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 privately owned bus operator in Melbourne, Australia. Initially a joint venture between two other operators Dysons and Reservoir Bus Company, it became fully owned by Dysons in February 2014. It operated three bus routes under contract to the Government of Victoria until it was phased out and replaced by the Dysons brand in 2019.
History
[edit]East West Bus Company was formed in August 1980 as a joint venture between Dysons and Reservoir Bus Company (Cooper family). 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.[1][2] This was followed by route 561 (Reservoir–Macleod station) in March 1981 and route 570 (Thomastown–Phillip Institute of Technology's Bundoora campus) in 1984.[3]
Route 571 was a regular bus route introduced in 1997 between Morang South Primary School and Hume Highway in Campbellfield via Epping.[4] 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.[5][6] The Trainlink services were timetabled to connect to or from trains at Epping station. Buses on those Trainlink services bore the text "Train Link" at the front of the bus.[7] The route was extended westwards to Roxburgh Park station in October 2007 with the opening of the Craigieburn line extension.[8]
By 2010, the company operated four routes. Route 560 ceased in April 2010 and was replaced by new 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.[9] 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).[10][11]
Route 571 was discontinued with the opening of the South Morang rail extension in April 2012.[12] 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.
While Dysons bought out Reservoir Bus Company (owned by Cooper family) in November 2012, East West Bus Company remained jointly owned by the Cooper family and Dysons until the Cooper family sold their share in February 2014.[13][14][15][16] In February 2016, East West Bus Company began operating a new La Trobe University shuttle route 301.[17]
As late as 2018, buses continued to run using the East West branding.[18] By March 2019, all three routes (301, 561 and 570) were shown in the Public Transport Victoria website as being operated by Dysons, and the East West branding phased out.[19][20][21]
Fleet
[edit]As of October 2012, East West Bus Company operated a fleet of 17 SmartBus-liveried buses and 8 East West-liveried buses.[22] Since being fully acquired by Dysons in 2014, East West had 10 new Volgren Optimus-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.[23]
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
[edit]- Melbourne Bus Link – another joint venture between Dysons and Reservoir Bus Company
References
[edit]- ^ Victorian Buses in the Eighties Australian Bus Panorama issue 6/1 July 1990 page 12
- ^ Melbourne Metropolitan Bus Operators and Fleet Listings. Melbourne: Bus & Coach Society of Victoria. 1991. p. 19.
- ^ "Melbourne Private Bus Routes 1971 to 1990: 500 – 599". Bus and Coach Society of Victoria. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "Route service 571 - South Morang to Epping/Campbellfield (Effective 3 March 1997)". East West Bus Company. Archived from the original on 3 March 2001.
- ^ "Route service 571 - South Morang to Epping/Campbellfield (Effective 8 December 2003)". East West Bus Company. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007.
- ^ "Old photos from April 2012". Daniel Bowen. 25 April 2022.
- ^ "East West #321 rego 6024AO waiting at Epping on a route 571 Trainlink service to South Morang". Wongm's Rail Gallery. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ "Summary Report for Whittlesea Bus Service Review". Department of Transport. December 2008.
- ^ SmartBus Route 901 Department of Transport. Archived on 26 February 2011
- ^ "Bus Timetables and Route Details". East West Bus Company. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011.
- ^ "East West Bus Company". Wongm's Rail Gallery. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Dysons & East West" Australian Bus issue 63 May 2014 page 7
- ^ "Reservoir Bus Company". Reservoir Bus Company. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017.
- ^ "Company announcement". Dysons. Archived from the original on 11 April 2014.
- ^ "Reservoir Bus Company & Midland Tours". Bus & Coach Society of Victoria. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ "East-West #897 to #900: 301 Express Shuttle". Bus & Coach Society of Victoria. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ "East West bus BS01CH on route 561 at Coburg station". Wongm's Rail Gallery. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ "301 Reservoir Station - La Trobe University (Bundoora Campus)". Public Transport Victoria.
- ^ "561 Macleod - Pascoe Vale via La Trobe University". Public Transport Victoria.
- ^ "570 Thomastown - RMIT Bundoora". Public Transport Victoria.
- ^ East - West Bus Co, Reservoir Australian Bus Fleet Lists
- ^ Dyson Group of Companies, Bundoora Australian Bus Fleet Lists
