Electric buses for the old part of Palma

The EMT (Municipal Transport Company) yesterday launched its new line, number 2, covering the historical centre in electric buses. It will go along Cort, Plaça de la Quartera, Ballester, Avenidas, Plaça España, Avenidas, Paseo Mallorca, Jaime III, Borne, Plaza Reina and back to Cort. Mayor of Palma Joan Fageda, chairman of the EMT Pedro Alvarez, and the company's director José Adamuz, were the first passengers on this new service. “The historical centre needed a line like this and if it is as popular as we hope, we will add more vehicles,” Mayor Fageda said. The line, known as Centre Històric, will be operational from 7am to 9pm, Mondays to Sundays. At present, the route is covered by two electric buses, and the frequency is every 12 minutes. Alvarez said that according to its success, the frequency could be reduced to every five or seven minutes. The entire route is covered in 20 minutes. Some of the older passengers recalled nostalgically that many years ago, Palma had a tram service which covered the same route. During the presentation of the new service, Alvarez pointed out that it went past the new car park, where the system of payment by citizen's card (which can also be used on the buses) will be introduced. He said that there would be a special charge to encourage people to leave their cars in the car parks and get around Palma by public transport.