Transport NSW Blog

The largest changes to the bus network in Sydney’s South Eastern Suburbs since the demise of the original Sydney tramway network were introduced today, 5 December 2021. As part of these changes (which you can view in full here), 24 routes have been discontinued. All 24 of those routes and an outline of their histories are featured in this article. 

Route 300 – Kings Cross to Railway Square via Museum Station

Route 300 operated between Kings Cross and Railway Square via Museum Station in that direction only. It was an overnight service that only operated on Friday and Saturday nights. Route 300 was introduced on 31 December 2013. It has been replaced by short-working of Route 324.

Route 301 – Eastgardens to Redfern via Mascot

Route 301 operated between Redfern and Eastgardens via Zetland and Mascot. It was initially introduced as a weekday service between Rosebery and Eastgardens on 20 October 1987 after the opening of Westfield Eastgardens. On 5 August 1990, it was altered to operate from Circular Quay to Eastgardens via Rosebery. It was later curtailed to operate to Redfern instead of Circular Quay from 2 December 2018. It has been replaced by new Routes 306 and 350.

Route 302 – Eastgardens to Redfern via Kingsford

Route 302 operated between Redfern and Eastgardens via Zetland and Mascot. It was initially introduced as a supplementary route to Route 303, operating between Central Station and Dolls Point in March 1942. At various times in the 1950s and 1960s the service was extended to differing termini in Sandringham, Sans Souci and Caringbah, with some short workings diverting to Sydney Airport. As part of the Better Buses East changes of 23 June 2002, the service was modified to operate Circular Quay to Eastgardens, and later on 2 December 2018 to Redfern to Eastgardens. It has been replaced by Route 392.

Route 309X – Port Botany to Railway Square EXPRESS

Route 309X operated an express service between Railway Square and Port Botany. It commenced as Route X09 on 5 August 1990 as a peak hour express service between Circular Quay and Matraville. From 23 June 2002, it was curtailed to operate Martin Place to Banksmeadow and from 4 October 2002 it was curtailed to operate Railway Square to Banksmeadow. From 2 December 2018 Route X09 was renumbered as Route 309X and modified to operate Railway Square to Port Botany. It has been replaced by Route 309.

Route 310X – Banksmeadow to Railway Square EXPRESS

Route 310X operated an express service between Railway Square and Banksmeadow. It commenced as Route X10 on 23 June 2002 between Martin Place and Eastgardens. It was curtailed to operate Railway Square to Eastgardens on 4 October 2015. From 2 December 2018 Route X10 was renumbered as Route 310X and modified to operate Railway Square to Banksmeadow. It has been replaced by Route 310.

Route 314 – Coogee to Bondi Junction via Randwick Junction

Route 314 operated between Coogee and Bondi Junction via Randwick and Charing Cross. Route 314 commenced on 14 November 1954 as the replacement for the Coogee Beach to Waverley Depot tram service. It has been replaced by Routes 313, 356 and 390X

Route 316 – Eastgardens to Bondi Junction via Maroubra Junction

Route 316 operated between Eastgardens and Bondi Junction via Maroubra Junction and Randwick Junction. It commenced on 20 October 1987 after the opening of Westfield Eastgardens. Since 2019 selected services have extended to Pagewood. It has been replaced by Routes 356, 390X and 397.

Route 317 – Eastgardens to Bondi Junction via Maroubra Beach

Route 316 operated between Eastgardens and Bondi Junction via Maroubra Beach and Randwick Junction. It commenced on 23 June 2002 as part of the Better Buses East changes. Since 2019 selected services have extended to Pagewood. It has been replaced by Routes 375 and 390X

Route 338 – Clovelly to Railway Square via Moore Park

Route 338 operated between Clovelly and Railway Square via North Randwick and Moore Park. It commenced on 4 October 2015 as a peak hour short working of Route 339. It is being replaced by Route 339.

Route 353 – Eastgardens to Bondi Junction via Coogee

Route 353 operated between Eastgardens and Bondi Junction via Maroubra Beach and Coogee. It commenced on 9 January 2000 between North Bondi and Sydney Airport via Bondi Junction and Eastgardens. It was curtailed to operate between Eastgardens and Bondi Junction as part of the Better Buses East changes on 23 June 2002. It is being replaced by Route 350.

