Private Observations - July to December 2018

[Fleet Lists]

Comfort DelGro Corporation was the reason given at the time but it never seems to get used.

And they need names for the Coffs Harbour and Narrabri operations which Forest acquired in the last few years.

[Centralian]

Spotted Coastal Liner TV 6557 ( Iveco Irizar) and its accreditation label on the side shows: Hunter Valley Pty Ltd. ACCN 33556. Warnervale. NSW.
Not sure if that's a printing error and forgot 'Buses' or a new entity. Mission impossible trying to find Hunter Valley Buses P/L accreditation number(s) online.

[Geoff]

Didn't cabcharge drop out of the partnership some time ago?

If so, what does the second C now stand for?

... and surely they could've come up with something a little more inspiring for charterplus than 'CDC Travel' ?

ComfortDelgro bought out the 49% of Cabcharge some time ago - but still wanted the CDC name. It now stands for Corporation.

CDC Travel ???? Ask the consultants.

[Centralian]

... and surely they could've come up with something a little more inspiring for charterplus than 'CDC Travel' ?

Very British.

[Tonymercury]

One of the TSA Gemilangs managed to make it to Botany Shops on an M20 this morning.

[Fleet Lists]

From https://forestcoachlines.com.au/publica ... ownership/

Forest Change of Ownership

Aug 13, 2018

Forest Coach Lines today announced a change of ownership at Sydney’s oldest privately-run bus operator. The business has been sold by its current owners to ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore based ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited (ComfortDelGro).

The agreed transaction is expected to complete over coming months, subject to a number of conditions being met, including approval of the sale by Transport for NSW.

Forest Coach Lines Managing Director, David Royle, said the company would continue to serve the people of the Forest area under its new owners, as it has done for the past 88 years. “It will be business as usual in many respects” said Mr Royle. “Importantly, all Forest staff, including bus drivers, will remain employed by the company after the change of ownership.”

The sale will conclude nearly 90 years’ involvement in Forest Coach Lines by the Royle family.

The business began in Roseville as ‘Royle Brothers’ in 1930, before expanding into the Forest area as suburbs like Frenchs Forest, Forestville, Belrose and Terrey Hills grew rapidly after World War II.

“It has been a privilege for me and my family to be part of this great business and to serve the people of the Forest area for so many years,” said Mr Royle.

“There aren’t too many people who grew up in this area who have not used a Forest bus to get to school, Chatswood or the City – and often all three. We thank everyone for the patronage and their support over the decades.”

“I have no doubt the business will continue to thrive under the stewardship of ComfortDelGro. I wish all our staff and customers the best as Forest begins a new chapter in its history,” Mr Royle said.

I notice it is called

ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited

in there. No mention of what name it will operate under.

[Linto63]

No mention of what name it will operate under.

Not surprising, isn't the outgoing owner's story to tell. If there is to be a rebrand, announcement will come from the new owner. Most likely scenario is that it will trade as Forest for period and then be rebranded some time later on.

[Fleet Lists]

I have just tried to archive the current Forest website but archiving is now blocked - there are past archived versions with one as late as 3rd August this year.

[boronia]

I think they will keep it as Forrest if CDC wanted to have bus in the name of all their NSW operations then they would have called Q city transit Borderbus or Queanbeyanbus

CDC was the one that named Qcity Transit, renamed from Deanes Buslines. I am not sure if CDC will keep the Forest Coach Lines name, but I think the Forest business in northern regional NSW may be renamed, since CDC likes to name their businesses based on geographical location. Probably something like Coffs Harbour Transit or Coffs Harbour Buses.

Has it been confirmed that Coffs Harbour is included in the deal. It is not unusual for large operators keep a small business to play with in their retirement.

[iamthouth]

Coffs, Wee Waa, Narrabri are all also included.

[Fleet Lists]

Which I assume would also include the the NSW Trainlink coach services from Narrabri - which I think would be another first for CDC.

[Newcastle Flyer]

Fleet numbers (Regos in brackets).

3413 (m/o 5489) has 28 seats? But the other's 52, 53 (CP52KK, CP53KK), 3414 (m/o 6829), 3415 (m/o 6828), 3416 (m/o 6830) show 21 seats.

I've also been asked do above buses allow standing room (They are a member here, and can post if they really wanted to).

And they've also asked about the white buses that have seat beats, are passengers allowed to stand if there are no seats available?

PS-1: Does CP & KK in the registration number stand for anything?
PS-2: Wouldn't it be logical to have both the fleet number & rego numbers in order: eg: 3415 has a lower rego number than 3414, instead of the other way around.

