Category: Sydney’s Transport History

A massive part of any bus operation is the buses. Region 6 is home to 582 buses across its four depots.

From m/o 3426, a Scania L113TRB with Ansair Orana bodywork delivered in March 1993 to 2912ST, a Scania K310UB with Volgren “Optimus” bodywork delivered in April, the fleet is varied with a great diversity of buses. With Mercedes-Benz, Scania and Volvo chassis buses bodied by Ansair, Bustech, Custom Coaches and Volgren, the buses range from 12m to 15m in length alongside 18m long bendy buses.

So as part of our farewell to STA operation in Region 6, we have compiled a gallery of some pictures of buses from R6 in operation. All photos are from our personal collections except where noted.

Tempe Bus Depot is one of the four bus depots currently operated by STA in Region 6 that will be handed over to TSA on July 1st.

The site opened as a tram depot on 15 September 1912 . In 1954, the site was converted into a bus depot to service government bus services in the Southern Suburbs of Sydney. The new depot was needed to take pressure off Kingsgrove depot which was struggling with the large amount tram replacement work during the closure of the Sydney Tram Network.

After 38 years of service, the original Tempe bus depot closed in 1992 and services were reallocated to Kingsgrove and Port Botany Depots.  The site then became the Sydney Bus Museum until 2010, when the museum relocated to Leichhardt Tramsheds.

The bus depot reopened in late 2010 as a depot dedicated to operating articulated buses for the new Metrobus network. The use of Tempe depot as a dedicated Metrobus depot was later deemed to be inefficiency. This was because most of the Metrobus routes (with the expection of the southern terminus of routes M20 and M30) had their terminus tens of kilometres away from Tempe depot These inefficiencies led to the relocation of some Metrobus services to other depots including Leichhardt, North Sydney and Randwick in 2013. As part of this optimisation of services, some regular STA services commenced out of Tempe depot for the first time in over 20 years late in 2013.

The depot currently is home to 85 buses, a mixture between 18 metre articulated buses for Metrobus services and 12.5 rigid buses for regular STA services. They service the southern most routes in the STA network, with a major hub in Rockdale.

Kingsgrove Bus Depot is one of the four bus depots in State Transit Region 6 that will be handed over to Transit Systems this July.

Kingsgrove depot opened on 22 February 1948 to take the pressure off the crowded Burwood depot. It initially began operating 12 routes with a fleet of around 50 buses. In most cases, these routes were located much closer to Kingsgrove then Burwood, allowing for reduced dead running and higher efficiency.

Since then it has grown to be home to 166 buses servicing dozens of inner west routes. It is one of two home depots for the Bondi to Burwood Metroline 400 routes and houses 15 dedicated high capacity buses just for this route.

 

Today as part of our series farewelling STA region 6 before it transfers to Transit Systems on July 1 we are looking at Burwood Depot.

Burwood Depot was the first depot to be government owned in Region 6, when it was purchased from the Metropolitan Omnibus Transport Company by the Department of Road Transport & Tramways to allow it to open up services in the Inner West. The initial bus repair cavities were located at Burwood depot until they were moved to Leichhardt in 1935.

The first service operated from Burwood depot o. 27 January 1933, Route 59 from Concord to City York Street. Dozens of routes started within the first few years of operation.

Today there are 104 buses in the fleet at Burwood depot, made up of Volvo B12BLE Euro 5 buses with CB60 Evo II bodywork and Volvo B10BLE with Orana bodywork.

Some major routes operated out of Burwood depot include the M41 and 461.

On the last Sunday of each month through to June 24 we will be doing another edition of Farewell Region 6. On July 1st which is the first day of the new operator, we will be on the scene with an update to the changeover.

As STA looks to farewell Region 6 from its network on July 1, we will be having a look at STA’s long history in the Inner West. Today we will start with the Leichhardt Depot.

Leichhardt depot is on the site of the old Leichhardt tram depot, which opening on 22 June 1915. It was converted to a bus depot in 1937 and served as the central maintanence facility for Department of Road Transport & Tramways buses until 1958.

Leichhardt depot has remained one of the main government run bus depots. A major upgrade in 2008 improved maintenance facilities, bus storage and office space at the depot.

Today Leichhardt depot is home to 222 buses, making it the third largest STA depot. It services buses operating in Region 6 and a limited number of services in Region 7 and 9.

Prominent services operated by Leichhardt Depot include Metrobus routes M10 and M50, Routes 370, 438, 440, 504 and 530.

The Leichhardt depot also shares land with the Sydney Bus Museum, which is located in one of the old tram sheds.