CDC Melbourne is a bus operator in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Victoria, Australia. It operates 55
bus routes
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
under contract to
Public Transport Victoria
Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria, Australia, Victoria. It was the trading name of the Go Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authorit ...
. It is a subsidiary of
ComfortDelGro Australia
ComfortDelGro Australia is a major Australian public transport company. Founded in October 2005 as ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, a joint venture between Singapore-based ComfortDelGro (51%) and Australian Cabcharge (49%), today it is a fully owned sub ...
.
As at 2018, CDC Melbourne was the third-largest commuter bus operator in Melbourne, with 16% of the market share in the city.
History
In February 2009,
ComfortDelGro Cabcharge
ComfortDelGro Australia is a major Australian public transport company. Founded in October 2005 as ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, a joint venture between Singapore-based ComfortDelGro (51%) and Australian Cabcharge (49%), today it is a fully owned su ...
acquired
Kefford Corporation
CDC Victoria is a transport company which operates in Victoria and is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. It was renamed from Kefford Corporation, which was acquired by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge (predecessor of ComfortDelGro Australia) in Feb ...
including the Eastrans and Westrans operations in eastern and western
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
respectively. At the time of its acquisition by CDC in 2009, Kefford was the fourth-largest bus operator in Victoria with a 16% market share, and with a fleet of 328 buses and six depots. The Eastrans and Westrans brands were retained following the acquisition.
In July 2011, Eastrans commenced route 601 as a high frequency shuttle between
Huntingdale station and
Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...
. In July 2013, CDC acquired the route operations of
Driver Group
Driver Group is a bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Australia. In July 2013 the five bus routes it operated were sold to CDC Victoria and was rebranded CDC Melbourne afterwards.
History
Driver Brothers was formed in March 1931, when Eric ...
with five routes (routes 612 and 623 - 626) and 42 buses, and integrated into the Eastrans brand.
In October 2014, Eastrans and Westrans were combined and rebranded as CDC Melbourne.
In December 2017, the Wyndham depot was opened in the suburb of
Truganina
Truganina is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melton and Wyndham local government areas. Truganina recorded a population of 36,305 at the 2021 census. ...
, replacing the Altona and Werribee depots which were subsequently closed.
The head office of
CDC Victoria
CDC Victoria is a transport company which operates in Victoria and is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. It was renamed from Kefford Corporation, which was acquired by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge (predecessor of ComfortDelGro Australia) in Feb ...
and the Operations and Customer Centre (OCC) were also moved from Altona and Sunshine respectively into the new depot.
In May 2018,
Tullamarine Bus Lines
Tullamarine is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Brimbank, Hume and Merri-bek local government areas. Tullamarine recorded a population of 6,733 ...
was acquired by ComfortDelGro Australia with 34 buses. It was rebranded CDC Tullamarine and integrated into CDC Melbourne on 17 August 2018.
[
CDC Melbourne initially signed a ten-year performance-based contract with the ]Victorian government
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...
in April 2018, due to commence on 1 July 2018. However, in June 2018, the government offered a seven-year contract to all Melbourne bus operators, with no end-of-term access to staff, depots, fleet and intellectual property. This meant that under this contract, operators are not obliged to transfer any of their assets to the government. CDC Melbourne (including Tullamarine Bus Lines) successfully negotiated with the government and secured a seven-year contracts for its Melbourne metropolitan bus services, which commenced on 1 August 2018.[
]
Depots
CDC Melbourne operates from four depots, whose names may differ from the suburbs they are located in:
*Oakleigh - located in Oakleigh South
*Sunshine - located in Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...
*Tullamarine - located in Airport West
Airport West is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Airport West recorded a population of 8,173 at the .
Bounded by ...
*Wyndham - located in Truganina
Truganina is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melton and Wyndham local government areas. Truganina recorded a population of 36,305 at the 2021 census. ...
, also houses the head office of CDC Victoria
CDC Victoria is a transport company which operates in Victoria and is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. It was renamed from Kefford Corporation, which was acquired by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge (predecessor of ComfortDelGro Australia) in Feb ...
CDC Melbourne also used to operate from Altona and Werribee
Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census.
Werribee i ...
depots until they moved into the Wyndham depot which opened in December 2017.[
]
Fleet
As of June 2022, the fleet comprised 377 buses and coaches.CDC Group
Australian Bus Fleet Lists
Liveries
Westrans fleet livery was white with red stripes for buses at Altona (now closed) and Sunshine depots, and white with blue stripes at the Werribee depot (now closed). Eastrans fleet livery was white with white and green stripes. The Public Transport Victoria
Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria, Australia, Victoria. It was the trading name of the Go Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authorit ...
white and orange livery has been adopted as standard for route service buses and an orange, blue and white livery was adopted for charter buses. However some older buses still retained the old Westrans livery with CDC Melbourne signage.
References
External links
CDC Victoria website
{{MelbournePublicTransport
Bus companies of Victoria (Australia)
Bus transport in Melbourne
ComfortDelGro companies