Route 357 – Mascot Station to Bondi Junction via Randwick Junction

Route 357 operated between Mascot Station and Bondi Junction via Kingsford and Randwick Junction. It commenced in 1952 as Route 367 between Sydenham and Bellevue Hill and was later renumbered 357 and curtailed to operate Sydenham to Bondi Junction in November 1986. It was amalgamated with Route 418 on 20 October 2013 to operate Burwood to Bondi Junction, before being spilt to operate as Route 357 between Mascot Station and Bondi Junction on 30 September 2018. It will be replaced by Routes 356 and 358.

Route 372 – Coogee to Railway Square via Cleveland Street

Route 372 operated between Coogee and Railway Square via Randwick Junction and Cleveland Street. It commenced on 24 October 2960 as a replacement for the Coogee Beach to Railway Square tram service. It has been replaced by Routes 373 and 374.

Route 376 – Maroubra Beach to Railway Square via Randwick Junction

Route 376 operated between Maroubra Beach and Railway Square via Randwick Junction and Moore Park. It commenced in November 1995 as Maroubra Beach to Circular Quay via Central. It was curtailed to operate Maroubra Beach to Railway Square from 4 October 2015. It has been replaced by Routes 339 and 375. 3

Route 377 – Maroubra Beach to Railway Square via Randwick Junction

Route 376 operated between Maroubra Beach and Circular Quay via Randwick Junction and Taylor Square. It commenced on 18 October 1987 between Eastgardens and Circular Quay via Maroubra Beach following the opening of Westfield Eastgardens. On 23 June 2002, it was curtailed to operate between Maroubra Beach and Circular Quay only. It is being replaced by Routes 373, 375 and 396.

Route 391 – La Perouse to Railway Square via Eastgardens

Route 391 operated between La Perouse and Railway Square via Eastgardens and Bunnerong Road. It commenced on 19 November 1995 as La Perouse to Circular Quay via Central. From 4 October 2015 it was curtailed to operate from La Perouse to Railway Square. It will be replaced by Routes 339, 392 and 396.

Route 393 – Little Bay to Railway Square via Cleveland Street

Route 393 operated between Little Bay and Railway Square via Anzac Parade and Cleveland Street. It commenced on 25 February 1961 replacing the La Perouse to Railway Square tram. It will be replaced by Routes 374, 390X and 396.

Route 394 – La Perouse to Circular Quay via Taylor Square

Route 394 operated between La Perouse and Circular Quay via Anzac Parade and Taylor Square. It commenced on 25 February 1961 replacing the La Perouse to Hunter Street tram. It is being replaced by Routes 390X and 396.

Route 395 – Maroubra Beach to Railway Square via Cleveland Street

Route 393 operated between Maroubra Beach and Railway Square via Anzac Parade and Cleveland Street. It commenced on 25 February 1961 replacing the Maroubra Beach to Railway Square tram. It will be replaced by Routes 374 and 396.

Route 400 – Bondi Junction to Sydney Airport LIMITED STOPS

Route 400 operated limited stops between Bondi Junction and Sydney Airport. It commenced on 17 July 1989 between Bondi Junction and Burwood with ‘Metroline’ branding. During the 1990s, selected weekend services extended to Bondi Beach. On 30 September 2018 Route 400 was split in two, with services between Eastgardens and Burwood operated by new Route 420 with the 400 curtailed to operate Bondi Junction to Eastgardens. It is being replaced by Routes 350 and 390X.

Route 400N – Bondi Junction to Eastgardens via Randwick Junction

Route 400N was a night time service between Bondi Junction and Eastgardens via Randwick. It commenced on 30 September 2018 as the night time short working of Route 400. It has been replaced by Routes 350 and 390X.

Route 420N – Burwood to Eastgardens via Rockdale

Route 420N was a night time service between Eastgardens and Burwood via Rockdale. It commenced on 30 September 2018 as the night time short working of Route 420. It has been replaced by Route 420.

Route L94 – La Perouse to Circular Quay LIMITED STOPS

Route L94 operated between La Perouse and Circular Quay via Anzac Parade and Taylor Square. It commenced on 5 August 1990 as the limited stops variant of Route 394. It is being replaced by Routes 390X and 396.

Route X40 – Clovelly to Museum Station EXPRESS

Route X40 was an express service between Clovelly and Liverpool Street. It commenced on 28 October 2012 to provide an express service from Clovelly via the Eastern Distributor. It is being replaced by Route 339X.

