Murrays Coaches is an Australian express and coach charter company.

History

Murrays Coaches - BCI JXK6137 'Explorer' (1)

Murrays was founded by Bill Murray in the early 1950s as a school bus operator in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. The operation was taken over by Ron Murray in 1970 by which time it was operating services to

Captains Flat Captains Flat is a town in the Southern Tablelands of rural New South Wales, Australia, in Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. It is south of Queanbeyan. Captains Flat township is bounded by the non-urban parts of the locality of Captains F ...

, Kowen Forest, Naas,

Tidbinbilla Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve is a protected area, on the fringe of Namadgi National Park. Tidbinbilla is a short drive from the capital city of Australia, Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The nature reserve consists of a large val ...

Uriarra Uriarra Village is a community in the District of Coree, Australian Capital Territory established in 1928 at the foothills of the Australian Alps. A nearby area to the north of the border in New South Wales is also called Uriarra. The settlem ...

and Williamsdale with 10 buses. Murrays were operating seven school buses when the services were taken over by Deane's Buslines in November 1997. At some point Murrays diversified into coach operation, initially to the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera system ...

. By the mid-1980s Murrays were operating interstate services from Canberra to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

and

Narooma Narooma is a town in the Australian state of New South Wales on the far south coast. The town is on the Princes Highway, which crosses the Wagonga Inlet to North Narooma. The heritage town of Central Tilba is nearby to the south. The name Naro ...

. These services continue today. In May 1979, Murrays purchased Sydney bus routes 6 Arncliffe to

Earlwood Earlwood is a suburb in Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Earlwood is located 10 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is part of the St George area. It is in the local government areas of ...

and 49

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

to Rockdale. These were sold in October 1982 to Brighton Bus Lines after the laws requiring tourist vehicle licences to be attached to route service operators were relaxed. In late 1988, an operation commenced on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

followed in 1989 by

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 ...

. Murrays expanded rapidly in the early 1990s, capitalising on the growth of inbound tourism and the departure of some of its rivals. In May 1998 the Koala Tours business in Sydney was purchased. In May 2015, Murrays commenced operating a service in Queensland from

Miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

Brisbane Airport Brisbane Airport is the primary international airport serving Brisbane and South East Queensland. The airport services 31 airlines flying to 50 domestic and 29 international destinations, in total amounting to more than 22.7 million passeng ...

Fleet

Murrays initial coach fleet was built up with ex

Ansett Pioneer Ansett Pioneer was an Australian long distance coach operator. Founded in 1905 as the AA Withers Bus Company, the company maintained continuous operation under a variety of corporate monikers until its 1993 merger into Greyhound Pioneer Australi ...

GMC PD4107s and Mercedes-Benz O302 and O303s. In the mid 1980s Murrays purchased a number of new Mercedes-Benz,

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 ...

and Austral coaches. Following the collapse of

Deluxe Coachlines Deluxe Coachlines was an Australian interstate coach operator that operated from 1979 until 1990. History Deluxe Coachlines was founded in May 1979 by Sydney based travel agent Len Roden. With a Denning coach hired from Hoys Roadlines of Wang ...

and

Sunliner Express Sunliner Express was an Australian interstate coach operator. History Sunliner Express was formed in 1986 when the Brisbane to Cairns licence of VIP Express was purchased."Sunliner Express - The High Deck Legacy" ''Australian Bus Panorama'' 9/2 ...

amongst others, Murrays was able to renew its fleet with large numbers of near-new Austral, Denning and

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...

coaches. In the mid-1990s it took delivery of 120 PMC Australia bodied MANs and Scanias. Between 2008 and 2011, Murrays conducted a major fleet renewal purchasing over 60

BCI BCI may refer to: Organizations * Bar Council of India * Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK * Bat Conservation International * Battery Council International, American trade association * BCI, an investigative law enforcement agency for the U.S. ...

coaches. As at January 2020, the fleet consisted of 199 vehicles.Murrays Coaches
Australian Bus Fleet List Until the early 1990s, Murrays had a livery of three greens and black when a new livery of white with green signwriting was adopted.

References

External links

*

{{Regional NSW public transport Bus companies of Australia Companies based in Canberra