A new Route 180X express bus service between Singleton and Maitland will begin from Monday 28 August 2017 on a trial basis.
The express service will start at Singleton Station, stopping only at Branxton, Greta and Lochinvar bus stops before arriving at Maitland Station, and will connect to and from trains at Maitland.
There will be two services in each direction on weekdays and weekends, timed to connect to and from Newcastle train services at Maitland Station. The new trips are as follows:
Departing Singleton Station at 7:37am and 1:07pm on weekdays; and at 9:47am and 2:46pm on weekends
Departing Maitland Station at 8:55am and 2:10pm on weekdays; and at 10:48am and 3:47pm on weekends
To use this new service use the Trip Planner, look up the timetable and route map or download a real-time transport app to help plan your travel.
If even though there is a link to a timetable, it shows that the timetable is not available yet.
New express bus route 180X - Singleton to Maitland
From Monday 28 August
New express bus 180X will operate on a trial basis between Singleton and Maitland train stations.
The route will run via Branxton, Greta and Lochinvar.
Singleton to Maitland
Bus departs Singleton Station Bus arrives Maitland Station Train departs Maitland Station
Monday to Friday
07:37 08:30 08:40
13:07 14:00 14:13
Saturday and Sunday
09:47 10:40 10:49
14:46 15:39 15:49
Maitland to Singleton
Train arrives Maitland Station Bus departs Maitland Station Bus arrives Singleton Station
Monday to Friday
08:47 08:55 09:47
14:01 14:10 15:02
Saturday and Sunday
10:36 10:48 11:40
15:37 15:47 16:39
Hendikins wrote:Now if I were cynical, I'd say this was about testing the waters before canning the Scone/Muswellbrook trains...
I'm thinking the same way too.
Surely it's not that popular the bus leaving Maitland weekdays at 0855 leaves 8 minutes after the train heading the same way (albeit continuing to Muswellbrook) is purely to "complement" the train, as is the case with similar services (cue the South Coast route 737 Kiama-Bomaderry service).
It does seem to fill in a few gaps otherwise in the train timetable that the regular route bus (180) probably isn't going to be able to fill.
"It's my way or the (side of the) highway".
Might be a way to lead life, but more like the way that some people drive.
Hendikins wrote:Now if I were cynical, I'd say this was about testing the waters before canning the Scone/Muswellbrook trains...
I'm thinking the same way too.
Surely it's not that popular the bus leaving Maitland weekdays at 0855 leaves 8 minutes after the train heading the same way (albeit continuing to Muswellbrook) is purely to "complement" the train, as is the case with similar services (cue the South Coast route 737 Kiama-Bomaderry service).
It does seem to fill in a few gaps otherwise in the train timetable that the regular route bus (180) probably isn't going to be able to fill.
The only passenger services on the Scone branch are the 8 timetabled Hunter line services 4 in each direction and the daily Armidale/Moree xplorer other then those 10 services all other rail movements on that branch are coal trains
Hendikins wrote:Now if I were cynical, I'd say this was about testing the waters before canning the Scone/Muswellbrook trains...
I'm thinking the same way too.
Surely it's not that popular the bus leaving Maitland weekdays at 0855 leaves 8 minutes after the train heading the same way (albeit continuing to Muswellbrook) is purely to "complement" the train, as is the case with similar services (cue the South Coast route 737 Kiama-Bomaderry service).
It does seem to fill in a few gaps otherwise in the train timetable that the regular route bus (180) probably isn't going to be able to fill.
It doesn't really "complement" the train services like the 737, which fills the gap in the train services schedule.
The problem with this 180X is that it pretty much just provides Singleton with two extra services. Branxton-Lochinvar-Rutherford already gets a combined hourly service on 179/180.
Edit: IF they're "new" services & not altered services, why have it so close to the other 180's?
Seems the Saturday ones are more useful than the weekday ones, the Saturday ones really do complement the 180 trips. Weekday ones are indeed very close to the 180 trips, which may be beneficial for people coming off Singleton Heights, so they can connect to an earlier train at Maitland
Singleton now gets two services towards Maitland on Sunday (beneficial for Branxton, Greta and Lochinvar too), instead of none at the moment, that's good. Those trips also connect with 401s and 403/404, and may attract some patronage from those
That's either odd or stupid, the Branxton stop (both directions) is at Bridge & Fleet Sts, that is about 4 to 5 blocks south of the shops on the New England Hwy (Maitland Rd). If it's meant to be an express, wouldn't it be more sensible for the stop to be on the main road at the shops?
