Melbourne bus route 901 is a SmartBus route operated by Kinetic Melbourne between Frankston station and Melbourne Airport in Melbourne, Australia.
History
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, orbital bus routes were introduced in Melbourne as an alternative to trains, allowing people to reach major areas without traveling through the city. SmartBus Route 901 was introduced on 24 March 2008 as the yellow orbital, operating from Frankston station to Ringwood station, and absorbing route 665 (operated by Invicta Bus Services) and route 830 (operated by Grenda's Bus Services).[1] The new route was initially jointly operated by Grenda's and Invicta, until Grenda bought Invicta in 2009.[2]
In September 2010, route 901 was extended to Melbourne Airport, replacing part of East West Bus Company route 571. This extension made it Melbourne's second longest bus route by distance and longest by total journey time.[3][4][5] East West then also became an operator of the route.[6][7]
In 2012, the route was operated by East West and Ventura Bus Lines after Ventura acquired Grenda.[8][9] Transdev Melbourne fully took over the route in 2013,[10] followed by Kinetic Melbourne in January 2022.[11][12]
Route
Route 901 operates from Frankston station to Melbourne Airport via the outer eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne. The route travels via Dandenong station, Westfield Knox, Ringwood station, Blackburn station, The Pines Shopping Centre, Greensborough Station, South Morang station, Epping station, Broadmeadows station and Gladstone Park.[13]
Vehicles
Route 901 was initially operated by a dedicated fleet of Volgren bodied Mercedes-Benz OC500LEs painted in SmartBus silver and orange livery. Grenda and East-West later supplemented the Mercedes-Benz fleet with Volvo B7RLEs, and Invicta with Scania K230UBs. These have been superseded by Gemilang and Volgren bodied Scania K320UBs in standard Public Transport Victoria livery.[citation needed] As of 2022, Volgren bodied Scania K320HB hybrid buses are also in service alongside their diesel counterparts.
As of October 2024, Kinetic operates over 100 hybrid buses.
References
- ^ "SmartBus network expands in Melbourne's South East". Metlink. 10 March 2008. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008.
- ^ Route 901 timetable Metlink
- ^ Doncaster DART set to start Australasian Bus & Coach 2 September 2010
- ^ SmartBus Route 901 Department of Transport. Archived on 26 February 2011
- ^ Introduction of Doncaster Dart and extended 901 Smart Bus services Australian Bus Panorama issue 26/3 November 2010 page 18
- ^ "East West Bus Company". Wongm's Rail Gallery. Retrieved 17 July 2024.[self-published source]
- ^ "Bus Timetables and Route Details". East West Bus Company. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011.
- ^ Ventura buys Grenda Australian Bus issue 49 January 2012 page 5
- ^ Ventura takes over Grenda's bus operations Australian Bus Panorama issue 27/4 January 2012 page 7
- ^ Transdev to begin operating the Melbourne Metropolitan Bus Franchise from Sunday 4 August Public Transport Victoria 2 August 2013
- ^ New bus franchise to jump start zero-emission pledge Department of Transport
- ^ Kinetic wins Victorian Government Contract to run a third of Melbourne's bus network Kinetic Group 5 October 2021
- ^ Route 901 timetable Archived 19 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine Public Transport Victoria
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