Busways

Australian bus company
the Australian bus operator

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.

The origins of Busways can be traced to 1942 when Dick Rowe commenced a hire car service from Rooty Hill to Plumpton. In 1946 Rowe purchased his first bus and further expansion saw a depot established in Plumpton in 1958. In 1958, in partnership with Fred Bowman, Rowe purchased Parramatta Villawood Bus Service followed by Campbelltown Transit on 13 May 1967 in partnership with Roger Graham and Jim Newport. In 1970, Rowe had taken full ownership of Campbelltown Transit and in January 1978 sold out of Parramatta Villawood. In 1984, Riverstone Bus Service was purchased and merged with Rowe's Bus Service. In June 1986 Higlett's Motor Coach Services, Camden was purchased and rebranded Macarthur Coaches. In 1988, Campbelltown Transit, Macarthur Coaches and Rowe's Bus Service were all rebranded as Busways. In February 1990 the Seargent's, Charmhaven business on the Central Coast was purchased followed in July 1994 by the neighbouring Peninsula Bus Lines business in Kincumber, Ourimbah and Umina. In June 1991, the Campbelltown to Wollongong service of Farmborough Coaches was acquired. In September 2003, Busways purchased the Great Lakes and Mid North Coast services of King Brothers from its administrator. In January 2008 the school services of Yarramalong Bus Lines, Wyong were purchased followed by those of Kulnura Bus Lines in July 2009.

Since 2005, Busways' services in the Blacktown area have formed part of Sydney Bus Region 1, held in partnership with Westbus and Hawkesbury Valley Buses. Operating from a depot in Glendenning, scheduled route and school services cover an area encompassed by Seven Hills and Castle Hill in the east; Rouse Hill and Riverstone in the north; Shalvey and St Marys in the west; Minchinbury and Prospect to the south. The regional centres of Blacktown and Mount Druitt are a focus for all services, with trips also serving the employment centres of Eastern Creek, Huntingwood and Macquarie Park. Bus/train connections are provided at a variety of railway stations. Busways also operates services along the North West T way between Blacktown and Rouse Hill. In March 2007, the Parramatta Rouse Hill section of the North West T way opened. Bus routes 730 (renumbered T63) and 735 (renumbered 616, now 616X) were transferred from Busways to Hillsbus while bus route 718 was transferred from Hillsbus to Busways. In November 2007, the Blacktown Parklea of the North West T way opened. Existing Busways bus routes were amended and renumbered to become new T way routes (T70, T71, T74 and T75) and ran mainly along the new section. In October 2013, Busways after winning the tender for Sydney Bus Region 1, took over the operation of services in the St Marys, Penrith, Windsor and Richmond areas from Hawkesbury Valley Buses and Westbus. In May 2019, as part of the Sydney Metro opening, all Busways T way services were renumbered from "T7x" to "73x", and the former Hawkesbury Valley Buses services (661 664) were renumbered to "67x" or "74x". Some services were also rerouted to stop at Tallawong station.

In July 2021, Busways was announced as the new operator for Sydney Bus Region 7 in the North Shore, Northern and Western regions of Sydney. Busways commenced operating Region 7 on 9 January 2022, taking over from State Transit.

The Central Coast has services provided under the Outer Metropolitan Bus System Contract Region 6. This contract with the NSW Government covers a broad area that stretches from Patonga and Wagstaffe in the south through to Swansea and Morisset in the north; and Dooralong and Mangrove Mountain in the west to Terrigal and MacMasters Beach in the east. With depots at Kincumber and Woongarrah, the key centres served by Busways routes include Gosford, Tuggerah, Wyong, Lake Haven, Erina Fair and Woy Woy. Occasional trips also serve Charlestown in the north and Spencer in the west.

In September 2003, Busways purchased the services of King Brothers on the Mid North Coast from its administrator.

Rowe's Bus Service previously operated coach services with a fleet of six Dennings until the coach licences were sold to Westbus in 1986. Macarthur Coaches also operated some coaches that were sold in 1990. Until October 2011 Busways operated a service from Forster to Sydney. Busways operate coach services from Newcastle to Taree under contract to NSW TrainLink.

Having traditionally purchased Leyland buses, in November 1978 the first of 30 Volvo B58s were delivered. Since then, Busways have purchased buses from MAN, Mercedes Benz, Scania and Volvo. In the 1970s the Rowe fleet livery was white with a red stripe, with an orange stripe added in 1988. Since 2010, the blue and white Transport for NSW livery has been applied to the Sydney and Central Coast fleets. As of April 2024, Busways operates 1,221 buses, excluding Adelaide operations. Busways' Adelaide operations operates 135 buses. A total of 1,356 buses are operated by Busways across Australia.