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