Hoys Roadlines was an Australian bus operator based in the Victorian city of

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had an estimated urban population of 19,318 at June 2018. Wangaratta has recorded a population growth rate of almost 1% annually ...

. From 1993 until 2004 the company also had a contract to operate train services on the Shepparton line on behalf of the

Victorian State 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 ...

Bus services

The company commenced operations in 1930 from

in the north-east of Victoria, to

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

Bright Bright may refer to: Common meanings *Bright, an adjective meaning giving off or reflecting illumination; see Brightness *Bright, an adjective meaning someone with intelligence People * Bright (surname) * Bright (given name) *Bright, the stage na ...

and the

Mount Buffalo Chalet The Mount Buffalo Chalet is a ski resort in the Mount Buffalo National Park. It is the largest timber building in Australia. History The Mount Buffalo Chalet was built in 1910 by the Public Works Department as the first ski resort in the Victo ...

. The company later expanded into school bus runs, charter coaches, and Department of Infrastructure contract coach services such as the daily

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

service. The company begun to downsize their operations after the loss of the rail franchise, the

route operations being purchased by

Dysons Dysons is a bus and coach operator in Victoria, Australia. History Dysons was founded in June 1952 when Laurie Dyson purchased the business of Ned Gastin with route 46A Regent station to Janefield Hospital. Over the years a number of route ...

in August 2004 and the remaining operations by V/Line in July 2005.

Rail services

History

In August 1993 the Kennett

State Government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

put the operation of nine country passenger rail services to tender. Companies were invited to use trains, buses, or a combination of the two. Hoys won a seven-year contract for the

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 ...

Cobram Cobram is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. It is on the Murray River which forms the border between Victoria and New South Wales. Cobram along with the nearby towns of Numurkah and Yarrawonga is part of Shire of Moira and is the admi ...

service from 1 July 1994.Hoys Roadlines Cobram-Shepparton Services Agreement
Government of Victoria Hoys opted to operate trains as far as

, with buses beyond. Station staff, conductors and buffet staff were employed by Hoys; but the trains themselves were operated and maintained under a lease arrangement with

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross ...

. This was in contrast to the other private company to win a contact, West Coast Railway for the Melbourne to Warrnambool service, who decided to purchase, maintain and operate its own trains.

Contracts

Two contracts were entered into by Hoys. The first was with the Department of Transport to provide a public service of acceptable standard and be compensated at an agreed rate per passenger carried per sector, these being Melbourne - Seymour, Seymour - Shepparton, and Shepparton - Seymour. A second agreed cost contract was made with

for the provision of locomotives, crews, carriages, train maintenance and servicing, safeworking training and implementation, and food and drink catering services. Hoys could have extra passenger cars or luggage vans added to the train at an extra cost. Loading figures were given to V/Line every 28 days.

Operations

From 1 July 1994 the company was contracted with the Department of Transport to provide 26 services each week. These included four trains and two buses (two and one each way) Melbourne to Shepparton Monday to Saturday, with one train each way on Sundays. A bus connection were made to Cobram, with some buses extended to

Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire local government area, near the Victorian border. The town is situated on the banks of the Murray River, north of the city of Melbourne. ...

. A six-month trial was also made for bus services to Finley and Berrigan in New South Wales, and a service to

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Rid ...

was later introduced. Hoys employed 11 staff, with half of them former V/Line employees. They included a station master at Shepparton, two station staff and five conductors, all trained by V/Line in

safeworking Signalling block systems enable the safe and efficient operation of railways by preventing collisions between trains. The basic principle is that a track is broken up into a series of sections or "blocks". Only one train may occupy a block at a ...

. A company conductor was in charge of the train, with a second conductor in charge of the buffet. Conductors could only sell tickets for Hoys operated services, with passengers connecting to V/Line services needing to buy tickets at Spencer Street station, or from the ticket agent at Shepparton. The company was responsible for the unmanned

Nagambie Nagambie is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia. The city is on the Goulburn Valley Freeway north of Seymour, Victoria, Seymour and in the Shire of Strathbogie. As of , Nagambie had a population of 2, ...

, Murchison East and

Mooroopna Mooroopna is a rural town located north of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the banks of the Goulburn River opposite the larger town of Shepparton. The Midland Highway crosses the river between the two towns. At the 2016 census, Moor ...

stations, as well Shepparton station which was manned. Trains were cleaned by Hoys at Shepparton during the daytime layover, with a thorough cleaning carried out when the train was stabled overnight. Any locomotives and carriages from the V/Line fleet could be assigned to the service, with no special Hoys branding applied. The usual consist of the trains was a 3 carriage N set providing 206 first and economy class seats, carrying 80-100 passengers at Shepparton, and 160-200 further along the line to Melbourne. By 1995 a 5.5% increase in patronage had been recorded. An average of 188 passenger per service was recorded, with 5,500 sector fares sold per week. Local radio advertisement promoting the train were made, as some locals believed the train had been completely cancelled in 1993.

End of contract

The initial contract was due to expire in June 2001, but was extended for a further three years. During the contact period

itself had been privatised, with services now operated under contract by

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

, who in December 2002 withdrew from their operations in Victoria with V/Line passing back to full State Government control. In August 2002, the State Government commenced negotiating with Hoys for a contract extension to 2006, but this was not concluded and V/Line took back the service when the franchise expired on 30 June 2004.

References

{{FormerVictorianRailCompanies Bus companies of Victoria (state) Defunct railway companies of Australia Transport companies established in 1930 Australian companies established in 1930 Australian companies disestablished in 2005