Randwick Bus Depot is a bus depot in the
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 ...
suburb of
Randwick operated by
Transdev John Holland
Transdev John Holland Buses is a bus operator in Sydney, Australia. A joint venture between Transdev and John Holland, it operates services in Sydney Bus Region 9 in the Eastern Suburbs under contract to Transport for NSW. It is a separate compa ...
.
History
In 1881 the Randwick Tramway Workshops were established on the corner of Darley Road and King Street,
Randwick as the main workshops for the
Sydney tram network. It also had a depot attached. In 1902 the workshops were renamed the Randwick Tramway Workshops.
The workshops grew rapidly to become one of
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 ...
's largest engineering establishments peaking in the 1920s. and performed all heavy maintenance on the fleet, Randwick Workshops were also instrumental for the construction of the
L and LP classes that were completely rebuilt from the
F class.
O/P class,
The PR and 2 of the PR1 classes were all converted by Randwick workshops out of trams that had been involved either in accidents or required major overhaul.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
workers from the Tramways Workshops were diverted to manufacturing armaments and artillery. The
1917 General Strike began with the 3,000 workers from
Eveleigh Railway and Randwick Tramways Workshops and spread across Australia to become one of the largest strikes in Australian history.
With the gradual closure of the Sydney tram network in the late 1950s, the need for the workshops declined and they closed in 1960. It then became a storage place for withdrawn trams prior to them either being used as outdoor buildings or being burnt on "Burning Hill". Tram 1979 was the last tram to leave Randwick Workshops in 1971, 10 years after the final closure of the Sydney system and is restored and running at the
Sydney Tramway Museum
The Sydney Tramway Museum (operated by the South Pacific Electric Railway) is Australia's oldest tramway museum and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is located at Loftus, New South Wales, Loftus in the southern suburbs of Sydney.
Hist ...
.
The western side was redeveloped and today is part of the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
and
Randwick TAFE. The eastern end remains in use as a bus depot.
As part of the contracting out of
Sydney Bus Region 9, operation of Randwick depot passed from
State Transit to
Transdev John Holland
Transdev John Holland Buses is a bus operator in Sydney, Australia. A joint venture between Transdev and John Holland, it operates services in Sydney Bus Region 9 in the Eastern Suburbs under contract to Transport for NSW. It is a separate compa ...
on 2 April 2022.
Sydney Region 9 bus contract secured: John Holland-Transdev
''Australasian Bus & Coach
Are Media is an Australian media company that was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press during the 2010s ...
'' 26 November 2021
As of November 2022, it has an allocation of 147 buses.
Operations
The Randwick Tramway Workshops consisted of:
*Traverser
*Bogie and Pattern Store
*Electric Mains Store
*Overhead Equipment
*Machine Shop
*Paint Shop
*Woodworking and Car Body Repairs
*Blacksmith, Boiler and Welding Shop
*Bus Maintenance Garage
*Car Overhaul and Repairs
*Canteen
Gallery
Image:NSWGT Randwick Tram Workshops Entrance.jpg, Tram Road Entrance
Image:NSWGT Randwick Tram Workshops Site.jpg , Machine Shop Site
Image:NSWGT Randwick Tram Workshops Tram Road.jpg, Tram Road
Image:Tram drivers in class (2688542772).jpg, Training
Image:Tramway Workshop, Randwick - armature winding shop 1926.jpg, Armature winding shop 1926
Image:Tramway workshop, Randwick - core making workshop 1920.jpg, Core making workshop
Image:Tramway workshop, Randwick - electrical fitting shop.jpg, Electrical fitting shop
Image:Tramway workshop, Randwick - electrical repair shop.jpg, Electrical repair shop
Image:Tramway workshop, Randwick - woodworking shop.jpg, Woodworking shop
Image:Tramway workshops, Randwick - 1919 general view looking north-west towards the city.jpg, General view
Image:Tramway workshop, Randwick - Gardens.jpg, Gardens
Image:Tramway workshop, Randwick - Gardens (2).jpg, Gardens
References
External links
{{Authority control
Bus garages
Industrial buildings in Sydney
Tram depots in Sydney
Transport infrastructure completed in 1881
1881 establishments in Australia