Punchbowl Bus Company

The Punchbowl Bus and Coach Company (PBC) operates public buses in the south and inner south western suburbs of Sydney. It currently operates routes 446, 450, 939, 940, 941, 942, 943, 944, 945, 946, 953, 954, 955 and various school specials. It also operates the following Nightride buses- N10 City to Sutherland, N11 City to Cronulla, N20 Rockdale to Riverwood, N30 City to Macarthur (subcontracted out to another company), N40 City to East Hills (subcontracted out to another company), N50 City - Liverpool, N60 City - Faifield via Parramatta.

History

Punchbowl Bus company started in 1952 as Narwee Bus Service. This company ran Route 4 between Punchbowl and Bankstown, Route 28 between Punchbowl and Hurstville, Route 33 between Punchbowl and Hurstville and Route 189 between Punchbowl and Bankstown. In 1955, G P Bus Company, which operated Route 140 Riverwood - Lugarno was acquired. In 1958, Punchbowl Bus Company, which operated Routes 29 between Peakhurst and Hurstville, 36 between Punchbowl and Mortdale, and 188 between Punchbowl and Mortdale was purchased. Routes 4 and 28 were later combined into route 244, operating between Bankstown and Hurstville via Chullora, Greenacre, Punchbowl and Roselands to give residents in the Greenacre/Chullora area direct access to the new Roselands Shopping complex. 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 1960s route 189 was extended from Punchbowl to Roselands, Riverwood and Lugarno replacing route 140, which initially operated between Riverwood and Lugarno. In 1992, route 26 was replaced by an extension of route 188 from Punchbowl to Bankstown, and route 36 was amended to travel along the route of 26 at the Punchbowl end. In 1989, route 108 (operated by Saints then Southtrans) was acquired.

In 1997, major changes to route numbering took place, including minor changes to routes. 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, and Route 945 replaced route 188. In April 1998 Punchbowl Bus Co purchased route 450 (Hurstville to Strathfield) and route 451 (Roselands to Campsie)from Canterbury Bus Lines. Route 451 was extended to Hurstville later that year when part of route 947 was acquired from Saints making a direct service from Hurstville to Campsie. The remainder of route 947 is operated by Southtrans to Ramsgate. Route 953 was taken over from Harris Park Transport and route 954 from Moore's Tours on 22 December 2004. Routes 446 and 447 taken over from Pleasure Tours on 11 July 2005.

On March 22, 2010 Punchbowl Bus Company implemented another route numbering reconfiguration as part of the integrated transport network planning process. This was done in order to provide more frequent and direct services. As a result, the 447 and 451 routes were discontinued and many of the existing routes were modified. Several new routes were established, including the 939, the 946 and the 955. Punchbowl Bus Company also introduced a new service, the S14, which operates between Lakemba and Mt Lewis.The depot is at Punchbowl

Current routes

These routes were instituted in 2010 with a major route renumbering programme.

Route	Start	End	Notes
446	Roselands	Roselands	via Earlwood and Bexley North
450	Burwood	Hurstville	via Strathfield, Lakemba and Roselands
939	Bankstown	Greenacre Shops	via Noble Avenue and Waterloo Road
940	Bankstown	Hurstville	via Punchbowl, Riverwood, Narwee and Penshurst
941	Bankstown	Hurstville	via Chullora, Greenacre, Punchbowl, Roselands, Narwee and Penshurst
942	Lugarno	Campsie	via Riverwood, Roselands, Wiley Park, Lakemba and Belmore
943	Lugarno	Hurstville	via Peakhurst and Penshurst
944	Bankstown	Hurstville	via Punchbowl, Roselands, Riverwood, Peakhurst Heights and Mortdale
945	Bankstown	Hurstville	via Riverwood, Bonds Road, Mortdale and Penshurst
946	Bankstown	Hurstville	via Greenacre, Lakemba, South Belmore, Roselands and Beverly Hills
953	Hurstville	Kyle Bay and Connells Point	Loop Service
954	Hurstville	Hurstville Grove (Waitara Parade)	Shuttle Service
955	Hurstville	Mortdale	via Oatley
S14	Lakemba	Mount Lewis	via Roselands and Punchbowl
N10	Town Hall station	Sutherland
N11	Town Hall station	Cronulla
N20	Rockdale	Riverwood	Connects with the N10 and N11 at Rockdale
N40	Town Hall station	East Hills
N50	Town Hall station	Liverpool
N60	Town Hall station	Fairfield

Former routes

These routes operated prior to route reorganisation and renumbering in 1997.

Route	Start	End	Notes
4	Punchbowl	Bankstown	Combined with the 28 to become the 244 on the opening of Roselands
28	Punchbowl	Hurstville	Combined with the 4 to become the 244 on the opening of Roselands
29	Peakhurst	Hurstville
33	Bankstown	Hurstville
36	Punchbowl	Mortdale
108	Hurstville	Lugarno	Bought from Saints (Peakhurst Coaches)
140	Roselands	Lugarno	Followed the southern part of route 189 between Riverwood and Lugarno; eliminated in the 1960s when the 189 was extended to Lugarno
188	Punchbowl	Mortdale	Extended to and from Bankstown in 1992, replacing part of the 26
189	Bankstown	Lugarno	via Greenacre, Punchbowl, Roselands and Riverwood; Commenced 1971, became the 942 in 1997
244	Bankstown	Hurstville
447	Belmore	Greenacre
451	Hurstville Station	Greenacre	Extended to Bankstown as the 946 in 2010

Depots

The Punchbowl Bus Company has two bus depots. The Primary depot is located at 56 Hannans Road, Riverwood. This is the original depot of the Narwee Bus Company. A Secondary depot also operates from 60 Belmore Road, Punchbowl. The former depot of the old Punchbowl Bus Company was located on the corner of Canterbury and Belmore Roads at Punchbowl.

See also

• Buses in Sydney
• List of bus routes in Sydney

External links

• Punchbowl Bus Co. The official site.
• Bus Australia An enthusiast site.

Other sources

1. Punchbowl Bus Co. history
2. The Times Jan 2004