Punchbowl Bus Company - History

History

Punchbowl Bus company was formed in 1952 when Cornelius Griffin purchased Narwee Bus Service operating routes:

• 4 Punchbowl - Bankstown
• 28 Punchbowl - Hurstville
• 33 Punchbowl - Hurstville
• 189 Punchbowl - Bankstown

In 1955 GP Bus Company was acquired with route:

• 140 Riverwood - Lugarno

In 1958 Punchbowl Bus Company was purchased with routes:

• 29 Peakhurst - Hurstville
• 36 Punchbowl - Mortdale
• 188 Punchbowl - Mortdale

In 1965 routes 4 and 28 were later combined into route 244, operating between Bankstown and Hurstville via Chullora, Greenacre, Punchbowl and Roselands to give residents in the Greenacre/Chullora area direct access to the new Roselands Shopping Centre. Later when Punchbowl Bus Co took over route 37 Punchbowl - Bankstown, this route was integrated with route 33 Punchbowl - Hurstville to operate between Bankstown and Hurstville via Punchbowl and Roselands. During the late 1960s route 189 was extended from Punchbowl to Roselands, Riverwood and Lugarno replacing route 140, which initially operated between Riverwood and Lugarno. In January 1992 Revesby Bus & Coach Service's route 26 was replaced by an extension of route 188 from Punchbowl to Bankstown, and route 36 was amended to travel along the route of 26 at the Punchbowl end. In 1989 route 108 was purchased from Southtrans.

In August 1997 the routes were renumbered into the Sydney wide scheme, including minor changes to routes. The new routes were:

• 940 replacing 29 and 33
• 941 replacing 244
• 942 replacing 189
• 943 replacing 29 and 108
• 944 replacing 29 and 36
• 945 replacing 188

In April 1998 Punchbowl Bus Co purchased Canterbury Bus Lines with routes 450 Hurstville - Strathfield and 451 Roselands - Campsie. Route 451 was extended to Hurstville later that year when part of route 947 was acquired from Saints creating a direct service from Hurstville to Campsie. The remainder of route 947 to Ramsgate was taken over by Southtrans.

In December 2004, route 953 Hurstville - Kyle Bay and Connells Point was taken over from Harris Park Transport and 954 Hurstville - Hurstville Grove from Moore's Tours. In July 2005 routes 446 Roelands - Kogarah and 447 Belmore - Greenacre were taken over from Pleasure Tours.

Since 2005 Punchbowl's services have formed Sydney Bus Region 5. In November 2008 Punchbowl purchased Goulburn Bus Service followed in October 2009 by neighbouring Noack's Bus Service.

In March 2010 Punchbowl Bus Company implemented another route numbering reconfiguration as part of the integrated transport network planning process. This was done in order to provide more frequent and direct services. As a result, routes 447 and 451 were discontinued and many of the other routes modified. Several new routes were established, including the 939, 946 and 955. Punchbowl Bus Company also introduced the S14, a new service between Lakemba and Mount Lewis.

Punchbowl's Sydney Bus Region 5 contract is scheduled to be tendered with the new contract commencing in 2014.

Punchbowl for many years operated a coach charter operation, this had ceased by 2012.