Quince's Scenicruisers is a bus and coach charter 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 ...

, Australia.

History

In 1951 Quince's Scenicruisers operated route 103A Oakleigh - Clayton -

Moorabbin Moorabbin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Moorabbin recorded a population of 6,287 at the . Most of the ea ...

. In 1967 Quince's joined with Melbourne Motor Coach Service and McGeary's Parlor Coaches to form

Australian Pacific Tours Australian Pacific Touring (APT) is an Australian tour and river cruising operator with worldwide reach. History Alfred William (Bill) McGeary was born in 1900 in Victoria. A fitter and turner by trade, McGeary bought, re-built and sold cars ...

. Quince's later withdrew from the partnership. After the

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 ...

decided to open private routes to open tender, in 1988 Quince's were awarded the rights to operate some services of

Ventura Bus Lines Ventura Bus Lines is a large bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, operating a fleet of 893 buses on 141 bus routes, including 2 SmartBus routes and 2 V/Line services. It commenced operations in December 1924. History Earl ...

and Waverley Transit. Waverley Transit won a legal case and the contract between Quince's and The Met was ruled void."Victorian Buses in the Eighties" ''Australian Bus Panorama'' issue 7/1 August 1991 page 5 Quince's had already taken delivery of 24 Hino AC140s and 40

Mercedes-Benz O405 The Mercedes-Benz O405 was a single-decker bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s as either an integral bus or a bus chassis and was the last VöV SL-II standard bus in production. It was the replacement for th ...

s. These entered service on two new routes 634 Middle Brighton station -

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 ...

/ East Clayton and 705 Springvale -

Mordialloc Mordialloc is a beachside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Mordialloc recorded a population of 8,886 at the . ...

. Following 18 months of unsuccessful negotiations with the Department of Infrastructure over a new contract, Quince's relinquished their route licences in February 1998. By this stage they were operating routes 615 Box Hill -

North Balwyn Balwyn North, also known as North Balwyn, is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Boroondara and Whitehorse local government areas. Balwyn North re ...

, 631

Westfield Southland Westfield Southland (previously known as Southland Centre) is a shopping centre in the suburb of Cheltenham in Melbourne. Southland has a floor area of 129,180m², making it one of the biggest shopping centres in Australia by size. There are ap ...

- Mitcham station, 634 Lilydale - Monash University, 705 Mordialloc - Springvale, 708 Mordialloc -

Carrum Carrum is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston Local Government Areas of Victoria, local government ar ...

and 731

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

- North Balwyn. These were split amongst

Invicta Bus Services Invicta Bus Services was a bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was a Melbourne bus company that operated 16 bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It was purchased by Grenda Corporation in March 2009. ...

, Moorabbin Transit, National Bus Company and

."Quince" ''Australian Bus Panorama'' issue 13/5 April 1998 page 47 Since then it has operated as a bus and coach charter operator. In September 2015 the business was purchased by the

Australian Transit Group The Australian Transit Group (ATG) is a bus group with operations in the Northern Territory, Victoria and Western Australia. It was established in 2004 when Michael Baulch and Ben Doolan purchased Fortesque Bus Service, Karratha, Kojonup Bus ...

Fleet

As at November 2023, the fleet consists of 36 buses and coaches.

References

{{Reflist Bus companies of Victoria (state) Bus transport in Melbourne