ComfortDelGro Australia
ComfortDelGro Australia is a major Australian public transport company. Founded in October 2005 as ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, a joint venture between Singapore-based ComfortDelGro (51%) and Australian Cabcharge (49%), today it is a fully owned subsidiary of ComfortDelGro. History. A joint venture, known as ComfortDelGro Cabcharge (CDC), was established between ComfortDelGro (51%) and Cabcharge Australia (49%) in October 2005 to purchase loss-making Westbus Group, which included Westbus (both Australia & UK), Hillsbus and Blue Ribbon from National Express and the Bosnjak family. Blue Ribbon was rebranded Hunter Valley Buses at the same time. After the purchase, Westbus UK continued  independently from the Westbus in Australia, despite bearing the latter's name, old logo and livery to this day. It became part of CityFleet Networks, initially also a joint venture between ComfortDelGro and Cabcharge, and now a wholly owned subsidiary of ComfortDelGro in the United Kingdom. Cabcharge sold both of its stakes in CDC and CityFleet to ComfortDelGro in February and June 2017 respectively. In August 2006, the routes of Baxter's Bus Lines were purchased by and absorbed into Westbus Region 3 operations. In August 2007, Morisset Bus Service, Sugar Valley Coachlines and Toronto Bus Service were purchased and  absorbed into Hunter Valley Buses. In June 2008 a bus charter division was established under the Charterplus name. In November 2008, it was announced that Kefford Corporation in Victoria would be acquired. The acquisition was finalised on 23 February 2009. The group was renamed CDC Victoria, but the names of the bus companies within the group were retained until replaced by the CDC brand in 2014. In September 2012, Deane's Transit Group comprising Deane's Buslines (renamed as Qcity Transit) and Transborder Express in southern New South Wales were purchased. In August 2014, CDC purchased Blue Mountains Bus Company , which was subsequently renamed Blue Mountains Transit in December 2014. In December 2016, ComfortDelgro announced it had agreed to purchase Cabcharge's 49% stake. The sale was completed on 16 February 2017 after Foreign Investment Review Board approval was granted. The former joint venture was then renamed ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia, still keeping the abbreviation CDC. In April 2018, ComfortDelgro acquired Tullamarine Bus Lines in Melbourne and integrated it into CDC Melbourne in August 2018. At the same time, it acquired National Patient Transport, one of the largest private providers of non-emergency patient transport services in Australia. In August 2018 , ComfortDelgro acquired Coastal Liner on the Central Coast, and in September 2018, Forest Coach Lines with operations in Sydney, the Mid North Coast and North West Slopes. In November 2018, the Buslink business was acquired with 401 buses operating in the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. In the same month, Charterplus was renamed CDC Travel. In April 2019, ComfortDelGro acquired Blanch's Bus Company and Brunswick Valley Coaches with a fleet of 48 buses and coaches in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. In the same month, ComfortDelGro announced it would formally establish a ComfortDelGro  Corporation Australia office. Nicholas Yap, who was the incumbent CEO of CDC Victoria, was appointed as the inaugural CEO of ComfortDelGro Australia, effective 1 July 2019. In March 2020, two of Buslink's operations, Buslink Sunraysia and Buslink Broken Hill, were rebranded to CDC Mildura and CDC Broken Hill respectively. In October 2020, the Buslink Queensland operations were rebranded to CDC Queensland, with Buslink Sunshine Coast and Buslink Gladstone rebranded to CDC Sunshine Coast and CDC Gladstone respectively. In July 2021, ComfortDelGro announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Young's Bus Service which operates services in Rockhampton, Queensland . In August 2021, ComfortDelGro announced its intention to list ComfortDelGro Australia on the Australian Securities Exchange. In October 2021, CDC acquired a school bus contract and five buses from KA & VK Stubbs Pty Ltd in Narrabri, New South Wales. The school bus operation was merged into CDC's existing Forest Coach Lines business in Narrabri and Wee Waa. Operations. ComfortDelgro Corporation Australia operates: CDC NSW. CDC NSW is the largest commuter bus operator having overtaken State Transit in 2018/2019, with the acquisition of Forest Coach Lines, Coastal Liner and Blanch's Bus Company in that period. Westbus. Westbus was a  bus operator who operated bus services in Western Sydney. It was one of the first companies to be bought by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge in 2005. Until its cessation, Westbus' services were part of Sydney Bus Regions 1 and 3. In 2012, these regions were put out to tender by Transport for NSW. Westbus' bids to retain both regions were not successful, with the Region 1 services operating out of St Marys and Windsor passing to Busways, while the Region 3 services operated by Bonnyrigg and Girraween passing to Transit Systems Sydney, both in October 2013. As a result, Westbus ceased to  operate routes, with remaining bus fleet transferred to other ComfortDelGro Cabcharge subsidiaries. Hillsbus. Hillsbus a bus operator who operates bus services in the Hills District in Sydney. It was one of the first companies to be bought by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge in 2005. Since 2005, Hillsbus' services have formed Sydney Bus Region 4. In August 2013 Hillsbus successfully tendered to operate the Region 4 services for another five years from August 2014. Hunter Valley Buses. Hunter Valley Buses is a bus operator who operates bus, coach and charter services in the Central Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales. Previously  known as Blue Ribbon, it was one of the first companies to be bought by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge in 2005. Since 2008, Hunter Valley