McVicar's Bus Services was an Australian bus operator that operated services in the south-west suburbs of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

from 1919 until 1978.

Company history

McVicar's Bus Service grew to be one of the largest in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It spanned three generations of the McVicar family, operating from 1919 to 1978. The company began when Archibald Robert Brownlow McVicar began a bus service from

Lidcombe railway station Lidcombe railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Suburban line, serving the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe. It is served by Sydney Trains T1 Western, T2 Leppington & Inner West, T3 Liverpool & Inner West Line, T ...

to Berala. McVicar extended the service to

Regents Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically between Marylebone and ...

and gained permission to run from Lidcombe to the Lidcombe State Hospital on Sunday afternoons: there was considerable business for bus operators running to hospitals and cemeteries on Sundays. In 1923 McVicar's weekly service to the hospital was increased to a daily frequency. In 1925, McVicar was given permission to operate a bus service between

Cabramatta Cabramatta, also abbreviated as Cabra, is a suburb in South Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Cabramatta is located south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local gove ...

and

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 19 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Canterbury-Bankstown region. Bankstown is the administrative centre ...

. In 1926, McVicar was granted approval to continue using solid tyres instead of pneumatic tyres. By 1927 McVicar was operating from Bankstown to the

Milperra Milperra, a suburb of Local government in Australia, local government area City of Canterbury-Bankstown, is located 24 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South ...

Soldiers' Settlement as well as Picnic Point, East Hills and

Panania Panania (), a suburb of local government area City of Canterbury-Bankstown, is located 23 kilometres inner south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South-western Sydney ...

. In 1930 McVicar's began running between Bankstown and Burwood. The McVicar depot was developed on the corner of James and Joseph Streets,

Lidcombe Lidcombe () is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lidcombe is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Cumberland Council, with a small industrial part in the north in t ...

, and in 1935 Arch was joined by his son, Arch McVicar Junior, as an apprentice mechanic and in that year the first diesel engine bus was acquired for the firm.

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

saw the firm restricting the number of vehicles to 12 despite the heavy passenger demands operating to and from essential industries, working a daily three-shift operation. By 1950 McVicars had 31 vehicles in daily service and several others in the workshop. The peak period for the private bus industry was said to have been up to the mid-1950s. There were relatively few cars on the roads and bus patronage was high, with timetables drawn up in a way to attract customers rather than economic necessity. However, with rising costs from big wage claims and declining patronage to greatly increased car usage, the company this time suffered difficulties though this was partly offset by revenue generated from the school bus services. In 1951 a bus was stolen from McVicar's and abandoned at Clyde. In February 1962 Archibald McVicar Snr died at the age of 72. At that time the company's fleet was credited with being one of the largest in the Sydney suburban area. Arch McVicar Jnr and his sister Mavis took over the running of McVicar's Bus Service as joint directors. Mavis had joined the office side of the operation in 1931 after leaving school taking over from Mrs McVicar Snr. She was the mainstay of the company's administration for nearly 40 years. The family decided to sell the business in 1978. The company was split three ways on 25 March 1978: *Routes 12, 22, 23 (including Roselands), 24, 38, 125 & 137 transferred to Bankstown Bus Lines, later renamed

South Western Coach Lines South Western Coach Lines was an Australian bus company operating services in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs, Inner West, South-western Sydney, South West and Sutherland Shire regions of Sydney. Background In the late 1950s, Max ...

(Max Holman) *Route 27 transferred to Fairtown Pty Ltd, trading as Bankstown-Strathfield Bus Service (Ron Treuer) *Route 123 transferred to Drummond Transit, (Ron Drummond) no buses included to this operator Through a series of acquisitions these routes are now all operated by

Transdev NSW Transdev NSW was a bus operator in the northern, southern and western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It was a subsidiary of Transdev. With origins tracing back to February 1935, Transdev NSW was renamed from Veolia Transport NSW in July 2013 a ...

in a modified form. McVicar's Bus Services was wound up in 1978. , the depot office remains and is occupied by Guardian Funerals.

Routes

Fleet

When the business was sold in 1978 the fleet consisted of 55 buses, mainly AECs and Leylands operating on nine routes. McVicar's livery was a red body with cream window pillars and a brown roof with a McVicar Omnibus Service monogram on the sides. A variation of this livery was adopted by Bankstown-Strathfield Bus Service and remained in use until the operation was sold to Transit First in May 2003. Some of the number plates carried by McVicar's buses continue to be used by

. Se
McVicar's Bus Services at Australian Bus Fleet Lists

Photographs of McVicar's buses

Bus Australia Photo Gallery including Leon Batman photos as well as others

Company history

Routes

Fleet

Photographs of McVicar's buses

See also

References

Other links