Sunbus Cairns, previously Marlin Coast Sunbus, was the principal bus operator in

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 ...

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_ ...

operating services under the TransLink (Queensland) scheme in the Cairns region. It is one of

Sunbus Sunbus was an Australian bus operator in the Australian state of Queensland. It operated in 5 regional areas across the state under contract to the Government of Queensland under the TransLink banner. As of 2022 Sunbus has changed its name as ...

' operations. As of late 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

by 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 ...

. It initially was a joint venture with Beach Bus and West Cairns Bus Service, but Blundred took full control shortly after. 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 April 2008, Blundred sold Marlin Coast Sunbus along with the other

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 Coas ...

. 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 ...

. This is a separate operation to

Love's Bus Service Love's Bus Service was an Australian school bus service, operating in Cairns. In 2022 It was re-branded and dissolved into Sunbus Cairns, one of Kinetic Group's (parent company) Bus companies. History Love's Bus Service was established in 197 ...

Cairns which is also owned by the Kinetic Group. 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.

Service Area

Sunbus operates from

Palm Cove Palm Cove is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Palm Cove had a population of 2,059 people. It is named after the palm trees that line the beach. Geography Palm Cove is located in Far North Queensland ...

and Trinity Beach in the north, and as far south as

Gordonvale Gordonvale is a rural sugar-growing town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality situated on the southern side of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Gordonvale had a populati ...

and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. The area with the most coverage is along the Captain Cook Highway between Smithfield Shopping Centre and Cairns CBD.

Bus routes

*110

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre *111

Kewarra Beach Kewarra Beach is a coastal suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Kewarra Beach had a population of 5,652 people. Geography Kewarra Beach is bordered by the Coral Sea to the east and Kuranda National Park to th ...

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre *112 Yorkeys Knob to Smithfield *113 Smithfield to Cairns Central Shopping Center (via Dunne Rd) *120 Smithfield to Cairns Central Shopping Centre (via Holloways Beach) *121 Redlynch to Cairns Central Shopping Centre *122 Redlynch to

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

*123

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre *130

Manunda TSMV ''Manunda'' was an ''Australian'' registered and crewed passenger ship which was converted to a hospital ship in 1940. During the war ''Manunda'' saw service in both the Middle East and Pacific Campaigns, specifically New Guinea. She resum ...

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre (via Greenslopes St) *131

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre (via Collins Ave) *133 Earlville to Cairns City bus station *140

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre *141

Coconut Village The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre *142

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre *143 Mt Sheridan to Cairns Central Shopping Centre **143 Mt Sheridan to Cairns Central Shopping Centre (via Bruce Hwy) **143W Mt Sheridan to Cairns Central Shopping Centre (via Bayview Heights) *150

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre **150

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre **150E

to Cairns Central Shopping Centre (via Edmonton and White Rock)

Fleet

As of June 2013, the fleet consisted of 51 buses, primarily

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 B12BLE The Volvo B12BLE is a low-entry city and suburban bus chassis launched in 2001 with a rear-mounted transverse engine. It superseded the Volvo B10BLE and is used as a base for single-decker buses in Europe and Australia. The B12BLE features the ...

s, Bustech MDi and XDis.Sunbus - Cairns
Australian Bus Fleet Lists The fleet livery is light blue.

External links

Showbus gallery

References