ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Pty Ltd (CDC) is the second-largest operator of commuter buses in New South Wales, Australia. CDC operates services as part of the New South Wales Metropolitan Bus System under the Westbus, Hillsbus and Hunter Valley brands. The company traces its origins to 1955, with the Bosnjak family's establishment of a bus company in Western Sydney.
The company is a joint venture between Singapore-based ComfortDelGro Corporation and Cabcharge Australia Limited. ComfortDelGro owns a 51% stake in the business, Cabcharge 49%.
The venture was established on October 3, 2005 to purchase loss-making bus company Westbus from National Express and the Bosnjak family. The sale price was $106.7 million.[1]
Westbus
Westbus was established in 1955 by the Bosnjak family. The company, known as Bosnjak's Bus Service, operated a fleet of five buses on a route connecting Canley Vale and Edensor Park. The company grew through a series of acquisitions and, in 1983, was renamed Westbus after the region, Western Sydney, in which it operated.
In 1986, Westbus established a small luxury coach service in the United Kingdom. Westbus established a separate Hillsbus brand in 1996 to run express services from the Hills District to the city, first via the new Anzac Bridge and later via the M2 Hills Motorway.
In 1989, Britain's National Express took a controlling stake in Westbus. Members of the founding Bosnjak family continued to hold stakes. The company continued to grow by acquisition.
In January 2005, with debts of $90 million and a parent unwilling to provide further funding, the company was placed into voluntary administration. Westbus's problems threatened a major disruption to Sydney's transport network: the company ranked second only to government-owned State Transit in the commuter bus industry. The company was acquired by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge in October 2005. The new owners pledged to honour the company's contractual obligations to customers and staff. [2]
The change of ownership saw the company exchange one politically well-connected shareholder, the Bosnjak family[3], for another, Cabcharge's Reginald Kermode.
Westbus sponsor the West Sydney Razorbacks in the NBL.
Service disruptions
Westbus provide public transport through the Greater Western Sydney region, including Willmot. Throughout 2006-2007 there have been escalating levels of violent attacks against buses travelling through this suburb especially after dark. This has reached the level of an attack by a person using what was reported by the bus driver and passengers as a "home made rocket launcher". All bus services throughout Wilmott, except school bus services, have been suspended pending discussions between Westbus management, the Transport Workers Union and police. [4] [5]
Network
Westbus operates services in the following areas:
Fleet
The Westbus fleet bears a distinctive sunflower-yellow livery. The fleet includes:
Hillsbus
A HillsBus, not in service, spotted on Clarence Street, Sydney
Hillsbus, named for the city's Hills District has existed in one form or another since the 1920s. Since that time, the rural areas to the north-west of Sydney that the company served have become part of the city's urban sprawl. It is often criticised for its poor timetable management and unrealability with commuters calling on transferring of the hills routes to Sydney Buses. Hillsbus operates services from a depots in Northmead, Seven Hills and Dural. Hillsbus operates
Hunter Valley Buses
Hunter Valley Buses Pty Ltd, trading as Hunter Valley Buses, provides commuter bus, school bus, coach and charter services in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales.
A core element of the company's charter operations is providing transport to the state's premier wine-growing region.
Established as Blue Ribbon Coaches Services in 1986, the company operated from depots at Wallsend, Raymond Terrace, Maitland and Singleton. In 1999, the Wallsend, Raymond Terrace and Maitland depots were consolidated at a new site in Thornton. The following year, the company was sold to Westbus, the state's largest private bus operator. In 2005, Westbus and Blue Ribbon were purchased by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge resulting in Blue Ribbon being rebranded as Hunter Valley Buses.
Today Hunter Valley Buses operates a fleet of over 160 buses ranging from mini buses to luxury 5-star coaches and employs over 260 staff. Its commuter network carries 500,000 passengers annually along with 1 million Hunter school children every day.
References
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