ROUTE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

During the 1950's the following privately owned bus routes operated into and out of Punchbowl. They are:

Route 4 Punchbowl - Bankstown…. Narwee Bus Service,

Route 28 Punchbowl - Hurstville…. Narwee Bus Service,

Route 29 Peakhurst - Hurstville…. Punchbowl Bus Co.,

Route 33 Punchbowl - Hurstville…. Narwee Bus Service,

Route 36 Punchbowl - Mortdale…. Punchbowl Bus Co.,

Route 140 Riverwood - Lugarno…. G P Bus Company,

Route 188 Punchbowl - Mortdale…. Punchbowl Bus Co.,

Route 189 Punchbowl - Bankstown…. Narwee Bus Service.

The origins of the present day Punchbowl Bus company commenced in 1952 with the purchase of Narwee Bus Service, followed by the purchase of G P Bus Company in 1955 and then the purchase of Punchbowl Bus Company in 1958.

Narwee Bus Company operated from the Hannans Road depot, Punchbowl Bus Company's home today. Punchbowl Bus Company was then located on the corner of Canterbury and Belmore Rd at Punchbowl.

The old depot at the corner of Canterbury Rd and Belmore Rd., Punchbowl has been used for a number of purposes since then including at one time being a Norman Ross store.

When Roselands Shopping Centre was opened routes 28,33,36 and 188 were diverted to operate via the new shopping centre. Routes 36 and 188 were diverted from Punchbowl to Mortdale.

Subsequently routes 4 and 28 were combined as route 244 that operated between Bankstown and Hurstville via Chullora, Greenacre, Punchbowl and Roselands to give residents in the Greenacre/Chullora area direct access to Roselands.

Later when Punchbowl Bus Co took over route 37 this route was integrated with route 33 to operate between Bankstown and Hurstville via Punchbowl and Roselands.

During the late 1960's route 189 was extended from Punchbowl to Roselands, Riverwood and Lugarno replacing route 140, which initially operated between Riverwood and Lugarno.

Early in 1992, Punchbowl Bus Co route 188 was amended to operate between Bankstown and Mortdale, instead of Punchbowl and Mortdale. This covered the section of route 26 between Bankstown and Moxon Rd., Punchbowl, except that route 188 terminated at on the northern side of the railway line at Bankstown, as do all other Punchbowl Bus Co services to Bankstown. Also route 188 no longer diverts via Roselands.

At the same time route 36, the remaining route between Punchbowl and Mortdale was altered to travel along some route 26 roads at the Punchbowl end. Route 36 now departs from the Arthur St stand previously used by route 26.

The old State Transport Co ordination Act that governed local route bus services was replaced by a new Act known as the Passenger Transport Act in July 1990. As a consequence, the Punchbowl Bus Co was required to enter into a commercial contract with the Government (Dept of Transport) for all of its bus services.

New route numbers were introduced in August 1997 that incorporated minor route changes and new networking, in compliance with the Company's commercial contracts. These are summarised as follows:

Route 940 replaced routes 33 and 29,

Route 941 replaced route 244,

Route 942 replaced route 189,

Route 943 replaced route 108 and 29,

Route 944 replaced routes 36 and 29,

Route 945 replaced route 188

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In April 1998 Punchbowl Bus Co purchased route 450 (Hurstville to Strathfield) and route 451 (Roselands to Campsie). This purchase meant that Punchbowl Bus Co now operated all the routes previously operated by Red Top Transport in the Hurstville area.

Parts of route 947 operated by H.T Saint of Peakhurst was purchased by Punchbowl Bus Co in December 1998. Punchbowl Bus Co then joined the Hurstville to Beverly Hills section to route 451 making a direct service from Hurstville to Campsie. The remainder of route 947 was operated by Southtrans to Ramsgate.

Punchbowl Bus Co introduced luxury coaches to the area in 1967, a Leyland leopard with Coachmaster bodywork and jet air ventilation. Punchbowl coaches purchased Mercedes Benz 0302 coaches in 1972 setting a high standard of comfort and safety. Australian built Denning coaches were ordered in 1980 followed by Punchbowl Bus Co ordering the world's first Leyland Tiger three axle coach in 1984.

Subsequent buses supplied have included Hino RG 197 and MAN 14.230 vehicles. However, the mainstay of the modern fleet has standardised to Scania L113 low floor step less entry buses to assist passenger entry and comfort.

Satisfying community demand Punchbowl have replaced high floor Leyland buses with low floor Scania buses with modern Custom Coach CB60 body offering wheel chair accessible buses to the area.

Pressed Metal (PMC) bodies had been the main supplier of bus bodies since 1960 and have produced over 70 bodies for Punchbowl Bus Co since that time until the Company stopped operations in 1997. Later PMC bodies were supplied from Adelaide.

Alternative liveries were trialled before standardising to the current layout which incorporates the various body styles.