Route X93 – Little Bay to Railway Square EXPRESS

Route X93 was an express service between Little Bay and Railway Square. It commenced on 5 June 2016 to help direct traffic away from Anzac Parade due to light rail construction. It is being replaced by Route 394X.

Route X99 – Little Bay to Museum Station EXPRESS

Route X93 was an express service between Little Bay and Liverpool Street. It commenced on 23 June 2002 as part of the Better Buses East service changes. It is being replaced by Routes 394X and 399.

Although there are many other routes which have significant changes, and express routes are being renumbered from the X00 series to the 300X series, we have chosen just to focus on the routes we won’t see again in any form for the scope of this article.

Credit to Greg Travers’ book “City to Suburb” and Robert Henderson’s site “Sydney Bus Routes” for providing information for the article.

A joint venture partnership between Transdev and John Holland has been awarded the contract to operate Sydney’s Region 9 bus services. The contract will be handed over from State Transit to Transdev John Holland Buses from 12:01am on Sunday 3 April 2022.

Region 9 was the final region contract to be held by State owned operator State Transit. Covering Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and South East, over 500 buses carry 67 million passengers each year. The contract includes Route 333 between North Bondi and Circular Quay, Sydney’s busiest bus route. 136 new zero emission buses will be introduced over the course of the 8 year contract.

Transdev John Holland Buses (NSW) is an integrated joint venture partnership between Transdev Australasia and John Holland.

Transdev Australasia Chief Executive Officer, Luke Agati, said sustainability and keeping people and customers at the heart were critical to securing the contract.

“We are delighted to partner with John Holland to operate Region 9. We will bring our collective know-how to help Transport for NSW continue to set the pace in the transition to zero emissions fleets in Australia and deliver broad benefits to the community,” Mr Agati said.

John Holland Executive General Manager Rail and Transport Operations, Steve Butcher, said the team was excited to build on the region’s strong customer service record.

“We are proud to be joining Transdev and will bring our experience operating customer-focused networks like Sydney Metro, Canberra Metro and Metro Trains Melbourne to make sure customers are the biggest winners out of the transition,” Mr Butcher said.

Today’s announcement comes more than a week after the awarding of the contract was originally due to occur. The reason for the delay in the contract announcement remains unknown.

There has been a delay in the announcement of successful bidder for the Region 9 bus contract. Covering Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and Inner City, the Region 9 contract is the final contract to still be held by State Government owned bus operator State Transit.

The announcement of the successful bidder for the Region 9 contract was supposed to occur last Friday, November 19. This in turn was a delay from the original timeline for the handover of the Region 9 contract, which had the contract handover planned for July 1 2021. This initial delay occurred due to industry requests for extra time to put together higher quality bids for all three contracts State Transit held at the time after a market sounding period.

It was understood by Transport for NSW Blog that a successful bidder for the Region 9 contract had already been chosen by Transport for NSW. All other interested parties except for that successful bidder had not progressed to the final stage of contract negotiations. There is some speculation that contractual issues relating to the chosen operator may be to blame for the delay, however Transport NSW Blog has not been able to confirm a concrete reason for the delay.

At this stage there is no new timeline for when the successful bidder for the Region 9 contract will be announced. Despite this, it appears that Transport for NSW believes that the Region 9 contract will still likely be handed over to a new operator from early April 2022.

Since Thursday 28 October, services on the L1 Inner West Light Rail line have been suspended due to cracking found in all 12 of the trams that service the line. This service suspension is indefinite and there is no timeline towards the resumption of services.

It is understood that significant cracks were discovered in the bogey boxes (otherwise known as the wheel arches) of all 12 trams in the Inner West fleet, in addition to more minor cracking throughout other parts of the trams. It has been rumored that the cracks may have arisen due to the choice of fixed bogey trams for the Inner West line, as overseas examples have shown bogey box cracking on fixed boey trams that operate on tram lines with significant curves such as the L1 line in Sydney.

The Office of Transport Safety is conducting an investigation into the cracks. Transport Minister Rob Stokes said it was “obviously a concern” when route maintenance had uncovered a problem with the entire inner west tram fleet. “We will hold Transdev to their contractual obligations,” he said of the private operator of the line.

Transport for NSW secretary Rob Sharp said that trams will not be rushed back into service. “It’s not going to be a couple of days or a week or two – it’s going to be extended. We’d be certainly looking at a month or more,” Mr Sharp said. “Safety is first, and we do need the technical experts to complete their reviews over the next week to actually land on a specific conclusion.”

