Parent | Kinetic Group |
---|---|
Founded | 1995 |
Defunct | 2022 |
Headquarters | Smithfield |
Service area | Cairns |
Service type | Bus operator |
Routes | 16 |
Hubs | Cairns City Palm Cove Smithfield Shopping Centre Stockland Cairns Westcourt |
Stations | 1 (Cairns City bus station) |
Depots | 1 |
Fleet | 51 (June 2013) |
Website | www.sunbus.com.au https://www.wearekinetic.com/ |
Sunbus Cairns, previously Marlin Coast Sunbus, was the principal bus operator in Cairns, Queensland that operated services under the Translink scheme in the Cairns region. It was one of Sunbus' operations. As of late 2022, Sunbus has changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic. Sunbus was dissolved into the Kinetic brand with its fleet of buses reflecting this change. [1]
In 1995, Harry Blundred, the proprietor of Thames Transit in the United Kingdom, was awarded the operating rights to route services in Cairns by the Government of Queensland. [2] It initially was a joint venture with Beach Bus and West Cairns Bus Service, but Blundred took full control shortly after. [3]
As part of the deal, Sunbus was also responsible for the operation of school bus services in the region, however these were sold in 1997 to fellow British bus operator Stagecoach. [4] [5]
In April 2008, Blundred sold Marlin Coast Sunbus along with the other Sunbus operations to Transit Australia Group.
In April 2019, Transit Australia Group was purchased by AATS Group, parent company of Skybus and majority owned by OPTrust. [6] In August 2019, AATS Group was rebranded the Kinetic Group. [7]
This is a separate operation to Love's Bus Service Cairns which is also owned by the Kinetic Group.
In late 2022, Sunbus was officially branded as KINETIC with all new advertising now showing the Kinetic Brand. All new buses will display the Kinetic logo with the current fleet of Sunbus slowly being updated to reflect the new brand name. The current website for Sunbus will stay active until early 2023 before it will be deactivated, directing customers to the new Kinetic website.
Sunbus operates from Palm Cove and Trinity Beach in the north, and as far south as Gordonvale and Edmonton. The area with the most coverage is along the Captain Cook Highway between Smithfield Shopping Centre and Cairns CBD.
As of June 2013, the fleet consisted of 51 buses, primarily Bustech bodied Volvo B12BLEs, Bustech MDi and XDis. [8] The fleet livery is light blue.
Cairns is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the 2021 census, Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
Gordonvale is a rural sugar-growing town and locality situated on the southern side of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Gordonvale had a population of 6,944 people.
Surfside Buslines was an Australian bus operator on the Gold Coast in Queensland. It operated 56 services under contract to the Government of Queensland under the Translink banner. It also operates nine services in the adjoining Tweed Valley of northern New South Wales under contract to the Government of New South Wales. As of 2022, Surfside Buslines has changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic. Surfside Buslines has been dissolved into the Kinetic brand with its fleet of buses reflecting this change. Former Surfside buses are still recognisable through their classic Yellow livery, often simply missing the Surfside logo, with no Kinetic logo either. Kinetic uses these buses more often on services with less passengers and for School bus routes. Kinetic buses are determinable from which state division they are by checking the back of the buses, with a 40 KMPH sign with flashable amber lights indicating NSW, and Queensland indicated by a Children Crossing sign, with flashable amber lights.
The Captain Cook Highway is a short, regional highway in Queensland that originates in Cairns and terminates in Mossman, where it joins Mossman-Daintree Road, continuing to Daintree. It is a state-controlled regional road.
Sunbus Sunshine Coast was an Australian operator of bus services on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. It operated 25 services under contract to the Government of Queensland under the Translink banner. It was one of Sunbus' operations. As of 2022, Sunbus changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic. Sunbus was dissolved into the Kinetic brand with its fleet of buses reflecting this change.
Thames Transit was a bus and coach company which operated in the Oxford area. As well as running a number of local services, it also ran a regular service to London under the Oxford Tube brand. It was sold in July 1997 to Stagecoach, and traded as Stagecoach in Oxfordshire. As of 2022 it is part of Stagecoach West.
AFL Cairns is a semi-professional Australian rules football league that includes clubs from the Cairns region in Queensland, Australia. It is widely regarded as the strongest regional Australian rules football league in Queensland and has a large base at Cazalys Stadium which has staged Australian Football League matches.
Translink is the public transit agency for Queensland, and is part of the Department of Transport and Main Roads. Translink was first introduced by the Queensland Government in June 2003 to orchestrate bus, ferry, rail and light rail services. They work with Brisbane Airtrain, Transport for Brisbane, RiverCity Ferries, Queensland Rail and other operators to provide services. Translink operates an integrated ticketing system across Queensland and the go card system to allow the use of one ticket on multiple services in South East Queensland.
Sunbus Townsville was the principal bus operator in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, that operated services under the Translink scheme in Regional Queensland. It was one of Sunbus' operations. As of 2022, Sunbus changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic. Sunbus was dissolved into the Kinetic brand with its fleet of buses reflecting this change.
Sunbus was an Australian bus operator in the Australian state of Queensland. It operated in 5 regional areas across the state under contract to the Government of Queensland under the Translink banner. As of 2022 Sunbus has changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic. Sunbus has now been dissolved into the Kinetic brand with its fleet of buses reflecting this change.
BusTech Group is an Australian bus-building manufacturer with production facilities in Rocklea, Queensland, Edinburgh Adelaide, South Australia and Burnie, Tasmania. BusTech Group produces fully built up integral route buses, school buses and double deck buses and also produces single deck bus bodies, largely built on European chassis from manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Scania, predominantly under their VST model line. As of 2022, BusTech Group was actively delivering new buses into Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and the ACT.
The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. However, following public protest and a referendum in 2013, on 1 January 2014, the Shire of Douglas was de-amalgamated from the Cairns Region and re-established as a separate local government authority.
Sunbus Rockhampton previously Capricorn Sunbus was the principal bus operator in Rockhampton, Queensland that operated services under the QConnect scheme in Regional Queensland. As of 2022, Sunbus changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic. Sunbus was dissolved into the Kinetic brand with its fleet of buses reflecting this change.
SkyBus is an airport bus service operating in Australia in Melbourne and Hobart.
Love's Bus Service was an Australian school bus service, operating in Cairns. In 2022 It was re-branded and dissolved into Sunbus Cairns, one of Kinetic Group's Bus companies.
Transit Australia Group (TAG) was one of Australia's leading mass transit specialists headquartered on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
Kewarra Beach is a coastal suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Kewarra Beach had a population of 6,133 people.
Redlynch is a semi-rural town and suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the suburb of Redlynch had a population of 10,571 people.
Manunda is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Manunda had a population of 5,191 people.
Kinetic Group is an Australian-based multinational bus company that wholly owns a number of bus operations in Australia and New Zealand, including the SkyBus business, which operates bus services to a number of airports in both countries. Through its 51%-owned subsidiary Go-Ahead Group based in the United Kingdom, Kinetic also operates buses and railway services in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, Ireland and Norway.