EDITORS NOTE – We are moving the “Featured Bus Route” series from the end of the month to the beginning of the month from this month. Going forward, “Featured Bus Route” series posts will be published on or around the first Sunday of the month. We are also looking for an idea of what routes and information that our readers would like to see published in future editions of the Featured Bus Route series. Please let us know by using the contact form or sending us an email.
For July 2019, our featured bus route is Route 962 between Miranda and East Hills via Sutherland, Menai, Illawong, Padstow, Revesby and UWS Millperra. It is operated by Transdev NSW.
On 11 February 1935, Route 237 between Sutherland and Woronora Rover was commenced by GH Ramsay. By December 1948 the service was transferred to Mayman Bros and it was later rerouted to Prince Edward Park in Woronora. From 1956 school trips were operated as far as Menai, with the service later extending to Padstow via Menai on all journeys from November 1980. By 1984, the operator had become Menai Bus Service.
From 16 November 1987, Route 237 was renumbered into the Sydney Region Route Numbering System. Routes 960-961-962-963 operated a shared trunk route between Sutherland and Menai, with the four routes all branching off beyond this point to cover different parts of the previous Route 237. Route 962 operated along the stretch between Sutherland and Menai only. In August 1989, the service was transferred to Deanes Coaches, who then later changed their name to Southtrans in July 1989.
From 8 November 1989, Route 962 was extended from Menai to Padstow, with selected services extending to Bankstown. From 12 October 1992 the service was modified to operate between Miranda and Bankstown via Sutherland, Menai and Padstow. From September 1994, the service was truncated back to Padstow instead of Bankstown. Route 961 was absorbed into Route 962 from 20 October 1997, which meant that all Miranda to Padstow services were now numbered 962.
By June 2002, Route 962 was being operated by Connex NSW. Later, on 22 July 2002, the service was curtailed to operate between Sutherland and Padstow only. This truncation was only short lived, with services to Miranda resuming on 12 May 2003.
On 18 May 2006, the service was transferred to Veolia Transport. As a result of the Ministry of Transport review of Region 10 all Route 962 services operated between Miranda and Bankstown from 28 May 2006. A trial extension of the route to Cronulla on weekends was introduced for a 6 month trial on 21 September 2009 as part of the Ministry of Transport review of Region 11. This extension was later made permanent. On 1 July 2013, Veolia Transport merged with Transdev, with the combined entity operating as Transdev NSW.
Most recently, on 2 December 2018, Route 962 was rerouted to East Hills via Revesby and UWS Milperra, with the Padstow to Bankstown corridor now serviced by the M92. Additionally, weekend services to Cronulla were also discontinued at this time. This meant that Route 962 now operated Miranda to East Hills via Sutherland, Menai, Illawong, Padstow, Revesby and UWS Milperra.
Route 962 operates every 15-20 minutes during weekday peak hour and every 30 minutes during weekday off-peak and on Saturdays. Monday through Saturday the service operates between 6am and Midnight. On Sundays Route 962 is an hourly service operating between 8am and 8pm only.
Transport NSW Blog 