Sunbus Townsville was the principal bus operator in

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 ...

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_ ...

, Australia, operating services 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 ...

(Queensland) scheme in Regional Queensland. 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 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 April 1996, 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, began operating the route services 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 ...

. As part of the deal, Sunbus was also responsible for the operation of school bus services in the region, but these were sold in 1997 to another 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 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 Coas ...

. In April 2010, the operation expanded with the acquisition of Hermit Park Bus Service. In April 2019,

was purchased by AATS Group, the 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. 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 operated from Pallarenda in the north, Kelso and Stuart in the south and Kirwan and Thuringowa Central in the west. The area with the largest service coverage is the suburbs of Annandale and

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

Fleet

In June 2013, the fleet consisted of 87 buses.Sunbus Townsville
''Australian Bus Fleet Lists'' The fleet livery is light blue.

References

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

History

Service Area

Fleet

See also

References