Buses and Coaches - Portugal: Illustrated History Books & Guides

Trolleybuses in Portugal

Trolleybuses were introduced to Portugal in February 1947 by SMC in Coimbra. Early operations used single-deck vehicles from Saurer, Sunbeam, and BUT, all in service by 1954. Later deliveries from the United Kingdom added ten BUTs and six Sunbeams. Most vehicles were later rebodied, and in 1984 a further twenty Efacec-Caetano 37-seat trolleybuses entered service.

The second Portuguese trolleybus system opened in Braga in May 1964 under operator SMB. The final system began operation in Oporto, where STCP launched services in 1959 with twenty single-deckers, followed four years later by six additional BUT vehicles. Subsequent fleet renewal included fifty Lancia double-deck trolleybuses. At its peak, the Oporto fleet numbered 126 vehicles.

Using a large collection of previously unpublished photographs, David Harvey documents the full history of trolleybus operation in Portugal.

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British Municipal Buses in Portugal

From 1940 to the mid-1970s, Britain was a major supplier of bus chassis to Portugal. In Lisbon, the main operator CCFL became the first customer for heavy British-built buses, placing 141 single-deckers in service between 1947 and 1949. Double-deck operation began in 1947 with two Leyland Titan PD1As, followed from 1950 by large fleets of AEC Regent III and V models, the last delivered in 1967.

In Oporto, public transport developed as criticism grew of slow mule-hauled trams. Between 1954 and 1957, Daimler underfloor-engined single-deckers were introduced, followed by Leyland Worldmasters in 1959 and AEC Regent V double-deckers in 1960.

Coimbra saw only limited use of British buses. Just twenty-three were purchased, including Daimler CVD6s in 1949 and two AEC Regent Vs in 1964, the city's only double-deckers.

Illustrated with a rich selection of photographs, David Harvey documents the use of British buses in Lisbon, Oporto, Coimbra, and elsewhere in Portugal during a period when the country's public transport closely resembled that of Britain.

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