Forest Coach Lines is an Australian bus and coach operator. Founded in 1930 in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney, since 2016 it has expanded with purchases in the

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens north of Sydney, and extending as far north as Woolgoo ...

and

North West Slopes The North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, refers generally to the area west of the Northern Tablelands, to the north of the Central West region and to the east of the Far West region. Despite its name, the region is in north- ...

regions in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. 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 su ...

History

In March 1930, Eric and Trevor Royle trading as Royle Brothers, purchased routes 56 Chatswood station to

Roseville Chase Roseville Chase is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia 11 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. Rosevill ...

and 201 Roseville station to Roseville Chase from E Jones with three buses. In October 1941 the first service operated across the Roseville Bridge to

Terrey Hills Terrey Hills is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 25 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Forest District and ...

.History
Forest Coach Lines In March 1947, route 52 Chatswood to Artarmon was purchased but quickly sold in November of that year to Brooks Bros. From the late 1940s, the

Frenchs Forest Frenchs Forest (pron. frenches) is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Frenchs Forest is 13 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Cou ...

area expanded rapidly and by 1960 the Royle Brothers fleet had expanded to 12 buses. The operation was renamed Forest Coach Lines in February 1964 and relocated to a new depot in Belrose. In May 1965, route 201 ceased. An expansion into coach charter saw Forest Trailways established with a separate depot in

Manly Vale Manly Vale is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council, in the Northern Beaches r ...

. Eric and Trevor Royle retired in the mid-1960s with the Trevor's sons Bernard and Tony taking over. In 1973, services were extended to

Warringah Mall Westfield Warringah Mall (previously known as Warringah Mall or colloquially as The Mall) is a large indoor/outdoor shopping centre in the suburb of Brookvale in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney. Transport Westfield Warringah Mall h ...

and in February 1982 to Duffys Forest. In August 1979, a new depot was opened in Terrey Hills to replace those at Belrose and Manly Vale. The Passenger Transport Act 1990 allowed Forest Coach Lines to commence operating services into the Sydney central business district in July 1992. In August 1991, the Warringah Bus Lines operation was purchased from Shorelink and in July 1998 part of St Ives Bus Service was purchased. In November 2012, it was announced that Forest had been successful in retaining the contract to operate Sydney Bus Region 14. In December 2014, a majority shareholding in the business was purchased by mid-market private equity firm Next Capital. In September 2016, the business of

Manly Coaches Manly Coaches was an Australian bus charter company in Sydney. History On 30 October 1978, Chris Brownlee, trading as Manly Transport Service, purchased route 135 Manly wharf - Manly Hospital - North Head from Neil Smith with four buses. On 1 J ...

was acquired with no vehicles. In November 2016, the

business of Ryan's Bus Service was purchased with depots in Coffs Harbour and

Woolgoolga Woolgoolga is a town on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Pacific Highway, approximately 550 km north of Sydney and 365 km south of Brisbane. The closest city to Woolgoolga is Coffs Harbour, which lies ...

. In April 2017, Sawtell Coaches was purchased with a depot in Toormina. In September 2017, Wolters Bus & Coach Service was acquired on the

with depots in

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highw ...

and

Wee Waa Wee Waa () is a town located on the north-western slopes of the New England region in New South Wales, Australia. The town is within the Narrabri Shire local government area and is on the Namoi River. Wee Waa is north-west of Narrabri and n ...

. In September 2018,

(CDC) purchased the business. In November 2022, CDC was awarded the contract to retain Region 14. The Forest Coach Lines brand in Sydney will be replaced by the CDC NSW brand when the contract commences in May 2023. The Forest Coach Lines brand in regional New South Wales is not expected to change.

Fleet

Forest Coach Lines Volvo B7RLE (Bustech VST)

As of July 2022, the combined fleet consists of 250 buses and coaches. Forest Coach Lines built up its fleet with Leyland buses. In 1972 it placed the first

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

in Sydney in service. Since then most purchases have been on Volvo or

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

chassis. In March 2013 two

Bustech BusTech Group is an Australian bus-building manufacturer with production facilities in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Edinburgh Adelaide, South Australia and Burnie, Tasmania. BusTech Group produces fully built up integral route buses, school buse ...

CDi double deckers were introduced. When the business was renamed Forest Coach Lines in February 1964, a new white and green livery was introduced. These remained the fleet colours until 2013 when as part of its new regional bus contract Forest was required to adopt the

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...

white and blue livery.

Routes operated in Sydney

*141: Austlink to Manly via Belrose, Northern Beaches Hospital, Seaforth, Balgowlah & Fairlight *193: Austlink to Warringah Mall via Northern Beaches Hospital, Beacon Hill & Narraweena *194: St Ives Village Shops/St Ives Chase to City QVB via East Killara, East Lindfield, East Roseville, Middle Cove, Northbridge and Cammeray *194X: St Ives Village Shops/St Ives Chase to City QVB via East Killara, East Lindfield, East Roseville & Alpha Road (Express Service) *195: Gordon to St. Ives Chase Loop *196: Gordon to Mona Vale via St Ives Village Shops and Austlink *197: Macquarie University to Mona Vale via Macquarie Centre, Macquarie Park, West Pymble, Gordon Station, St Ives Village Shops and Austlink *260: Terrey Hills to North Sydney via Frenchs Forest, Forestville, Northbridge and Cammeray *270: Terrey Hills to City QVB via Frenchs Forest, Forestville & Alpha Road *270X: Terrey Hills to City QVB via Frenchs Forest, Forestville & Alpha Road (Limited Stops) *271: Terrey Hills/Austlink/Belrose to City QVB via Frenchs Forest, Forestville & Alpha Road *273: Killarney Heights to City QVB via Frenchs Forest, Forestville & Alpha Road *274: Davidson to City QVB via Frenchs Forest, Forestville & Alpha Road *277: Chatswood to Castle Cove *278: Chatswood/Forestville to Killarney Heights *280: Chatswood to Warringah Mall via East Roseville, Forestville, Frenchs Forest, Skyline & Allambie *281: Chatswood to Davidson via Forestville & Frenchs Forest *282: Chatswood to Belrose via Forestville, Frenchs Forest & Davidson *283: Chatswood to Belrose via Forestville & Frenchs Forest *284: Chatswood to Duffys Forest via Forestville, Frenchs Forest & Belrose, Austlink & Terrey Hills

Routes operated in Coffs Harbour

* 362: Boambee to Coffs Harbour via SCU Coffs Harbour Campus & CH Base Hospital * 363: Boambee to Coffs Harbour via Pacific Hwy * 364: Sawtell to Coffs Harbour via Hogbin Dr (Loop Service) * 370: Sawtell to Coffs Harbour via Toormina & SCU, Coffs Harbour Campus * 371: Toormina to Boambee (Loop Service) * 372: Coffs Harbour to Grafton via WoolgoolgaForest Coach Lines route 372
Transport for NSW

References

External links

*
Bus Australia gallery
{{Regional NSW public transport Bus companies of New South Wales Bus transport in Sydney ComfortDelGro companies Transport companies established in 1930 Australian companies established in 1930