Crowthers
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|---|---|
| Crowthers | |
| Overview | |
| Mode | Commuter bus |
| Owner | Paul and Barry Crowther[1] |
| Area | Sutherland Shire |
| Business | |
| Founded | c 1900s |
| Operations | |
| Ticketing | Proprietary, Charter |
| Public transport | | |
Crowthers is a family-owned bus company that operates charter coach services, and until the end of 2008, operated local bus services in the southern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.[2]
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[edit] History of Service
In the early 1900s, S. Crowthers and Sons Pty Ltd had established a small bus service in the Wollongong area and eventually expanding further south to Dapto.[1] From 1952, Crowthers began operations in Sydney by taking over Route 65 from bus company Ryder and Moore. This route ran between Cronulla Railway Station and South Cronulla. Route 65 was renumbered in 1992 to what is now known as the 985.[1]
In 1966, a new timetable saw the introduction of Route 66. This route ran from Cronulla to Caringbah via Burraneer Bay Road and had a regular service seven days a week. By this time, Route 65 and 66 both had regular services. Crowthers had some minor services which saw irregularity in schedule.[1]
It was realised in 1971 that there were two patronage centres in the area, one being Sutherland Hospital and the other what is currently known as Westfield Miranda. After this realisation a new timetable was introduced, including half-hour services from Caringbah to Miranda via the hospital.[1]
In 1998, Paul and Barry Crowther had purchased the company from their family, and a year later purchased Kurnell Buslines.[1]
2000 saw a huge achievement for Crowthers as they had managed a fleet of 126 buses and over 200 drivers for the sponsors of the Sydney Olympics.[1]
In 2008, Veolia Transport NSW purchased the route bus operations of Crowthers, including their local buses. Services were taken over by Veolia on 1 January 2009.[3]
[edit] BusLink
Before the addition of the 'Crowthers' name to BusLink, their local bus service was previously known as latter. This name was introduced in 1990 following the Passenger Transport Act of 1990 which caused routes to be renumbered throughout Sydney. At the time there were two companies running services to and from Kurnell, one being Crowthers and the other Nicholson's Cronulla; due to the Transport Act this made the two companies cooperate to run the timetable together and ultimately merge as one into BusLink.[1]
Routes were operated daily from Cronulla or Kurnell to Westfield Miranda via Caringbah Station, North Caringbah and North Cronulla, or via Caringbah Station and Burraneer Bay Road and Cronulla Sharks Leagues Club.[1] BusLink services from Cronulla to Miranda benefited shoppers who travelled to Miranda Fair, commuters who needed to get to a train service to work, and school children from Cronulla High School, Woolooware High School, Caringbah High School, De La Salle, Our Lady of Fatima Caringbah, Buraneer Bay Public School and Port Hacking High School.
In 2007, their fleet of buses underwent a change of livery.[4][5]
[edit] Previous routes
| Route | Start | Via | End |
| 984 | Cronulla | North Caringbah | Miranda |
| 985 | Cronulla | South Cronulla | Miranda |
| 987 | Miranda | Cronulla | Kurnell |
In addition to this, Crowthers operated a Sutherland Shire Council-initiative called the Shire Shuttle. This late-night/early morning service provided free transport from major pubs and clubs in the Shire to bus stops along the plotted route. Crowthers also ran a service called Sharks Shuttle which provided a free service to Toyota Park from Heathcote, Engadine, Cronulla Station and Woolooware Station during Cronulla Sharks home games.[6][7]
BusLink and Caringbah Bus Service worked in conjunction to run the Sunday 985 route.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i [1] Crowthers - Our History
- ^ "Official website". http://www.crowthersbuslink.com.au/. Retrieved 2006-08-30.
- ^ "Media Release: Veolia Transport". http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=701873. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
- ^ [2] Old Livery style photo
- ^ http://www.crowthersbuslink.com.au/ New Livery Style photo
- ^ "Shire Shuttle". http://www.crowthersbuslink.com.au/bus-services/shire-shuttle.html. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
- ^ "Sharks Shuttle". http://www.crowthersbuslink.com.au/bus-services/sharks-shuttle.html. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
[edit] External links
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