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Eight bus routes will be axed across Sydney but 10 will be added – most in the city’s south-west before the final section of the M1 metro rail line opens – under sweeping changes to services starting from Sunday.
As part of a shake-up that will affect large numbers of the city’s commuters, 11 routes will also have their paths altered, and 87 will undergo “timetable adjustments”, which the union representing bus drivers says will most likely result in cuts to service frequencies.
On the northern beaches and north shore, routes 196 and 594 will be axed while extra services will be added to routes 194, 197 and 577 for passengers disrupted by the changes. Timetable adjustments will be made to 21 routes.
The network changes come as northern beaches bus drivers plan to turn off Opal card readers for a fortnight from Thursday, resulting in passengers receiving free rides, as part of protected industrial action. Their union and private bus operator Keolis Downer are in a stand-off over a new wage agreement.
In the north-west and Hills District, the key change will be the reintroduction of route 52 from Parramatta to the CBD via West Ryde, which will replace the axed 500X and 500N. Route 525 will also be altered to run from Parramatta to Lidcombe via Newington.
Timetables will be adjusted for 44 routes in that part of Sydney – nine of which will have routes altered – in changes that transport authorities say are partly designed to improve connections with the $30 billion M1 metro rail line from the north-west to the CBD and onto the south-west.
In Sydney’s south-west, routes 943, M91, S5 and S14 will be axed, but nine new ones will be introduced. Timetable adjustments will be made to 23 routes there.
Transport for NSW said changes in the south-west were aimed at improving bus connections to the final section of the M1 metro rail line between Sydenham and Bankstown, which is slated for opening in mid-October, as well as Greenacre shops and Chullora Marketplace shopping centre.
A key change in the south-west will be renumbering the T80 Liverpool to Parramatta T-way to route 80 with a higher frequency of services.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union divisional president Peter Grech said timetable adjustments usually resulted in a cut to service frequency.
“Generally, it is a reduced frequency and extra cancellations. The fix is to put money into drivers’ pockets to ensure they stay in the industry and get what we used to have, which was a reliable public transport service,” he said.
Transport Minister John Graham said the government was increasing bus services at a rapid rate.
“From this Sunday, we will have delivered 3279 additional bus services since coming to office, and we’re just getting started,” he said. “These changes are about putting services where people need them and making the network more reliable and reducing cancellations.”
The transport agency said it was reshaping bus services to improve connections, reduce duplication and increase capacity where demand was greatest as major projects like Sydney Metro were completed.
“This includes simplifying routes, improving reliability, and strengthening links between buses, trains and metro services,” it said. “These changes are informed by detailed analysis of travel patterns.”
The latest government figures show Sydney’s bus driver shortage stood at 157 vacancies in April, an increase from 118 in the same month last year. However, driver vacancies have fallen significantly since recording 420 in August 2023.
Six private operators, including Busways, Transit Systems and Keolis Downer, are contracted by the NSW government to provide bus services across 10 regions in Sydney. Nine of the contracts are worth about $8 billion in total, and each is for about eight years.
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