Gladys Berejiklian Med Rel – More than 30 new buses for South West Sydney under new bus operators

Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian today announced bus customers in South West Sydney will benefit from 33 new buses and 360 extra services per week as part of a raft of improvements being delivered by two new bus operators.

Bus operators Interline and Busabout started running services in South West Sydney this week following a competitive tender of metropolitan bus contracts last year.

Interline will provide services for the Liverpool, Glenfield, Ingleburn, Bringelly and Hoxton Park region. Busabout is the new operator for customers around Campbelltown, Narellan and Camden.

“In the past bus contracts were simply rolled over each year, with little competition to encourage customer improvements,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“With around 4.8 million bus trips taken by customers in Sydney’s South West, they deserve better than a business as usual approach – that’s why the Government put bus contracts out to competitive tender to drive better outcomes for customers.

“As part of our new approach to bus tendering, customers are seeing improved bus services right across Sydney and better value for money.

“The new operators in South West Sydney will roll out 33 extra modern, accessible and air-conditioned buses to give customers a more comfortable ride, and will need to meet stricter on-time running requirements, providing more reliable services for customers.”

Bus connections have also been improved by introducing a new 893 bus route, running between Narellan and Campbelltown via Spring Farm.

“I am pleased the operator is introducing a new bus route, which means more than 360 extra trips a week for customers travelling between Narellan and Campbelltown,” she said.

Ms Berejiklian said the new bus contracts follow major improvements being delivered for Sydney bus customers.

“Since March 2011, we’ve delivered almost 6,500 extra bus services a week across Sydney, including more than 3,900 in Western Sydney,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“Opal is rolling out across buses, including the South West, with the whole bus network set to be covered by Opal by the end of the year.

“Opal means cheaper fares for customers, with travel incentives and fare caps, and the end of queuing for tickets.

“There have been more than 280,000 Opal cards registered and 2.5 million free trips taken by customers who have reached their their weekly or daily travel cap.”