Route 309 operated by State Transit is the featured bus route for February 2019. It operates between Railway Square and Banksmeadow via Redfern, Green Square, Mascot and Botany.
Route 309 was introduced on the the 22nd of June 1952, supplementing trams on the Botany – Matraville Tramline, with peak hour services between the City and Matraville via Botany Road, whilst off peak services only operated between Matraville and Botany Shops. On the 23rd of October 1960, Route 309 took over tram operations full time after the closure of the tram line. At this time it was also extended to La Perouse via Prince Henry Hospital, replacing parts of old routes 334 and 338. As with many routes introduced to replace the tramways, Route 309 fully duplicated the route of the old tramway.
By 2002, the route had been modified to operate between Circular Quay and Port Botany Terminus. Due to works on the CBD and South East Light rail, the city terminus of the service changes from Circular Quay to Railway Square on 4th of October 2015. Recently as part of a review of South-Eastern bus services, Route 309 was truncated to Banksmeadow from 2nd of December 2019. An express 309x variant was also introduced at this time.
Route 309 is considered to be a turn up and go service, meaning it operates on a frequency headway basis rather than a fixed timetable. Despite this, there is still an approximated timetable provided for the service. It operates on average every 12 minutes or more often during the day 7 days a week.
Buses for this service are provided out of State Transit’s Port Botany Depot. A mixture of high capacity articulated Buses and standard 12.5 m Buses are used on the route.
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