Buslink

Buslink is a bus operator providing services in Alice Springs, Darwin, Jabiru and Humpty Doo. It is the largest operator in the Northern Territory. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia (CDC).

Darwinbus liveried Volgren bodied Mercedes-Benz OC500LE in February 2008
Parent	ComfortDelGro Australia
Founded	May 1988
Headquarters	Berrimah
Service area	Alice Springs Darwin Humpty Doo Jabiru
Service type	Bus services
Depots	10
Fleet	183 (October 2020)
Chief executive	Mick Hannon
Website	www.buslink.com.au

Buslink also operated in other Australian states and territories until these operations were rebranded to CDC in 2020.[1][2][3]

History

Buslink was formed in May 1988 when Darwin operator Ace Bus Service purchased the business of Matilda Tours from Ansett Trailways and merged both operations under the Buslink brand with a fleet of 25 buses.[4]

In 1990 Buslink began operating services from Casuarina to Darwin and Palmerston previously provided by Darwin Bus Service.[5] In July 1992 Buslink took over the Alice Springs services previously provided by Alice Bus Company.[6][7]

In 1994 the Katherine school services of Travel North were purchased with six buses.[8] In July 2007 Shuker Bus Service was purchased.

In 1999, with the purchase of Gladstone Bus & Coach, Buslink began operating bus services in Queensland under the Buslink Queensland brand.[9] In 2013, it held a 50% shareholding in Buslink Vivo.[10][11][12]

In February 2017 Buslink took over Murton's City Bus of Broken Hill.[13][14] In November 2018 Buslink was purchased by ComfortDelGro Australia.[15][16]

On 1 March 2020, Buslink Sunraysia and Buslink Broken Hill were rebranded CDC Mildura and CDC Broken Hill respectively.[1] On 1 October 2020, Buslink Queensland was rebranded CDC Queensland, with Sunshine Coast operations rebranded CDC Sunshine Coast and Gladstone operations rebranded CDC Gladstone.[2][3]

Operations

As of October 2020, Buslink operates in the Northern Territory only:[17]

Buslink also used to operate:

• Buslink Vivo - ceased in July 2019
• Buslink Sunraysia - now part of CDC Victoria and rebranded CDC Mildura in March 2020
• Buslink Broken Hill - now part of CDC Victoria and rebranded CDC Broken Hill in March 2020
• Buslink Queensland - rebranded CDC Queensland in October 2020

Northern Territory

Buslink operates in Northern Territory as Buslink Northern Territory or Buslink Vivo. Buslink Northern Territory operates half of Darwin's services under the Darwinbus brand[18] as well as services in Alice Springs under the ASBus banner.[19] It also operates buses in Jabiru.

Buslink also operated employee bus services in Darwin as a joint venture with Transdev called Buslink Vivo. The bus service ceased in July 2019.[20][21]

Queensland

Buslink operated in Gladstone and Sunshine Coast as Buslink Queensland. It was rebranded as CDC Queensland in October 2020.[2][3]

New South Wales

Buslink operated in Broken Hill as Buslink Broken Hill, taking over Murton's City Bus in February 2017. It was rebranded as CDC Broken Hill in March 2020.[1][22]

NSW/Victoria border

Buslink operated in Mildura and Wentworth as Buslink Sunraysia. It operated as a partnership with Transit South West, an operator in Victoria.[23] The operation was previously known as Sunraysia Bus Lines. It was rebranded as CDC Mildura in March 2020.[1]

Fleet

As at October 2020, the fleet consisted of 183 buses.[24][25] Fleet livery is white with blue signwriting.

References

1. "Buslink Sunraysia & Broken Hill Officially Renamed CDC Mildura & CDC Broken Hill". CDC Victoria. 1 March 2020.
2. "Sunshine Coast school bus network changes for Term 4 effective Tuesday 6 October 2020". Buslink. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
3. "CDC Queensland". CDC Queensland. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
4. "Buslink" Australian Bus Panorama issue 4/4 January 1989 page 10
5. "Northern Territory - Darwin Bus Service" Australian Bus Panorama issue 6/2 September 1990 page 30
6. "Buslink, Darwin & Alice Springs" Australian Bus Panorama issue 8/3 November 1992 page 54
7. "Northern Territory - Darwin Bus Service" Australian Bus Panorama issue 8/4 December 1992 page 21
8. "Buslink Group" Australian Bus Panorama issue 10/1 July 1994 page 39
9. "History". CDC Queensland. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
10. Veolia Transdev and Buslink jv 'Buslink Vivo' wins Ichthys employee transport contract Archived 26 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine UBI France 20 November 2012
11. Top end tender awarded Australasian Bus & Coach 22 November 2012
12. Veolia Transdev awarded 140 million euro contract in Australia Transdev 7 December 2012
13. "Buslink Acquisition in Broken Hill". Buslink. 1 March 2017. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
14. Bus operator in outback New South Wales sells to national bus company ABC News 1 December 2016
15. "ComfortDelgro Strengthens Foothold in Australia with Largest Acquisition to Date". ComfortDelGro. 5 November 2018. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
16. CDC to Buy Buslink for AUD$190M - Its Largest Australian Purchase to Date Australasian Bus & Coach 6 November 2018
17. "Our Bus Operations". Buslink. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
18. DarwinBus Network Archived 2013-12-27 at the Wayback Machine Buslink
19. Buslink Alice Springs Archived 2013-12-27 at the Wayback Machine Buslink
20. "Thank You for visiting Buslink Vivo". Buslink Vivo. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019.
21. "Buslink VIVO gets more than 15 million to work in Darwin". Transdev Australasia. 5 August 2019. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
22. Buslink Broken Hill Officially Renamed CDC Broken Hill CDC Broken Hill 1 March 2020.
23. Buslink Sunraysia, Buslink, Retrieved 22 January 2018
24. "Our Bus Operations". Buslink. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
25. Buslink Berrimah Australian Bus Fleet Lists

External links

• Official website