Sydney bus route L90
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sydney bus route 190X is a peak-hour express bus service operated by
Keolis Downer Northern Beaches Keolis Downer Northern Beaches is a bus operator in Sydney, Australia. A subsidiary of Keolis Downer, it operates services in Sydney Bus Region 8 on the Lower North Shore and Northern Beaches under contract to Transport for NSW. Its headquart ...
between
Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...
and Wynyard station. The route and its predecessors are well known for its ocean scenery along the journey and have been popular with hikers planning to walk from Palm Beach back towards Sydney. For many years the route was also the longest commuter bus route in metropolitan Sydney at when operating from Palm Beach. In March 2013 Australian
diecast model A die-cast toy is a toy or a collectible model produced by using the die casting, die-casting method of putting molten lead, zinc alloy or plastic in a mold to produce a particular shape. Such toys are made of metal, with plastic, rubber, glass ...
company Transit Graphics released a 1:76 scale model of a
Mercedes-Benz O305 The Mercedes-Benz O305 was a single deck, double deck and articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz in Mannheim, West Germany from 1968 until 1988. It was built as either a complete bus or a bus chassis and was the Mercedes-Benz adaptatio ...
bus operating on route L90.


History

On 3 August 1953, route 150 Palm Beach to Wynyard station was renumbered 190. Initially infrequent services were provided, complementing other shorter routes along Pittwater Road. As traffic increased, higher capacity double-deck buses were introduced, albeit still with an irregular timetable. Double-deck buses continued to be a regular feature on the route due to the large catchment area along the route. With continued population growth on the Warringah Peninsula overcrowding and long journey times became a problem on the long route. In an effort to relieve the situation express services were introduced where inbound City services did not pick up passengers south of a certain point and outbound Palm Beach services stipulated a first set down point. The actual stop for last pick up or first set down varied with each service and was denoted individually in the timetable. Initially introduced during peak hours, the express services were subsequently expanded even to off-peak services. Route 190 to Palm Beach and sister route 189 to Taylors Point were the last bastions of the double-deck buses on the Sydney network, whereas the remainder of the network was moving to smaller single-deck buses as the former required a driver and conductor with higher associated labour costs. These routes remained double-deck due to the impracticality of running frequent single-deck services on such a long stretches and the sharp curves at
Bilgola Bilgola Beach is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 33 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Northern ...
, known as the Bilgola Bends. In April 1986
Barrenjoey Road Barrenjoey Road is a main urban road along the northern coast of the Northern Beaches suburbs of Sydney, Australia. In 1978, the Barrenjoey Road area came to national attention due to the unsolved disappearance of Trudie Adams. Route Barrenjoe ...
was widened allowing
Mercedes-Benz O305 The Mercedes-Benz O305 was a single deck, double deck and articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz in Mannheim, West Germany from 1968 until 1988. It was built as either a complete bus or a bus chassis and was the Mercedes-Benz adaptatio ...
articulated bus An articulated bus, also referred to as a banana bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, wiggle wagon, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, (either a motor bus or trolleybus) is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usua ...
es to replace
Leyland Atlantean The Leyland Atlantean is a predominantly double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asi ...
double-deckers. In the 1990s, route 190 services were renumbered as L90 to designate it as a limited stops service with standardised stopping pattern operating with regular clock-face frequency. In this guise, the route reached a zenith forming the trunk of public transit to the Warringah Peninsula stopping at major locations from the City to
Narrabeen Narrabeen is a beachside suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Narrabeen is 23 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and is ...
and then all stops to the terminus at Palm Beach. Shortly after the southern terminus was extended from Wynyard station to
Central Railway Station, Sydney Central is a heritage-listed railway station located in the centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The station is the largest and busiest railway station in Australia and serves as a major transport interchange for NSW TrainLink inte ...
and subsequently
Railway Square Railway Square is a plaza at the southern end of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia, formed by the confluence of Broadway, Sydney, Broadway, Lee Street, Pitt Street and George Street, Sydney, George Street. The squa ...
. Short running services commencing or terminating at Avalon Beach were designated route L88. Routes L90 and L88 alternated to provide a frequent 15 minute frequency throughout the day. Early morning and late night services operating all stops retained the 190 route number. Increased urban sprawl and population growth in the 2000s in the
Hills District, New South Wales The Hills District (alternatively the Hills Shire, or The Hills) is a region of Sydney, within the northern part of the Greater Western Sydney region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Stretching from the M2 Hills Motorway ...
resulted in several long bus routes to the City and route L90 lost the title of longest commuter bus route to route 642X. In October 2015, the section of route L90 south of Wynyard was withdrawn when bus routes along George Street were withdrawn to facilitate
CBD and South East Light Rail The CBD and South East Light Rail is a light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Construction commenced in October 2015, with services between Circular Quay and Randwick commencing on 14 December 2019 as the L2 Randwick Line, and ...
construction works. Changing trends in public transport planning moved emphasis from single-seat journeys to separate local and trunk routes, with the latter operating regular, frequent and fast limited stop services with high-capacity buses . To this end the B-Line opened on 26 November 2017 resulting in route L90 being relegated to a tourist service operating at 60 minute frequency during weekday off-peaks and weekends. At the same time route 190 was discontinued completely. Incidentally the B-Line saw the return of double-deck buses to commuter routes in Sydney. On 3 May 2020 remaining route L90 services were renumbered 190X to standardise route numbers, the limited-stop designation was subsequently retired. This was short-lived, following a major review of bus services on the Warringah Peninsula in the following year, the off-peak route 190X services to Palm Beach were discontinued completely due to poor patronage and duplication with other routes. As a nod to the prior historical importance the route number was not retired, instead peak hour express services from Avalon to Wynyard previously operated as part of route 188X were renumbered to 190X. From inception the route was government operated. In October 2021 it was, however, included in the takeover of region 8 by
Keolis Downer Northern Beaches Keolis Downer Northern Beaches is a bus operator in Sydney, Australia. A subsidiary of Keolis Downer, it operates services in Sydney Bus Region 8 on the Lower North Shore and Northern Beaches under contract to Transport for NSW. Its headquart ...
.


Current route

As of 2022, route 190X operated via these primary locations:https://transportnsw.info/documents/timetables/29-190X-Avalon-Beach-to-City-Wynyard-Express-Service-20220718.pdf Transport for NSW 18 July 2022 *
Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...
* Newport * Mona Vale *
Warriewood Warriewood is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Warriewood is located 26 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Warriewood is par ...
*
Narrabeen Narrabeen is a beachside suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Narrabeen is 23 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and is ...
*
Spit Junction Spit Junction is an urban locality in the suburb of Mosman in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Spit Junction is in the local government area of the Municipality of Mosman and is part of the Lower North Shore. History E. and W. E. Brady bo ...
* Neutral Bay Junction * Wynyard station


References

{{Sydney public transport, state=collapsed Bus routes in Sydney