Buses' services have formed Outer Sydney Metropolitan Bus Regions 2 and 4. In August 2018, its service area expanded to include Outer Sydney Metropolitan Bus Region 11 after the purchase of Coastal Liner. CDC Travel. CDC Travel is CDC's bus charter division for its Sydney and Blue Mountains operations. Initially established as Charterplus in 2008 to centralise the charter operations between the Hillsbus depots, this was expanded to the Westbus depots in 2009. It organises charters  for the CDC group, CDC rail bus workings, as well as CDC's special event commitments. Charterplus was renamed CDC Travel in November 2018. Originally based at Bonnyrigg, all Sydney CDC Travel vehicles are now based at the St Marys depot with some vehicles based in the Blue Mountains. As of December 2021, CDC Travel operates 57 buses transferred from both the New South Wales and Victorian operations. Blue Mountains Transit. In August 2014, CDC purchased Blue Mountains Bus Company with 101 buses. It operated depots in Emu Plains, Leura and Valley Heights. Founded in 1951 as Pearce Omnibus, it  operated services in the lower Blue Mountains. In 1999, it expanded with the purchase of Katoomba-Leura Bus Service, followed in 2002 by Blue Mountains Bus Co. On 1 December 2014, CDC formally took over the operations of Blue Mountains Bus Company and rebranded it as Blue Mountains Transit. Blue Mountains Transit now operates 72 buses as of December 2021, across the same 3 depots, which includes the recent additions of 14 ex-StationLink buses in July 2019. QCity and Transborder Express. In September 2012, CDC purchased Deane's Transit Group which comprised Deane's Buslines which operates local services  in Queanbeyan and into Canberra, and Transborder Express which runs services between Yass, Murrumbateman, Hall and Canberra. Both brands also operate school services within their service region. On 8 July 2013, Deane's Buslines was rebranded as Qcity Transit. As of December 2021, the combined QCity Transit and Transborder Express fleet consists of 149 buses. Forest Coach Lines. Forest Coach Lines is a bus and coach operator which operates in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney, the Mid North Coast, and North West Slopes regions in New South Wales. Since 2005, Forest Coach Lines' services in Sydney have formed Sydney Bus  Region 14. It was acquired by ComfortDelGro in August 2018. In October 2021, CDC merged its newly acquired school bus business from KA & VK Stubbs Pty Ltd into its Forest Coach Lines business in Narrabri and Wee Waa. Blanch's Bus Company. Blanch's Bus Company, established in 1976, operates scheduled route and school bus services in the Ballina, Lennox Head, Byron Bay and Mullumbimby areas of Northern NSW out of depots in Ballina and Billinudgel. Since 2010, it also owned Brunswick Valley Coaches, while retaining the latter's brand. Blanch's Bus Company and Brunswick Valley Coaches were acquired  by ComfortDelGro in April 2019. As of December 2021, the fleet consists of 51 buses. CDC Victoria. In February 2009, when ComfortDelGro Cabcharge entered the Victorian bus market with the acquisition of Kefford Corporation for A$149 million, with its fleet of 328 buses and six depots. Kefford was immediately renamed CDC Victoria. The fleets retained their individual identities and liveries, with small CDC Victoria markings, until they were rebranded to their respective CDC brands in 2014. Buslink. Buslink is a bus operator which operates in Alice Springs, Darwin, Jabiru and Humpty Doo in Northern Territory. Buslink previously operated as  Buslink Broken Hill in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Buslink Sunraysia in Wentworth and Mildura near the NSW/Victoria border, and Buslink Queensland in Sunshine and Gladstone, Queensland. Buslink was acquired by ComfortDelGro in November 2018. Shortly after the acquisition, Buslink Broken Hill and Buslink Sunraysia moved to CDC Victoria's control. In March 2020, Buslink Sunraysia was renamed CDC Mildura and Buslink Broken Hill was renamed CDC Broken Hill. In October 2020, Buslink Queensland was renamed CDC Queensland, with Buslink Sunshine Coast renamed CDC Sunshine Coast and Buslink Gladstone renamed CDC Gladstone. As of March 2022, the remaining CDC  operations in Northern Territory still carry the Buslink brand, but are to be rebranded CDC Northern Territory. CDC Queensland. CDC Queensland a bus operator in Queensland, operating in Gladstone and Sunshine Coast as CDC Gladstone and CDC Sunshine Coast respectively. It was renamed from Buslink Queensland on 1 October 2020. ComfortDelGro acquired Rockhampton-based Young's Bus Service in 2021. National Patient Transport. National Patient Transport is one of the largest private providers of non-emergency patient transport services in Australia. ComfortDelGro acquired National Patient Transport in April 2018. Other ComfortDelGro operations in Australia. These operations are operations of ComfortDelGro  in Australia that are not part of ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia. Swan Taxis. ComfortDelGro fully owns Swan Taxis, a taxi company operates taxis in Perth. Swan Taxis was formed by Matt Reid in 1928 and in October 2010, it was acquired by ComfortDelGro after an offer was made in July earlier that year. In October 2017, Swan Taxis acquired Metro WA Taxi Management Pty Ltd (Metro Taxi), the largest taxi management company in Perth. The acquisition marked Swan Taxis' entry into fleet management and ownership. Being wholly owned by ComfortDelGro since acquisition, the Swan Taxis operation was never part of the  ComfortDelGro Cabcharge joint venture, and therefore remains a separate entity to ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia. Purple Coaches. Purple Coaches is a private charter bus operator based in Bayswater, Perth. It was acquired by ComfortDelGro in August 2018. As of December 2018, Purple Coaches (legal name ComforDelGro Swan Pty Ltd) is a subsidiary of Swans Taxis, and hence it is also not a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia.