Working in close co-ordination with the inter-island ferries to provide an integrated public transport network, the blue buses of Bygdaleiðir connect the towns and villages of this island nation.  Most of the transport provision in earlier years had been provided by (usually small) commercial operators, but from May 1980 onwards the government sponsored network of Bygdaleiðir country buses started to develop and progessively assume the responsibility for running the various routes, although the actual operation was most often sub-contracted to private operators.  The 1981 timetable shows the Bygdaleiðir routes on Streymoy as Tórshavn - Kvivik - Vestmanna, Tórshavn - Kirkjubøur and Kvivik - Skæling. On the island of Sandoy the Bygdaleiðir routes were from Skopun to Sand and Skálavik; Skopun to Dalur and Húsavik; and to Skarvanes. The buses from Tórshavn to Køllafjorður, Hvalvík, Saksun, Haldarsvík, Tjørnuvík, Eiði and Gjógv remained privately operated for a few years more, as did those on Eysturoy and the southern island of Suðuroy.

Bygdaleiðir is the generic fleet name for the interurban bus operations and simply means "Village Routes".  This network of buses and ferries is operated on behalf of the Faroese government by Strandfaraskip Landsins (SL) following the merger of the management of the two modes of operation in the 1990s.  The principal routes include the 100 and 300 linking the capital Tórshavn with Vestmanna, and prior to 2002 and the opening of a tunnell, with the ferry to Vagar and the Airport  The 400 is the other principal route running northwards from Tórshavn to Leirvik, and prior to 2006 connecting with the ferry there to the second largest town in the Faroe Islands, Klaksvik.  Other routes operate on the islands of Suðuroy, Sandoy and Borðoy. On its journey the long route 400 interconnects with other routes to various parts of Eysturoy island. The buses have been provided at different periods both by private contractors (often small operators with only one or two buses) and directly by the SL Bussar part of the Bygdaleiðir fleet owned by SL itself.  The direct operation was primarily a development of the early 1990s following the withdrawal from bus operation of one of the largest fleet operators (p/f Bil) based in the capital Tórshavn.   The red town buses in Tórshavn are operated by the municipality using the fleet name Bussleiðin with vehicles provided by sub-contractors.

An underwater tunnel opened on 10th Decemner 2002 which linked the islands of Streymoy and Vagara nd thus there was a change to the route network for services 100 and 300 with the buses running through between the airport and the capital Tórshavn. Consequently the ferry service between Vestmanna and Oyrargjójv (route 30 on the map below) was withdrawn on the same date.  Whilst you saved the ferry fare on the journey you now had to pay a passenger toll to pass through the tunnel - this was the first toll tunnel in the Faroes.


The rural bus (Bygdaleiðir) and inter-island ferry services (Oyggjaleiðir) are secured by SSL (Strandfaraskip Landsins) with timetables integrated to provide an efficient transport network with through fares.  By 2004 the buses had gained a darker blue livery and were mainly new high floor Volvo coaches with dual doors, luggage carried underneath.  Some of the lesser routes are operated by minibus, eg the 500 from Klaksvik to Viðareiði is serviced by a 19-seater Mercedes (personalised registration AK505) belonging to Askham Bussar.  Two significant changes at this time (a)  personalised registration plates had become available and many operators had taken advantage of this; and (b) the Bygdaleiðir bus network had reverted once again to being completely provided by private operators contracted to SSL. This had been the case until around 1998 when on;y some of the Tórshavn based routes were provided by buses owned directly by SSL. The individual operators were listed by route in the timetable book. Jon Thomasen, based in Kvivik, is a typical  Bygdaleiðir contractor and operates on the 101 Kirkjubour and 300 Airport routes.  Some parts of the bus network are only operated on an as required basis.

One change at this time was the  provision of some journeys on routes 440 and 480 by new operator Skálaleiðin rather than Bygdaleiðir.  This may have been connected to the withdrawal of the Toftir / Strendur - Tórshavn ferry (route 40 and latterly peak hours only)  which stopped running. Skálaleiðin trips on these routes mainly operate through from Toftir and Runavik to Skáli and Strendur, running thus on both sides of the long sea inlet Skálafjorður, whilst Bygdaleiðir journeys run on one side of the fjord or the other to make connections to trunk route 400 to Tórshavn at either Skálabotnur or Søldarfjorður.  The Skálaleiðin trips appear to be operated by the same providers as the Bygdaleiðir trips and may have started in June 2003,  operateing on behalf of Runavik municipality.  (Operation has since reverted to Bygdaleiðir).

