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Hillsbus
A Volgren Optimus bodied Volvo B7RLE in December 2014
ParentComfortDelGro Australia
FoundedFebruary 2002 (brand)
December 2004 (company)
DefunctApril 2023 (replaced by CDC NSW)
Service areaHills District
Service typeBus services
DepotsFoundry Road (Seven Hills)
Seven Hills
Dural
Northmead
Websitewww.cdcbus.com.au/hillsbus

Hillsbus was an Australian bus company that operated services in the Hills District of Sydney. Founded in 2004 when National Express merged its Glenorie Bus Company and Westbus (Hills District operations only) subsidiaries, it was later part of ComfortDelGro Australia. In early 2023, the Hillsbus brand was replaced by ComfortDelGro's CDC NSW brand.

History

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First use of the Hillsbus name

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In 1996, Westbus established a separate Hillsbus brand to run express services from the Hills District to the Sydney CBD and North Sydney, initially via the Anzac Bridge and from 1997 via the M2 Hills Motorway.[1] However, the Hillsbus brand seemed to have disappeared by the 2000s as these services were classified as Westbus rather than Hillsbus in early versions of the Westbus website.[2] These Westbus services, however, were still referred to by Westbus as "Hills City Express".[3]

2002–2023

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A Custom Coaches CB50 bodied Mercedes-Benz O405 in September 2007
A Volgren CR228L bodied Scania K280UB in July 2013

On 11 February 2002, Hillsbus was revived as a joint venture between Westbus and National Express' newly acquired Glenorie Bus Company, and introduced a new bus route 642 under the Hillsbus brand.[4] This service linked Dural and the City via the M2 and was therefore known as a "M2 City" express service. The joint venture also brought in five new articulated buses for the service in May that year.[5] On 8 July 2002, Hillsbus introduced three more M2 City routes 650, 652 and 654.[6][7] According to the Hillsbus timetables, these Hillsbus services were operated by Glenorie,[8] even though neither Westbus nor Glenorie buses were used.[6][9]

In December 2004, all Westbus routes operating out of Northmead and Seven Hills depots, as well as the rest of Glenorie Bus Company, were rebranded Hillsbus.[10] At the same time, Hillsbus took over the operation of Harris Park Transport routes 620 - 630, following the latter ceasing operation. The services were transferred from Hillsbus to Sydney Buses on 28 January 2005.[11] On 25 September 2005, after the purchase of Hillsbus by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, routes 620, 625, 626, 627 and 630 were transferred back to Hillsbus.[12]

Despite the rebranding to Hillsbus, the new Hillsbus website was only launched in January 2006, about a year after the rebranding.[13] The delay could be related to the debt of Westbus and was only resolved after the sale of Westbus and Hillsbus to CDC. After the launch of the new website, it still did not show any timetables of the former Glenorie-operated timetables until May/June 2006, and during this period, customers were asked to check the Glenorie website instead.[14]

When the Parramatta - Rouse Hill section of the North-West T-way opened on 10 March 2007, routes 730 (renumbered T63) and 735 (renumbered 616, now 616X) were transferred from Busways to Hillsbus with route 718 transferred from Hillsbus to Busways.[15]

On 30 June 2014, the Opal card was rolled out on all of Hillsbus' NightRide and Region 4 routes (including school services).[16][17]

On 28 July 2019, after the Sydney Metro Northwest opened in May, bus routes in the Hills District were reorganised, with some services rerouted to stop at various Sydney Metro stations.[18][19]

In November 2022, CDC was awarded the contract to retain Region 4. The Hillsbus branding on buses was gradually replaced by the CDC NSW brand in early 2023, in time for the commencement of the new contract in April 2023.[20][21]

Routes

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A Custom Coaches CB50 bodied Volvo B10MA on route 610X
A Volgren CR228L bodied Scania L94UB on route 616X

From 2005 until its replacement by CDC NSW in 2023, Hillsbus' services had formed Sydney Bus Region 4.[22] In August 2013, Hillsbus successfully tendered to operate the Region 4 services for another five years from August 2014.[23][24]

At the time of cessation, Hillsbus operated the following services:

Other railway replacement bus services

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Main article: Buses in Sydney § Rail replacement bus services

Hillsbus also operated other railway replacement bus services between 2018 and 2019. Hillbus operated Station Link services (SLx series) between September 2018 and May 2019, while the Epping to Chatswood rail link was closed for upgrading and conversion to Sydney Metro Northwest. It stopped at Epping, Chatswood, Macquarie Park, Eastwood, Macquarie University, Beecroft and St Leonards stations. It was jointly operated with Transdev NSW.[25] The service ceased when the Metro opened in May 2019.[citation needed]