If I remember, the main stop for Branxton on the highway near Clift St.
Edit: That link for the 180X from Monday, says timetable not available while I tried to open it's PDF. I was checking the times for Lochinvar, Greta & Branxton.
Courtesy of myself I've been back to Maitland station this morning and happened to spot 7787 from the Singleton yard operating this run this morning. This was taken around 8:50 AM but my camera says 8:55 AM which is when the bus was due to leave but It was still sitting there a little past that.
This shows the Destination saying "Singleton station"
And Express Limited Stops 180X
Maybe if I can get Thursday off I might consider heading back and giving the 180X bus run a go from Maitland Station.
Transport enthusiast & photographer / videographer since 2016, documenting & preserving our local Transport History through videos & photos.
Was their any passengers, or was it only a few passengers, especially since their is a faster train service a few minutes before it on weekday mornings?
Newcastle Flyer wrote:Was their any passengers, or was it only a few passengers, especially since their is a faster train service a few minutes before it on weekday mornings?
As the 8:47 train was pulling into the platform I had a glance out from the train window and couldn't see anyone in there besides the Driver. As I exited the station it was the same story, no passengers on the bus or sitting at the bus stand there. I didn't really get to see how it was when it left as I had my connecting bus to catch and it was still sitting there by the time I got on my bus.
Unless something happens with the Train and it has to terminate at Maitland instead of going on to Muswellbrook then I think commuters will just be better off staying on the train. If the Train ever has to Terminate at Maitland anyway there's always an emergency replacement bus on Standby that ends up going to stations beyond Maitland station.
I'd say this 8:50 Bus from Maitland Station is good enough for someone who is in the Maitland CBD Area and just misses the Muswellbrook train by a minuet or so.
Transport enthusiast & photographer / videographer since 2016, documenting & preserving our local Transport History through videos & photos.
Utterly pointless and wasteful.If TFNSW IS going to spend the money on services do it with something that has a good chance to succeed.Really makes you wonder what is going on at TFNSW.
Still empty as of this morning. At least for the 8:55 at Maitland station it was. Don't know how the Singleton side of things is doing.
I wouldn't mind seeing data on how many trips have been made on the 180x so far if even a single soul has ridden the bus yet but if those details are to be shown it'll probably show how much of a flop the 180x is and we all know how current governments hate something that's failing coming back to bite them in the backside after they were informed it wouldn't work.
But Maybe the timing is bad? Maybe try moving the bus to 9-30 AM ish? maybe 10:00 am. I'm no smart person but maybe it'l work out better if both the bus & train aren't running at the same time.
That's just my opinion and it might not be perfect either so please don't hate me for it.
Transport enthusiast & photographer / videographer since 2016, documenting & preserving our local Transport History through videos & photos.
Going to revive this thread from the dead since the last post was about 3+ years ago. Going to share my recent experience.
It's a no brainer that this express route is still around but after the initial trial back in 2017 I never heard that they planned to keep it or discontinue it but as you can tell, it's still around and it's 2021 so obviously the trial was a success. I caught the 180x for the first time today and I have to say it's a scenic route but without all of the constant stops that the regular 180 (without the express part) operates. Trip was about 51 minutes from Maitland Station to Singleton station arriving on time. I sat back and zoned out for most of the journey, besides some of the usual shivers from the bus it's easy to zone out and before you know it, you'll be in Singleton.
I'm not around Maitland all the time but I did notice about 10 passengers get off the 180x from Singleton at Maitland station this morning so it's nice to see it's gone from a ghost bus with no passengers to at least some passengers, when going from Maitland to Singleton there was about 5 passengers including myself, pretty much everyone except one stayed on for the entire journey.
The service still operates of a Sunday meaning there's some sort of bus link from Singleton to Maitland & Vice versa but there's only two services that the 180x runs on of a Sunday & that's the 9:58 AM bus & 2:50 PM bus. If there was an additional two services on a Sunday I think that'll be enough reason without worry to catch the 180x over the train but I can't complain, it was my first time catching it and probably last for a while as I don't really have the mindset to do it again soon even tho it was a nice journey.
Transport enthusiast & photographer / videographer since 2016, documenting & preserving our local Transport History through videos & photos.