Coming forward to 2009 some routes had changed hands between operators and there were many new Volvos to be seen, many with personal registrations.  The Saksun route was no more and bus services on the southernmost island of Suđuroy had been simplified.  The ferry to Suđuroy was now worked by an even larger newer Smyril, the fifth ship to bear the name, and introduced in October 2004 on the important two hour crossing.

Talking with several of the Bygdaleiđir drivers some of their hours of work seemed long by UK standards.  One driver suggested there was no comparable legislation on drivers permitted hours in the Faroe Islands, and that working days of 12 to 13 hours overall duration are not uncommon.  As example, on Sandoy a driver on the 600 route said that he does the entire public service from start to finish in week one (a fourteen hour day), then in the second week does only school runs (a six hour day).  This results in 12 consecutive days work followed by 9 days rest to complete a three week cycle.

The main trunk route 400 from Tórshavn to Klaksvik was being operated by HZ Bussar of Streymnes, with four Volvo 9700s (KH 442, UP 705, KE 401 and VS 766) providing the base service of eleven journeys each way (five each way on Saturday and Sunday).  The main service is provided by three Klaksvik-based vehicles and one based in Tórshavn. This is a busy route from the capital to the second largest town, and it provides a range of bus connections as under:

A variety of different sized vehicles work on the feeder routes, full-sized, midi and mini.  For example the 480, run by Højbilar of Strendur, was covered by Iveco Daily EU 746 or Mercedes 815 D20-seater DM 519.  The 440 was being worked by Mercedes 20-seater JL 394 of J O Langgaard of Søldarfjørđur, whilst the 410 had a Volvo B12 of A P Busskoyring (Andreas Poulsen) of Syđrugøta, registered AP 616.   In Klaksvik, AP 554, a Renault Master 17-seater from the same operator was working the 500 to Viđareiđi.

Jón Thomasen of Kvivik still operated the 100 from Tórshavn to Vestmanna; the 101 to Kirkjubøur and Gamlarætt for the Sandoy ferry; and the busy 300 to the Airport and the townships on the island of Vágur (reached by tunnel).  There is some interworking of routes, eg a 300 arriving in Tórshavn from the Airport will go on as a 101 to Gammlarætt.  This raises an interesting question though. As there do not appear to be any spare Thomasen vehicles or drivers in Tórshavn, what would happen if the inbound 300 was delayed awaiting a flight at Vágur, given that the 101 in turn gives connection at Gammlarætt to Teistin on the Sandoy ferry! Again more smart Volvo 9700s, including TF 505, JU 330, DP 232 and LK 694.

These are just a few examples of some dozen or more sub-contractors who provide vehicles for the Bygdaleiđir timetabled bus network on behalf of SSL - Strandfaraskip Landsins.  There are also many other operators based throughout the islands concentrating on charters and excursions, including also several minibuses operated by taxi firms and providing a shuttle service to and from the airport.

Published figures for the Bygdaleiđir buses show that in 2008 566,560 passengers were conveyed overall (down from 604,525 in 2007 but almost identical to the 2005 figure of 566,748).  The highest number of passengers recorded is unsurprisingly for route 400 (2008 = 149,874).  Second busiest is route 300 serving the airport with a 2008 figure of 85,946, followed as a close third by routes 440 and 480 (joint figure 82,901).  The lowest figure is for route 504 from Klaksvik to Kunoy with just 869 passengers for the year, down by a half from the 2006 figure of 1,647.

Farstøđin terminal in Tórshavn on a summer Saturday morning in 2009  - a fine line up of Volvos!

Some changes to the Bygdaleiđir contractors occurred from May 2013, with the 400 Torshavn - Klaksvik route passing from HZ Bussar to Askham Bussar of Klaksvik (who also regained the northernmost routes 500 and 504 they had operated in the past); whilst both the Sandoy routes 600 and 601 passed to Handilshúsið.

2017 was centennial anniversary year with the 100 year anniversary of SSLcelebrated at Tvøroyri on the island of Suđuroy. The director was asked about the 11 kilometre road tunnel under construction from Tórshavn to Eysturoy and how it will change the system in the future but the response was that there was still plenty of time left to figure that out before the target completion date of 2020.  The Faroese minister of transport (a Suðuroy man) had just announced an official exploration study for a tunnel from Sandoy to Suðuroy, via Skúvoy, following on from the planned tunnel from Streymoy to Sandoy). This tunnel is probably only a matter of time rather than money. The minister was asked if the Suðuroy ferry would reroute to Sandoy, at least temporarily, after the 10 kilometre Sandoyartunnilin opens from Streymoy in 2023. Sandur to Hvalba would be a much shorter trip which could allow higher frequencies. He immediately said no, not worth the investment (two new terminals), a difficult route (currents), and more trips aren't necessary since only the morning trip to Tórshavn and evening trip to Suðuroy are well used. But mostly he liked how the beauty of a ship like Smyril manoeuvring past the prime minister's office thrice-daily to remind Tórshavn of Suðuroy's existence  ...

