Pioneer Coaches was an Australian bus and coach company based in Bexley, New South Wales. The company was noted for its immaculate blue and red livery, known affectionately as "the blue bus".

History

In October 1918, Cornelius Bossley "Con" Iffland commenced operating between

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges Riv ...

and Rockdale via Forest Road. Allocated route number 112 in November 1925 it was extended to Brighton-Le-Sands in 1930. In 1932 the business was purchased by Con's brother Harry by which time route 112 had ceased operating to Brighton-Le-Sands but been extended at the other end to

Beverley Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

. In November 1934 the operation was named Pioneer Coaches with Con's son Neville appointed manager, a position he would hold until 1982.Pioneer Coaches
Australian Bus Fleet Lists In December 1986, the Iffland family sold Pioneer Coaches to Kevin Harbridge. In May 1992, route 455

Kingsgrove Kingsgrove is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Kingsgrove is south of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, Bayside Council and the Geo ...

Kogarah Kogarah () is a suburb of Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George area. Loca ...

via Hurstville was purchased from Allways Bus Service and in October 1996 route 49 Rockdale to

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 ...

from Sydney Coachlines. In April 1997, routes 112 and 49 were renumbered 452 and 453. In January 2001, Pioneer Coaches was sold to Connex Southtrans with 16 buses.

Final routes

Fleet

Pioneer Coaches operated a fleet composed predominantly of AECs, Bedfords and Leylands. Fleet livery was blue, red and grey. A vehicle from the Pioneer Coaches fleet, a 1957

AEC Reliance The AEC Reliance was a mid-underfloor mounted engined single-decker bus and coach chassis manufactured by AEC between 1953 and 1979. The name had previously been used between 1928 and 1931 for another single-decker bus chassis. History Two p ...

registered m/o 634, is preserved at the

Sydney Bus Museum Sydney Bus Museum (formerly the Sydney Bus and Truck Museum) is a not-for-profit transportation museum and education centre for public benefit located in the suburb of Leichhardt, in Sydney, Australia. The museum is open to the public on the fir ...

.634
Sydney Bus Museum exhibits

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

Depot

Pioneer Coaches operated out of a depot in Bexley.

References

External links