[boronia]

CP and KK would most likely be random letters from current issue stock held in the registry. If both buses were registered at the same time, they could get consecutive numbers from the stock.

The registry would not be aware of fleet numbers. The plates would be issued in the sequence the paperwork is handed to the registry. Probably done by mechanics who have no interest in matching numbers or enthusiast's logic

[Linto63]

Which I assume would also include the the NSW Trainlink coach services from Narrabri - which I think would be another first for CDC.

Nope, CDC's Transborder Express operate TrainLink services from Camberra to Bombala and Eden.

[Newcastle Flyer]

Any answers to that person's other questions please?

[boronia]

Are the buses licenced to carry standing passengers? Should be a sign at the rear. If so, seat belts would be irrelevant.

[tonyp]

Well it's been an interesting day in Bomaderry. A major bushfire in north Bomaderry led to closure of the Princes Highway and at one stage I understand the rail line was cut by another fire at Berry. Kennedys and Shoal Bus local services would have been affected and there was mention of a bustitution on the rail, but I'm not sure that lasted very long.

The major transport event was the evacuation of nearly 900 students from Nowra Anglican College to the standing evacuation centre, Bomaderry Bowling Club. Nowra Coaches did this at very short notice and the five artics paid for themselves in one day, swallowing the whole school population in a couple of gulps. At the end of school, all operators' regular services were diverted via Bomaderry Bowling Club instead of NAC. There was a bit of a traffic issue as the RMS thoughtfully diverted highway traffic (without restriction, that is including trucks!) past the bowling club at the same time as numbers of buses had to park and move around that location. Onya RMS! Hopefully tomorrow will be normal if the wind dies down.

Edit 16/8: school students advised to stay at home today due to heavy smoke over Bomaderry. Highway open. Scheduled bus and train services believed to be as normal.

[ScaniaGrenda]

What's with Anytrip saying (rather displaying) That Red Bus Service (Central coast) has a Mercedes-Benz 0405NH Citaro running around?

Yes I know what Anytrip is displaying isn't accurate but I suspect Anytrip is likely souring this information on bus makes from TransportNSW so where does TransportNSW then gather their information on bus makes and bodies for the tracker?

[Jurassic_Joke]

I caught Scania N-series Volgren bendy 2112 on M30 a bit earlier after not seeing it anywhere for a long time. Fantastic bus. Makes the 'real thing' Metrobuses look more like the prototype

Those bench seats in the second articulation - love them.

[ScaniaGrenda]

Noticed that two Rail replacement buses I caught today from Hunter Valley Buses were both fitted with Dashcams. The first bus I got on I thought it belonged to the Driver but I got on another bus with a different driver and that also had a dashcam on it. Seems both were a NAVMAN branded dashcam.

Found 2444 MO sitting at the back of Thornton HVB Depot along with 3601 MO and (ex?) 4698 MO. Oddly that Csepel keeps disappearing and reappearing at the back of the Depot. I still on the other hand see 4696 MO and 4697 MO out on School services but that's it. They don't ever see time on the road down here besides that.

[BroadGauge]

Which I assume would also include the the NSW Trainlink coach services from Narrabri - which I think would be another first for CDC.

What about the Canberra - Eden and Canberra - Bombala coach services which are operated by Transborder Express for NSW TrainLink?

[jxeeno]

What's with Anytrip saying (rather displaying) That Red Bus Service (Central coast) has a Mercedes-Benz 0405NH Citaro running around?

Yes I know what Anytrip is displaying isn't accurate but I suspect Anytrip is likely souring this information on bus makes from TransportNSW so where does TransportNSW then gather their information on bus makes and bodies for the tracker?

Bus model is supplied as part of the realtime vehicle feed. If it doesn't seem right, then there's probably a mismatch the bus type and bus number on their database.

If you notice it again next time, send through some screenshots and I can pass it back to Transport for NSW as feedback

[marcnut1996]

Former STA m/o 2859 (did not catch its current rego) spotted at in Kensington near UNSW with desto showing “charter”. However there is no accreditation and Sydney Buses logo and stickers are visible on the exterior of the bus. I cannot find any more information on fleetlists.

[LB608]

Former STA m/o 2859 (did not catch its current rego) spotted at in Kensington near UNSW with desto showing “charter”. However there is no accreditation and Sydney Buses logo and stickers are visible on the exterior of the bus. I cannot find any more information on fleetlists.

The information is in fleetslists i have just got it from there, it is registered TV9507 on loan to KST

[Stonesourscotty]

One of Tempe or Kingsgroves Corporate v2 liveried 37** Scanias has had new Transit System logos applied on the drivers side these are the light blue ones normally fitted to Transport NSW livery buses and looks very odd.