Sunbus was an Australian bus operator in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n state of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It operated in 5 regional areas across the state under contract to the

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy was form ...

under the

TransLink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to: * TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada * Translink (Northern Ireland) Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...

banner. As of 2022 Sunbus has changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company,

Kinetic Kinetic (Ancient Greek: κίνησις “kinesis”, movement or to move) may refer to: * Kinetic theory of gases, Kinetic theory, describing a gas as particles in random motion * Kinetic energy, the energy of an object that it possesses due to i ...

. Sunbus has now been dissolved into the Kinetic brand with its fleet of buses reflecting this change.

History

In 1995, Harry Blundred, the proprietor of

Thames Transit Thames Transit was a bus and coach company which operated in the Oxford area. As well as running a number of local services, it also ran a regular service to London (via the M40 motorway) under the ''Oxford Tube'' brand. It was sold in July 1 ...

in the United Kingdom, was awarded the operating rights to route services in a number of regions in

following 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 ...

deciding to put the operation of these services out to tender. Sunbus were awarded the rights to operate services in the

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

, Sunshine Coast and

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

regions. As part of the deal, Sunbus was also responsible for the operation of school bus services in the region, however these were sold in 1997 to fellow British bus operator

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

. In January 2000, the Ipswich business was sold to the

Pulitano Group The Pulitano Group is an Australian operator of buses and coaches in Queensland and Victoria. History The Pulitano Group was formed in 2003 when the various bus interests of the Pulitano family were combined. In Victoria the Pulitanos operated ...

and in September 2003 Hagan's, Bus Service,

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

was purchased and rebranded Garden City Sunbus. This was sold in April 2009 to the Pulitano Group. In April 2008, Blundred sold the remaining Sunbus operations to

Transit Australia Group Transit Australia Group (TAG) was one of Australia's leading mass transit specialists headquartered on the Gold Coast in Queensland. The company operated Sunbus ( Sunbus Cairns, Sunbus Magnetic Island, Sunbus Rockhampton, Sunbus Sunshine Coa ...

. In November 2008,

Magnetic Island Magnetic Island ( Wulguru: Yunbenun) is an island offshore from the city of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. This mountainous island in Cleveland Bay has effectively become a suburb of Townsville, with 2,335 permanent residents. The island ...

Bus Services was purchased and in April 2010 the Townsville operation was expanded with the acquisition of Hermit Park Bus Service. In April 2019, Transit Australia Group was purchased by AATS Group, parent company of Skybus and majority owned by

OPTrust OPTrust, officially the OPSEU Pension Trust, is a legal trust formed by the contractual agreement between the two plan sponsors, Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the Government of Ontario. It manages one of Canada's largest pensi ...

. In August 2019, AATS Group was rebranded the

Kinetic Group Kinetic Group (formerly known as AATS Group) is an Australian-based multinational bus company that wholly owns a number of bus operations in Australia and New Zealand, including the SkyBus business, which operates bus services to a number of a ...

. In late 2022, Sunbus was officially branded as

KINETIC Kinetic (Ancient Greek: κίνησις “kinesis”, movement or to move) may refer to: * Kinetic theory of gases, Kinetic theory, describing a gas as particles in random motion * Kinetic energy, the energy of an object that it possesses due to i ...

with all new advertising now showing the Kinetic Brand. All new buses will display the Kinetic logo with the current fleet of Sunbus slowly being updated to reflect the new brand name. The current website for Sunbus will stay active until early 2023 before it will be deactivated, directing customers to the new Kinetic website.

Operations

Sunbus operated as: * Sunbus Cairns *Sunbus

* Sunbus Rockhampton *

Sunbus Sunshine Coast Sunbus Sunshine Coast was an Australian operator of bus services on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. It operates 25 services under contract to the Government of Queensland under the TransLink banner.It is one of Sunbus' operations. As of 2022 Su ...

* Sunbus Townsville

Fleet

As at July 2022, the fleet consisted of 275 buses.Sunbus
Australian Bus Fleet Lists When Sunbus commenced it introduced a large number of

Mercedes-Benz Vario The Mercedes-Benz Vario (model designation BM667/668/670) is a full-size commercial heavy van manufactured by Mercedes-Benz between 1996 and 2013. History The Vario was launched in 1996 as a facelifted version of the Mercedes-Benz T2. The bod ...

midibuses. These were replaced by

Bustech BusTech Group is an Australian bus-building manufacturer with production facilities in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Edinburgh Adelaide, South Australia and Burnie, Tasmania. BusTech Group produces fully built up integral route buses, school bus ...

bodied

Volvo B7RLE The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013. Specifications The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the B10BLE. In essence the B7RLE is the front section of t ...

s, B12BLEs, Bustech MDis and XDis. Fleet livery was light blue.

References

External links

Showbus gallery

External links

Translink timetables
{{Kinetic Group Bus companies of Queensland Transport companies established in 1995 Kinetic Group companies 1995 establishments in Australia