The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

responsible for the provision of rail,

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

and

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

services 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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

from October 1972 until June 1980. Upon dissolution, responsibility for rail services transferred to the

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities A ...

and responsibility for bus and ferry services to the Urban Transit Authority. The PTC, composed of five Commissioners appointed by the

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

, was accountable to the Minister for Transport.

Structure

The PTC was established pursuant to the and led to the abolition of the offices of Commissioner for Railways and Commissioner for Public Transport. The Act facilitated the merger of the Department of Railways and the Department of Government Transport, the latter being the agency that operated government bus services in

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 ...

and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. In December 1974, the dissolved the

Sydney Harbour Transport Board The Sydney Harbour Transport Board was a statutory of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of ferry services on Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from July 1951 until November 1974. History With its Port Jackson, Sydney Ha ...

and ferries were added to PTC's responsibility. This coincided with government also taking over the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company ferries. In June 1980, the PTC was dissolved with the

assuming responsibility for rail services and the Urban Transit Authority responsibility for bus and ferry services through the enactment of the .

Management

The Public Transport Commission consisted of five commissioners appointed by the

, two of whom were nominated by the Minister for Transport. Two of the Commissioners were full-time one of these was appointed by the Governor as Chief Commissioner. The Commission acquired the assets and liabilities of the former commissioners, were bound by current agreements or contracts, and were responsible for the completion of business commenced by them. The Commission inherited the functions of the previous Commissioners as prescribed in the and the . The first Chief Commissioner of the PTC was Philip Shirley, a former chairman of

Cunard The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...

, who came out of retirement to take up the position. Shirley had been involved with the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

being vice chairman of the

British Railways Board The British Railways Board (BRB) was a State ownership, nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that operated from 1963 to 2001. Until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to d ...

in his native United Kingdom in the 1960s. His cost-cutting approach was criticised by sections of the public, trade unions and the parliamentary opposition. Shirley retired in 1975, two years before his commission was due to conclude. His successor, until the PTC was disbanded in 1980, was Alan Reiher. Upon the dissolution of the PTC, Reiher became chairman of VicRail.

Chief Commissioners

Deputy Chief Commissioners

Commissioners

Activities

A mandarin blue and riviera white livery was introduced on buses, suburban electric trains and ferries while freight wagons were painted in a teal blue livery. From November 1976, trains reverted to Tuscan red while ferries would revert to their Tuscan and green liveries in the 1980s. In November 1979, a modified livery for locomotives was introduced with the colours on the Tuscan and yellow painted ends reverted. 4491 in reverse livery broadmeadow loco 1990

4491 in reverse livery broadmeadow loco 1990

The original logo had the letters NSW with arrows pointing east and west. It was replaced in 1975 by the ''L7'' logo. It would continue to be used, albeit with different colours, on buses and ferries until 1989 and on trains until 2010. In June 1974, the PTC took over the operation of Bowden's Bus Service route 79 from the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

to Tamarama. In September 1975, the PTC began operating Denning coaches out of

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

when the '' Far West Express'' was replaced. While best remembered as an era of cutbacks, investment was made during the tenure of the Public Transport Commission with the following ordered: * 312

Leyland Leopard The Leyland Leopard was a mid-engine design, mid-engined single-decker bus and single-decker bus, single-decker coach (bus), coach chassis manufactured by Leyland Bus, Leyland between 1959 and 1982. History The Leyland Leopard was introduced ...

buses * 750 Mercedes-Benz O305 buses * 359 Comeng built S set double deck suburban carriagesEMU Review ''Railway Digest'' March 1985 * 150 A Goninan & Co built S set double deck suburban carriages * 30 V set double deck interurban carriages * 10 FAM sleeper carriages * 30 80 class diesel locomotives * 10 85 class electric locomotives * various modern bulk freight wagons * More than 1,000 RACE containers suitable for the Australia standard pallets * 2 Lady class ferries (

Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...

& Herron)

Publication

The PTC published an in-house journal, ''Transport News'', with the first edition published in November 1972.Transport News
State Archives

References

{{Authority control Bus companies of New South Wales Defunct government entities of New South Wales Ferry companies of New South Wales Railway companies of New South Wales Transport in New South Wales Transport companies established in 1972 Transport companies disestablished in 1980 1972 establishments in Australia 1980 disestablishments in Australia