Punchbowl Bus Company
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| Parent | Steve Scott |
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| Commenced operation | 1952 |
| Headquarters | Riverwood |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Hubs | Bankstown Hurstville |
| Depots | 2 |
| Fleet | 73 (January 2015) |
| Website | www.punchbowlbus.com.au |
Punchbowl Bus Company is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney Region 5, servicing the Hurstville, Roselands, Bankstown, Strathfield and surrounding suburbs.
Contents
History
Punchbowl Bus Company was formed in 1952 when Cornelius Griffin purchased Narwee Bus Service[1][2] operating routes:
- 4 Punchbowl - Bankstown
- 28 Punchbowl - Hurstville
- 33 Punchbowl - Hurstville
- 189 Punchbowl - Bankstown
In 1955 GP Bus Company was acquired with route:
In 1958 Punchbowl Bus Company was purchased with routes:
- 29 Peakhurst - Hurstville
- 36 Punchbowl - Mortdale[3]
- 188 Punchbowl - Mortdale
In 1965 routes 4 and 28 were later combined into route 244, operating between Bankstown and Hurstville via Chullora, Greenacre, Punchbowl and Roselands to give residents in the Greenacre/Chullora area direct access to the new Roselands Shopping Centre. Later when Punchbowl Bus Company took over route 37 Punchbowl - Bankstown, this route was integrated with route 33 Punchbowl - Hurstville to operate between Bankstown and Hurstville via Punchbowl and Roselands. During the late 1960s route 189 was extended from Punchbowl to Roselands, Riverwood and Lugarno replacing route 140, which initially operated between Riverwood and Lugarno. In January 1992 Revesby Bus & Coach Service's route 26 was replaced by an extension of route 188 from Punchbowl to Bankstown, and route 36 was amended to travel along the route of 26 at the Punchbowl end.[1][4] In 1989 route 108 was purchased from Southtrans.
In August 1997 the routes were renumbered into the Sydney wide scheme, including minor changes to routes.[5] The new routes were:
- 940 replacing 29 and 33
- 941 replacing 244
- 942 replacing 189
- 943 replacing 29 and 108
- 944 replacing 29 and 36
- 945 replacing 188[1]
In April 1998 Punchbowl Bus Co purchased Canterbury Bus Lines with routes 450 Hurstville - Strathfield and 451 Roselands - Campsie.[6][7] Route 451 was extended to Hurstville later that year when part of route 947 was acquired from Saints creating a direct service from Hurstville to Campsie. The remainder of route 947 to Ramsgate was taken over by Southtrans.[1][8]
In December 2004, route 74/106 Hurstville - Kyle Bay and Connells Point was taken over from Harris Park Transport (renumbered 953) and 954 Hurstville - Hurstville Grove and Oatley from Moore's Tours.[9] In July 2005 routes 446 Roselands Shopping Centre - Kogarah and 447 Belmore - Greenacre were taken over from Pleasure Tours.[1][10]
Since 2005 Punchbowl's services have formed Sydney Bus Region 5.[11] In November 2008 Punchbowl purchased Goulburn Bus Service followed in October 2009 by neighbouring Noack's Bus Service.[12][13]
In March 2010 Punchbowl Bus Company implemented another route numbering reconfiguration as part of the integrated transport network planning process. This was done in order to provide more frequent and direct services. As a result, routes 447 and 451 were discontinued and many of the other routes modified. Several new routes were established, including the 939, 946 and 955. Punchbowl Bus Company also introduced the S14, a new service between Lakemba and Mount Lewis.
In August 2013 Punchbowl successfully tendered to operate Sydney Bus Region 5 for another five years from July 2014.[14]
Punchbowl for many years operated a coach charter operation. This had ceased by 2012 but still carries on with local charters using existing city buses in the fleet.
Current routes
These routes were instituted in 2010 with a major route renumbering programme.
Former routes
These routes operated prior to route reorganisation and renumbering in 1997.
| Route | Start | End | Notes |
| 4 | Punchbowl | Bankstown | Combined with the 28 in 1965 to become the 244 on the opening of Roselands Shopping Centre |
| 28 | Punchbowl | Hurstville | Combined with the 4 in 1965 to become the 244 on the opening of Roselands Shopping Centre |
| 29 | Peakhurst | Hurstville | |
| 33 | Bankstown | Hurstville | |
| 36 | Punchbowl | Mortdale | |
| 108 | Hurstville | Lugarno | Purchased from Southtrans in 1989 |
| 140 | Roselands | Lugarno | Followed the southern part of route 189 between Riverwood and Lugarno; eliminated in the 1960s when the 189 was extended to Lugarno |
| 188 | Punchbowl | Mortdale | Extended to and from Bankstown in 1992, replacing part of the 26 |
| 189 | Bankstown | Lugarno | via Greenacre, Punchbowl, Roselands and Riverwood. Commenced 1971. |
| 244 | Bankstown | Hurstville |
Depots
Punchbowl Bus Company has two depots. The main depot located at 56 Hannans Road, Riverwood, was the original depot of the Narwee Bus Company. A secondary depot operates from 187-189 Bonds Road, Riverwood. The former secondary depot was located at 60 Belmore Road, Punchbowl and closed when the new Bonds Road depot opened.
Fleet
Until the late 1980s, Punchbowl Bus Company were a loyal Leyland buyer. Following their withdrawal from the market, Hino, MAN, Scania and Volvos have been purchased. As at January 2015, the fleet consisted of 73 buses.[15]
Punchbowl operated Denning and later Mercedes-Benz and MAN coaches in its charter division.
From its foundation in 1952 the fleet livery was red and cream. In 2010 the Transport for New South Wales white and blue livery began to be applied.
Opal card
Since 16 July 2014, all buses have been equipped to accept the Opal card pre-paid ticketing system.[16]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 About Us Punchbowl Bus Company
- ↑ "Vale" Australian Bus Panorama 11/6 March 1996 page 21
- ↑ The Times January 2004 Page 6 Australian Timetable Association
- ↑ "Punchbowl private bus services since the late 1950s" Fleetline October 1992 page 183
- ↑ "Timetable and service changes" Fleetline September 1997 page 164
- ↑ "Private Buses" Fleetline May 1998 page 97
- ↑ Canterbury Bus Lines Australian Bus Fleet Lists
- ↑ "Peakhurst - Kogarah Route 94" Fleetline March 1999 page 43
- ↑ Moore;s Tours Australian Bus Fleet Lists
- ↑ Pleasure Tours Australian Bus Fleet Lists
- ↑ Region 5 Transport NSW
- ↑ About Us PBC Goulburn Bus Service
- ↑ PBC Goulburn Service Australian Bus Fleet Lists
- ↑ More than 60 new buses and improved customer service with new bus contracts Transport for NSW 29 August 2013
- ↑ Punchbowl Bus Company Australian Bus Fleet Lists
- ↑ Latest Opal roll out hits South West Sydney as new Opal Man campaign launches Transport for NSW 2 July 2014
