40th ANNIVERSARY   1979  -  2019    BÝBUSSAR Í 40 ÁR  

Situated at the south-eastern end of the island of Streymoy, Tórshavn is the capital and seat of government of the Faroe Islands. By international standards it might be considered a small capital city with a population of some 19,000 people - which is nearly a half of the total population of the islands.  But Tórshavn is big enough to have its own network of  bus routes, linking the commercial centre with the housing developments on the hills around the town and beyond.  The name of the town bus network is Bussleiðin which is Faroese for `bus routes', and 'bil' simply means car or vehicle. The blue country buses in the Faroe Islands are operated under the name Bygdaleiðir.

At that time (1979) there was a complicated network of six services, as under:

Monday - Friday daytime and Saturday morning (half hourly) -

   1. Hoyvik - R C Effersøesgøta - Miđbýur (out and back)

   2. Miđbýur - Marknagilsvegur - Landavegur - Miđbýur (circular)

   3. Miđbýur - Eysturskúli - Miđstađarøkiđ - Ternuryggur (out and back)

   4. Miđbýur - Landavegur - Sjúkrahús (hospital) - Miđbýur (circular)

   5. Miđbýur - Bursatangi - Miđbýur (circular)

   6. Miđbýur - R C Effersøesgøta - Gundadalur - Varđagøta - Miđbýur (circular)

On Monday - Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, and Sunday all day the routes operated hourly, excepting the 4 which stayed half hourly. Route 5 changed from its daytime route at these times, becomingMiđbýur - Eysturskúli - Miđstađarøkiđ (out and back, duplicating part of 3).

Miđbýur was the town centre location now referred to as Steinatún.  Service to Argir was added in 1980, giving this pattern of routes:

   1. Hoyvik - R C Effersøesgøta - Miđbýur (out and back)

   2. Miđbýur - Sjúkrahús (hospital) - Miđbýur - R C Effersøesgøta - Gundadalur - Varđagøta - Miđbýur - Sjúkrahús - Miđbýur (circular)

   3. Ternuryggur - Eysturskúli - Miđbýur - Sjúkrahús - Argir - Sjúkrahús - Miđbýur - Eysturskúli - Ternuryggur

   4. Eysturbýur - Djóna í Geil Gøta - Miđbýur - Marknagilsvegur - Miđbýur - Djóna í Geil Gøta - Eysturbýur

Routes 1, 2 and 3 operated half hourly on Monday to Saturday from 0600 to 2000 and then hourly to midnight. On Sunday they ran hourly from 0745 to 2345, increased to half hourly between 1415 and 2015. Route 4 operated half hourly on Monday to Saturday thoughout the day from 0630 to midnight. On Sunday the frequency was hourly from 0800 to midnight, incresed to half hourly between 1430 and 2030. The daytime operation of these four routes called for five buses. The 'suburban' route to Kaldsbak appears in the timetable for the first time, with four return trips on Monday to Friday and three on Saturday and Sunday.

Hvitanes was included in 1981 and the northern loop joining Ternuryggur to Hoyvik and Hvitanes was first operated in 1982 as the town grew outwards.  Service reached northwards to Undir Brunni and the Hotel Føroyar (the latter short-lived) in 1983 and also westwards to Norđasta Horn.

The operating contract changed and from 1983 the buses were provided on behalf of the Kommuna (town council) by four private contractors (Mourits Mouritsen, Arne Berg, Sámal Bláhamar and Gunleif Danielsen).  These were the routes in 1983:

   1. Hoyvik - Steinatún - Sjúkrahús - Steinatún - Gundadalur - Varđagøta - Steinatún - Sjúkrahús - Steinatún - Hoyvik (subsuming previous route 2)

   3. Hoyvik - Hvitanes - Ternuryggur - Eysturskúli - Steinatún - Sjúkrahús - Argir - Steinatún - Eysturskúli - Ternuryggur - Hvitanes - Hoyvik

   4. Hotel Føroyar - Undir Brunni - Steinatún - Sjúkrahús - Norđasta Horn - Sjúkrahús - Steinatún - Undir Brunni - Hotel Føroyar

Routes 1 and 3 were half-hourly Monday to Friday daytime and Saturday morning, dropping to hourly in the evening and all day Sunday. Route 4 was hourly seven days a week. The adult single fare was 7 krone and the ticket was valid for one and a half hours.

The network of routes seemed a little unsettled and continued with several changes over the years. In 1991 there were five routes numbered 2 to 6, operating half hourly Monday to Friday daytime, hourly in the evening and all day Saturday. There were no longer buses on Sundays. The routes in 1991 are listed here, and called for seven buses:

    2.        Norðasta Horn - Marknagilsvegur - Steinatún - Hoyvik - Hvitanes - Ternuryggur - Eysturskúli - Steinatún - Yviri við Strond - Argir

    3.        Argir - Sjúkrahús - Steinatún - Yviri við Strond - Ternuryggur - Hvitanes - Hoyvik - Steinatún - Marknagilsvegur - Norðasta Horn

    4.        Millum Gilja - Undir Brunni - Steinatún - Sjúkrahús - Heygsvegur - Sjúkrahús - Steinatún (continues as 5)

    5.        Steinatún - Gundadal - Varðagøta - Sjúkrahús - Heygsvegur - Sjúkrahús - Steinatún (continues as 6) (evenings did not serve Sjúkrahús loop)

    6.        Steinatún - Undir Brunni - Millum Gilja

In 1992 Sunday service was reintroduced on a 90 minute frequency and the town services were reorganised into the basic pattern of circulars 1, 2 and 3 which would serve as a foundation for the network of routes into the 21st century.The four contractors, each with two Volvo buses, operated the comprehensive red bus network of three main circular routes.  These served all parts of the town from Argir and Norðasta Horn to Hoyvik and Hvitanes, with timed connections between routes at Steinatun in the town centre.  (Steinatun is the central point on J Paturssonarg øta on the map below).   The base vehicle requirement was six buses for the weekday service, and these were provided on a four weekly cycle by the four contractors. The drivers worked a basic five day week of straight six hour shifts, which seems less than onerous when compared to British practice. Adult flat fare was 11 krone in 1992.

This is the 1995 route map and list of services.  Some 2,700 passenger journeys were made a day, from Tórshavn's population of 15,000 people. Daytime services are still half-hourly, hourly on evenings and all day Saturday, and every 90 minutes on Sunday (reinstated to hourly in 1997). Route 4 was then being operated separately by the blue Bygdaleiðir country buses on behalf of the Kommuna, and it disappears off the top of the map to run via Kaldbaksbotnur to the village of Kaldbak, a more distant part of the Tórshavn community. There were five journeys Monday to Friday, four on Saturday, three on Sunday.

    1.        Farstøðin - Marknagil - Sjúkrahús - Steinatún - Gundadalur - Undir Brunni - Varðagøta - Sjúkrahús - Marknagil - Steinatún - Farstøðin

    2.        Argir - Sjúkrahús - Steinatún - Yviri við Strond - Sundsvegur - Millum Gilja - Litlagil - Steinatún - Landavegur - Norðasta Horn

    3.        Norðasta Horn - Landavegur - Steinatún - Hvitanes - Inni á Gøtu - Sundsvegur - Yviri við Strond - Steinatún - Sjúkrahús - Argir

    4.        Tórshavn - Kaldbak (operated by Bygdaleiðir as route 104)