 In May 2020 Strandfaraskip Landsins (SSL) retendered the Bygdaleiðir bus network in five contract packages, with many new vehicles taking up service. Overall about forty buses are needed, eight for Streymoy, eleven for Eysturoy, nine for the southern islands and eleven for the northern islands. One contract was gained by IR Lastbilar (proprietor Rasmus Rasmussen of Kollafjorður) for routes 100 Vestmanna, 101 Gamlarætt for the Sandoy ferry and 300 Vágur and airport. They use Neoplan Tourliners for much of this work, most of which carry RB registrations. Landleiðin of Klaksvik hold the second contract and operate trunk route 400 Tórshavn - Klaksvik, also 410 Fuglafjorður and 500 Viðareði. For their main routes Iveco Magesys are employed. Askham Bussar of Hvannasund lost this work in the northern islands that they had previously operated. A third contract was awarded to Poulsen Bussar of Toftir for the local lines on Eysturoy (including 440 Skálafjarðarleiðin) and the local routes based on Oyrarbakki such as 200 Eiði and 202 Tjornuvik. MAN Lion buses are used by Poulsen, some with a very appropriate series of registrations BUSS. In practice these Oyrarbakki routes appear to be operated on sub-contract by HK Bussar of nearby Streymnes, a firm which can trace its history back to 1958 when Berint Justinussen started in the transport business. Also from the village of Streymnes the firm HZ Bussar can also trace its roots back to a similar time when Hakun Zachariassen started in transport.

The other two contracts cover bus operation on the southern islands of Sandoy and Suðuroy. On Sandoy routes 600 and 601, operated by Handilshúsið, link the ferry port of Skopun to Sandur, Skálavik and Dalur. This needs two buses. On the southernmost island of Suðuroy route 700 links the southern villages of the island to Vágur and Tvøroyri whilst route 701 provides similar links for the northern villages. Both routes serve the ferry port at Drelnes to coincide with the several daily sailings of Smyril to and from the capital Tórshavn (a voyage of two hours). This means early starts and late finishes most days of the week for the seven buses of operator Suðuroyar Bygdaleiðir of Sumba. The headquarters of the national transport authority Strandfaraskip Landsins (SSL) was relocated from Tórshavn to Tvøroyri on Suðuroy some fourteen years ago in 2007.

On 19th December 2020 the new undersea toll tunnel northwards from Tórshavn was opened to traffic. Eleven kilometres in length, the Eysturoy Tunnel links Hvitanes (just north of the capital) to Strendur and Runavik. It incorporates the first roundabout in an undersea road tunnel too. Bus 400 from Tórshavn to Klaksvik now uses the new tunnel rather than the previous lengthy route around Sundalagið through Kollafjørður and Oyrarbakki. With the Leirvik to Klaksvik road tunnel that was opened in 2006 the bus running time between the two termini of Tórshavn and Klaksvik is now only 65 miutes instead of 90. The new routing also provides much improved journeys between Skálafjørður communities like Runavik and the capital. New circular route 450 now provides the bus link from Tórshavn to Oyrabakki for connections from there to Eiði, Gjógv and Tjørnuvík. Operation of the 450 is shared between IR Lastbilar and Landleiðin, with some runs on via the new Eysturoy tunnel, others via the 'old' route through Kollafjørður.

However operating experience has shown that the route revisions introduced when the Eysturoy tunnel opened in December 2020 have not proved optimal. From 30th April 2021 trunk route 400 from Tórshavn to Klaksvik reverts to its original longer route around Sundalagið, with two peak hour express journeys (numbered 401) from Klaksvik to the capital still running through the new tunnel. Other journeys through the tunnel will be numbered 450 Tunnilsleiðin and will operate a triangular route between Tórshavn and the Skálafjørður communities of Strendur, Runavik and Toftir.

With the opening of the southwards 10.8 kilometres long tunnel to Sandoy in December 2023 buses on new route 650 will  run through from the island to the capital Tórshavn and the ferry route 60 from Gamlaraett to Skopun was withdrawn.  Routes 600 and 601 will continue to run locally on Sandoy to provide connections with the new 650.