 | |
 | |
| Parent | ComfortDelGro Cabcharge |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1955 |
| Ceased operation | October 2013 |
| Service area | Western Sydney |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Depots | Bonnyrigg Girraween St Marys Windsor |
| Website | westbus.com.au |
Westbus was an Australian bus and coach operator that operated bus services in Western Sydney from 1955 until October 2013. Founded by the Bosnjak family, it later became a subsidiary of National Express and later ComfortDelGro Cabcharge (now known as ComfortDelGro Australia).
Westbus's history originates from the Bosnjak family, who entered the transport business in 1955 and traded as Bosnjak's Bus Service. At the time, it operated a fleet of five buses on a route connecting the Sydney suburbs of Canley Vale and Edensor Park.
Bosnjak's purchased a number of bus companies: [1]
All companies began to trade as Westbus in October 1984. [6]
In 1985 the coach business of Rowe's was purchased. A fleet of Volvo B10M coaches were purchased and based at Northmead. Following the purchase of Calabro's in June 1989 both fleets moved to Alexandria and later Arncliffe. The operation ceased in the early 2000s.
In the United Kingdom, Westbus Australia took over Swinards Coaches, Ashford, Kent and ADP Travel Services of Hounslow to form Westbus UK in 1986. [7] Since 2005, Westbus UK has continued to exist as a separate entity to Westbus Australia, despite using Westbus Australia's old name, logo and livery, and having the same owners. It is now owned by CityFleet Networks, also a wholly owned subsidiary of ComfortDelGro. [8]
By 1999, 57% shareholding of Westbus was held by Bosnjak Holdings, the main subsidiary of National Bus Company, which is also owned by Jim Bosnjak and his sister-in-law Carol. In May 1999, British coach operator National Express purchased National Bus Company and in turn took the 57% shareholding in Westbus held by National Bus Company. [9] Members of the founding Bosnjak family including Jim continued to hold the remaining shares. Jim Bosnjak also continued to be Chairman of National Bus Company.
In December 2004, Westbus' Northmead and Seven Hills operations were merged with those of the newly acquired Glenorie Bus Company under the Hillsbus brand.
With debts of $90 million and National Express unwilling to provide further funding, in January 2005 the company was placed into voluntary administration. Westbus's problems threatened a major disruption to Sydney's transport network: the company ranked second only to government-owned Sydney Buses in the commuter bus industry. The company was acquired by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge in October 2005. The new owners pledged to honour the company's contractual obligations to customers and staff. [10] The change of ownership saw the company exchange one politically well-connected shareholder, the Bosnjak family, [11] for another, Cabcharge's Reg Kermode.
In August 2006 the routes of Baxter's Bus Lines were purchased by and absorbed into Westbus Region 3 operations. [12] [13] Also included in the sale were Baxter's Girraween depot and some of its bus fleet.
From 2005 Westbus' services were part of Sydney Bus Regions 1 and 3. [14] [15] In 2012, these regions were put out to tender by Transport for NSW. Westbus' bids to retain both regions were not successful, with the Region 1 services operating out of St Marys and Windsor passing to Busways, while the Region 3 services operated by Bonnyrigg and Girraween passing to Transit Systems Sydney, both in October 2013. [16] [17] [18] The remaining Westbus fleet was transferred to other ComfortDelGro Australia subsidiaries.
Prior to its cessation in 2013, Westbus operated services in Sydney Bus Regions 1 and 3:
Westbus also operated services in the Hills District prior to their rebranding to Hillsbus in December 2004:
A long time Bedford and Leyland buyer, after briefly manufacturing its own Bosnjak JBJ chassis in the late 1970s, Westbus moved to the Volvo B10M purchasing over 160 as buses and 12 as coaches in the 1980s. [4] It later purchased Mercedes-Benz O405 and Scanias.
As at May 2013 Westbus operated 289 buses across four depots in Bonnyrigg and Girraween for Region 3 and St Marys and Windsor for Region 1. [12] Upon formation in 1983 Westbus adopted a cream and red livery, which was adopted by National Bus Company in 1993. This was simplified in the early 2000s to plain yellow. In 2010 the Transport for NSW white and blue livery began to be applied in line with contractual obligations.
ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited, commonly known as ComfortDelGro, is a multi-national transport group based in Singapore. It is listed on the Singapore Exchange and operates more than 40,000 vehicles across 12 countries. It was formed on 29 March 2003 through a merger of Singaporean land transport companies Comfort Group and DelGro Corporation.
The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for the provision of ferry services in Sydney until 2004 and bus and ferry services in Newcastle until 2017. It ceased trading after 2 April 2022 with its remaining operations to be contracted out by Transport for NSW to replacement operators. The New South Wales Government has not yet put forward a bill for the dissolution of the State Transit Authority of NSW.
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CDC Victoria is a transport company which operates in Victoria and is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. It was renamed from Kefford Corporation, which was acquired by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge in February 2009.
Hillsbus was an Australian bus company that operated services in the Hills District of Sydney. Founded in 2004 when National Express merged its Glenorie Bus Company and Westbus subsidiaries, it was later part of ComfortDelGro Australia. In early 2023, the Hillsbus brand was replaced by ComfortDelGro's CDC NSW brand.
Transdev NSW was a bus operator in the northern, southern and western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It was a subsidiary of Transdev.
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Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney, and in the Central Coast, Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales and Adelaide. It is the largest privately owned bus operator in Australia.
Forest Coach Lines is an Australian bus and coach operator. Founded in 1930 in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney, since 2016 it has expanded with purchases in the Mid North Coast and North West Slopes regions in New South Wales. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia.
ComfortDelGro Australia is a major Australian public transport company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-listed company ComfortDelGro. Founded in October 2005 as ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, a joint venture between ComfortDelGro (51%) and Australian-listed Cabcharge (49%), it became fully owned by ComfortDelGro in 2017. It operates public transport, taxi and patient transport services nationwide across Australia, except in the states of Tasmania and South Australia.
CDC Geelong, formerly known as Benders Busways, is a bus company operating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, with routes as well as charters. It is a subsidiary of CDC Victoria, in turn a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia, in turn a subsidiary of Singapore-based ComfortDelGro.
The Sydney Metropolitan Bus Service Contracts are contracts issued by the Government of New South Wales to metropolitan bus operators in Sydney, Australia, to operate its public bus route network. Since 2005, the government has moved from individual contracts with operators to larger contract regions, leading to the consolidation of bus operators.
Hawkesbury Valley Buses was an Australian bus company in Western Sydney.
Harris Park Transport was an Australian bus company operating services in the Hills District and Southern suburbs of Sydney.
The Outer Sydney Metropolitan Bus Service Contracts (OSMBSC) are contracts issued by the Government of New South Wales to bus operators in areas surrounding Sydney. These regions include the Hunter Region, Central Coast, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains. In 2016–17, 21.6 million passenger journeys were made on Outer Metropolitan bus services.
Sydney, Australia is served by a number of bus operators, with Transit systems the largest privately owned operator in New South Wales as of January 2024 when the company took-over Transdev Liverpool, Busabout and Interline. Other major operators include CDC and Busways. Most services are provided as part of the city's integrated public transport system, with routes, fares, service levels, fleet specifications and customer service standards determined by Transport for NSW. A small number of services operate outside of this network.
Coastal Liner is an Australian bus company operating services on the New South Wales Central Coast. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia.
CityFleet Networks, also known as CityFleet, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-based ComfortDelGro that operates coach services under the brand Westbus UK, as well as taxi services in a number of UK cities under the brands ComCab, CityFleet Business and Comfort Executive.
Hunter Valley Buses is an Australian bus operator who operates bus, coach and charter services in the Central Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales. Previously known as Blue Ribbon, it was one of the first companies to be bought by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge in 2005, now ComfortDelGro Australia.
CDC NSW is a bus operator in New South Wales, Australia. It is an umbrella brand of ComfortDelGro Australia established in 2017 to cover the latter's New South Wales operations, some of which had been owned by ComfortDelGro since 2005. It was subsequently established as a legal entity (company) in 2019. Beginning from 2023, its Hillsbus, Forest Coach Lines and Blanch's Bus Company brands were phased out in favour of the CDC NSW brand.