State Transit is operating a replacement bus service. There are two routes that operate between 6am and 11pm daily. The buses are opal enabled but only charge half fares.

• Route 498 – Central Railway Colonnade to The Star (operates every 15 minutes )
• Route 499 – Central Railway Colonnade to Dulwich Hill (operates every 10-12 minutes)

State Transit handed over operation of the Region 8 contract, covering Sydney’s Northern Beaches and Lower North Shore, to Keolis Downer at 12:01am this morning, 31 October 2021. This is the first of three handovers to occur over the next 6 months, as the NSW Government follows through on plans to privatise the entire State Transit network.

State Transit had a 88 year history of operations on the Northern Beaches and Lower North Shore. The first government operated service in was on Route 144 between Manly and Cremorne on December 25 1932. As part of this handover, Route 144 will revert to private operation after 88 years. At the time of handover, there were 450 buses based in Region 8 across 3 depots.

The final service operated by State Transit in Region 8 was the 23:55 172X from Wynyard to Warringah Mall via North Balgowlah. 1966 had the honours of operating this last trip. See below for some photos of this final service

Transport for NSW has confirmed that public transport across New South Wales will return to weekday timetables from Monday 11 October 2021. This comes as the extended lockdown restrictions that have been in place in NSW since June will be eased from the same date, after NSW reached 70% double vaccination rate earlier this week.

This move will see over 18 000 extra trips added to the network and the return of peak hour express services to the Network. There will also be additional capacity on each service, with capacity moving from 25% to 50% seated capacity. Extra green dots will be added to help guide social distancing aboard services.

Public Transport in NSW has been operating to a Saturday timetable since 23 August due to COVID-19 related staff shortages. There is some concern that staff shortages will lead to cancellations and gaps in service with the return to weekday timetables. State Transit’s Waverley depot in Sydney’s East has been short of drivers this week leading to cancellations and Transit’s Systems Leichhardt Depot has seen continual service cancellations since the emergence of a first COVID case there in early August.

State Transit has placed an order for 10 Custom Element electric buses for delivery between November 2021 and March 2022, the first electric buses ordered by State Transit. The vehicles will be based at State Transit’s Waverley depot as part of their Region 9 contract.

The order follows a successful trial of a Custom Element electric bus on routes out of Waverley Depot back in March. The bus trialled was the first electric bus to be built here in NSW, and this order will also be built in NSW at the Custom Denning factory in Western Sydney. Drivers involved in the trial gave the vehicle good reviews, noting a smooth ride quality and excellent braking.

Waverley depot has been chosen for the new electric buses due to the recent decommissioning of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) compression station. This has allowed State Transit to repurpose the available CNG substation power for use as part of the required recharging infrastructure for the electric buses.

The Custom Element electric bus has a capacity of 80, with 43 seated. It is a fully low floor bus with 2 wheelchair accessible spaces. On a full charge, which takes up to 5 hours, the Custom Element can operate for up to 16 hours or around 400 kilometres in service. The batteries last for up to 1 million service kilometers.

Once again, there are changes to the timetables for public transport in Sydney. Bus services will move to a Saturday timetable with additional peak trips. This is in response to significant staff shortages caused by positive COVID-19 tests amongst a number of staff at depots across Sydney.

Changes by mode are listed below;

Buses

Services in Greater Sydney will operate to an amended Saturday timetable. There will be additional trips to ensure frequency is retained on high demand corridors and additional trips on weekday only routes that service key employment precincts. This includes a full weekday timetable for Route 309X from Railway Square to Port Botany.

Ferries

Services will operate hourly on all lines.

Light Rail

L1 Dulwich Hill Line services will operate to a normal weekday timetable. L2 Randwick Line services will operate to a Sunday timetable with additional services in the early morning and early afternoon. L3 Kingsford Line services will operate to a Sunday timetable.

Metro

Services will run every 10 minutes during peak periods and every 20 minutes at other times. 

Trains

Sydney Trains services will mostly operate to a weekend timetable. There will be additional services in the early morning and early afternoon to support construction and trade based essential workers as well as extra peak services to support social distancing.

NSW TrainLink Intercity services will mostly operate to a weekend timetable including the Hunter, Bathurst, Southern Highland lines.

NSW TrainLink regional services are operating on an ad-hoc basis, with most services being cancelled.

Transport for NSW is still urging all residents to stay home whilst the lockdown under COVID-19 Public Health Order continues.