Thereafter, until November 2019, Hillsbus operated the North West Night Bus to supplement the Metro North West Line on Sunday to Wednesday nights.[26][27] Like Station Link, it was jointly operated with Transdev NSW.[citation needed]

Fleet

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Depots

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Bustech CDI double-decker in Transport for NSW livery at Castle Hill interchange

As of July 2022, Hillsbus operated 601 buses across four depots:[28][29]

  • Foundry Road (F) in Seven Hills – Head Office of Hillsbus – 204 buses
  • Dural (D) – 177 buses
  • Northmead (N) – 188 buses
  • Seven Hills (V) - another depot also in Seven Hills, smaller than Foundry Road depot – 32 buses

Hillsbus also operated 62 buses at the Camellia depot designated for Station Link between September 2018 and May 2019, but they have since been moved to other Hillsbus, Hunter Valley Buses and Blue Mountains Transit depots after the cessation of Station Link.

Livery

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Prior to 2010, Hillsbus adopted Westbus' new plain yellow livery. With the introduction of Metrobus routes, the Metrobus livery was applied to new buses dedicated to Metrobus operations. In 2010, the Transport for NSW white and blue livery began to be applied on new buses and repainted buses. Fleet dedicated for Station Link also carried the Transport for NSW livery but with "Station Link" labels and a pink body front. Most of the Station Link fleet have had the labels and pink front removed after the cessation of Station Link.

References

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  1. ^ "Second City Private Service Starts" Australian Bus Panorama issue 11/9 June 1996 page 25
  2. ^ Westbus Weekdays Timetables April 2001, Retrieved 10 July 2014[dead link]
  3. ^ Westbus Website - History September 2002, Retrieved 4 August 2015
  4. ^ M2 City Express Service, Glenorie Bus Company, Published 2002, Retrieved 10 July 2014
  5. ^ "Hillsbus makes history with first bendy-bus in twenty years!". Westbus. Archived from the original on 14 June 2002.
  6. ^ a b Hillsbus Home Page August 2002, Retrieved 10 July 2014
  7. ^ M2 Services Doubled With Introduction of West Pennant Hills Valley Services, Hillsbus, Published 2002, Retrieved 10 July 2014
  8. ^ M2 Bus Map July 2004, Glenorie Bus Company, Retrieved 10 July 2014
  9. ^ National Express Annual Report 2001 Page 7 Archived 14 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved 10 July 2014
  10. ^ Hillsbus Home Page September 2007 Hillsbus
  11. ^ Cessation of some Hillsbus services, Published January 2005, Retrieved 10 July 2014
  12. ^ Harris Park Transport Archived 19 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine Australian Bus Fleet Lists
  13. ^ Hillsbus Home Page January 2006, Retrieved 10 July 2014
  14. ^ Hillsbus Timetables May 2006, Retrieved 10 July 2014
  15. ^ Improved bus services in the Blacktown region Busways 27 February 2007
  16. ^ "Opal rolls out to almost 600 buses in Sydney's North West as free trips hit 4 million". Archived from the original on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  17. ^ Opal extends to all CDC Hillsbus routes from 30 June Archived 2 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Transport Info NSW, Retrieved 23 June 2014
  18. ^ Bus service adjustments in Sydney’s North West Transport for NSW 3 July 2019
  19. ^ Service adjustments from 28 July Transport for NSW
  20. ^ "ComfortDelGro Australia Group Wins Bid to Expand Bus Services in Sydney". CDC NSW. 7 November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  21. ^ "ComfortDelGro wins city bus contracts worth A$1.7b in Sydney". The Business Times Singapore. 7 November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  22. ^ Region 4 Archived 25 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Transport NSW
  23. ^ More than 60 new buses and improved customer service with new bus contracts Archived 8 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Transport for NSW 29 August 2013
  24. ^ Annual Report 2013 page 4 Archived 5 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine Cabcharge
  25. ^ "Upgrade of the Epping to Chatswood line - Station Link bus services" (PDF). MySydney - NSW Government. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 June 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  26. ^ "NW1 Timetable - May 2019" (PDF). Transport Info NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  27. ^ "NW2 Timetable - May 2019" (PDF). Transport Info NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  28. ^ "Contact Us - Hillsbus". CDC NSW - Hillsbus. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  29. ^ CDC Group Archived 9 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine Australian Bus Fleetlists
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