East West Bus Company

East West Bus Company

East West Bus Company Volgren bodied Volvo B7RLE
Parent	Dysons
Founded	August 1980
Ceased operation	c. 2019
Headquarters	Reservoir
Service area	Northern Melbourne
Service type	Bus operator
Routes	3
Hubs	La Trobe University RMIT University, Bundoora
Stations	Macleod Pascoe Vale Reservoir Thomastown
Fleet	25 (October 2012)
Website	www.reservoirbus.com.au/uewbc

East West Bus Company was a bus operator in Melbourne, Australia. Formed as a joint venture between Dysons and Reservoir Bus Company in 1980, it became fully owned by Dysons in February 2014. It operated three bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria until the brand was phased out in 2019.

History

East West Bus Company was formed in August 1980 as a joint venture between Dysons and Reservoir Bus Company. ^{[1] [2]} At the time, Dysons operated in areas east of where Reservoir Bus Company operated, and East West Bus Company routes generally ran in an east-west direction servicing both operating areas. The first route that commenced was route 560 between Broadmeadows station and Greensborough. ^{[3] [4]} This was followed by route 561 Reservoir to Macleod station in March 1981 and route 570 Thomastown to Phillip Institute of Technology's Bundoora campus in 1984. ^{[5] [6]}

Route 571 was a regular bus route introduced in 1997 between Morang South Primary School and Hume Highway in Campbellfield via Epping. ^{[7] [8]} It was upgraded in December 2003 to provide additional Trainlink shuttle services between Plenty Valley Town Centre and Epping station, as an interim measure by the state government while the South Morang extension of the Epping line remained unbuilt. ^{[9] [10]} The Trainlink services were timetabled to connect to or from trains at Epping station. The route was extended westwards to Roxburgh Park station in October 2007 with the opening of the Craigieburn line extension. ^[11]

By 2010, the company operated four routes. Route 560 ceased in April 2010 and was replaced by SmartBus route 902. Route 571 was truncated from Roxburgh Park back to Epping, and the truncated section was replaced by an extension of SmartBus route 901 to Melbourne Airport in September 2010. ^[12] As a result, East West Bus Company became operators of both SmartBus routes, jointly operated with Grenda's Bus Services (and later Ventura Bus Lines). ^[13]

Route 571 was discontinued with the opening of the South Morang rail extension in April 2012. ^[14] The two SmartBus routes 901 and 902 were taken over by Transdev Melbourne in August 2013. This left East West Bus Company with two bus routes 561 and 570.

Dysons bought out Reservoir Bus Company from the Cooper family in November 2012, however East West Bus Company remained jointly owned by the Cooper family and Dysons until the latter took full ownership in February 2014. ^{[15] [16] [17] [18]} In February 2016, East West Bus Company began operating a new La Trobe University shuttle route 301. ^[19]

By March 2019, all three routes (301, 561 and 570) were shown on the Public Transport Victoria website as being operated by Dysons, and the East West branding phased out. ^{[20] [21] [22]}

Fleet

As of October 2012, East West Bus Company operated a fleet of 17 SmartBus-liveried buses and eight East West-liveried buses. ^[23] Since being fully acquired by Dysons in 2014, East West had 10 new Volgren bodied Scania K310UB buses with the East West name, with some in the East West livery and others in the orange Public Transport Victoria livery. ^[24]

All 17 SmartBus-liveried buses were transferred to Transdev Melbourne in August 2013. The remaining East West-liveried buses were rebranded as Dysons in 2019, with those in East West livery repainted to Dysons livery.

See also

• Melbourne Bus Link – another joint venture between Dysons and Reservoir Bus Company

References

1. Victorian Notes & News Fleetline issue 56 March 1980 page 12
2. Dysons, Reservoir in joint operation for new service Truck & Bus Transportation March 1980 page 145
3. Victorian Buses in the Eighties Australian Bus Panorama issue 6/1 July 1990 page 12
4. Melbourne Metropolitan Bus Operators and Fleet Listings. Melbourne: Bus & Coach Society of Victoria. 1991. p. 19.
5. Metropolitan Changes Fleetline issue 70 May 1981 page 211
6. "Melbourne Private Bus Routes 1971 to 1990: 500 – 599". Bus & Coach Society of Victoria. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
7. "Route service 571 - South Morang to Epping/Campbellfield (Effective 3 March 1997)". East West Bus Company. Archived from the original on 3 March 2001.
8. Services Transit Australia June 1997 page 139
9. "Route service 571 - South Morang to Epping/Campbellfield (Effective 8 December 2003)". East West Bus Company. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007.
10. "Old photos from April 2012". Daniel Bowen. 25 April 2022.
11. "Summary Report for Whittlesea Bus Service Review". Department of Transport. December 2008.
12. SmartBus Route 901 Department of Transport. Archived on 26 February 2011
13. "Bus Timetables and Route Details". East West Bus Company. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011.
14. "New bus timetables and route changes due to new metropolitan train timetable: effective Sunday 22 April 2012". Public Transport Victoria . Archived from the original on 11 April 2012.
15. Dysons & East West Australian Bus issue 63 May 2014 page 7
16. "Reservoir Bus Company". Reservoir Bus Company. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017.
17. "Company announcement". Dysons. Archived from the original on 11 April 2014.
18. "Reservoir Bus Company & Midland Tours". Bus & Coach Society of Victoria. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
19. "East-West #897 to #900: 301 Express Shuttle". Bus & Coach Society of Victoria. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
20. "301 Reservoir Station - La Trobe University (Bundoora Campus)". Public Transport Victoria.
21. "561 Macleod - Pascoe Vale via La Trobe University". Public Transport Victoria.
22. "570 Thomastown - RMIT Bundoora". Public Transport Victoria.
23. East - West Bus Co, Reservoir Australian Bus Fleet Lists
24. Dyson Group of Companies, Bundoora Australian Bus Fleet Lists

External links

Media related to East West Bus Company at Wikimedia Commons

• Company website
• Showbus gallery