Keolis Downer bungle forces Newcastle bus fleet offline as registrations lapse

By Simon McCarthy

Updated October 2 2024 - 6:16pm, first published 6:08pm

Newcastle transport operator Keolis Downer has blamed an administrative error after the registration of a significant number of its Newcastle bus fleet was allowed to expire on Monday, September 30, forcing much of the city’s fleet offline on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the operator, which runs just shy of 200 buses in Newcastle, apologised to travellers on the network on Wednesday afternoon after buses were suddenly recalled from service to the depots on Tuesday when the issue came to light.

Keolis Downer insisted on Wednesday that the fleet had recently passed all required safety checks and that, as of October 2, its entire fleet was back online and operating as normal.

“All vehicles are now registered. We have reviewed our processes to ensure this will not happen again,” the spokesperson said in a brief statement. “We are very sorry for the impact this issue caused our customers.”

The operator did not specify the number of buses included in the lapse on Wednesday, but the Newcastle Herald understands that as much as half the local fleet was affected.

Keolis Downer won a 10-year contract in 2016 to run the city’s buses, the Stockton ferry and the Newcastle light rail. Still, earlier this year, the transport worker’s union pushed the state government to return the public transport network to “public hands”, citing a decline in bus service quality since privatisation.

“Privatising Newcastle’s bus network has been a complete disaster. Commuters have had to deal with inferior services while drivers have had to fight for decent pay and conditions from Keolis Downer,” Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW secretary Toby Warnes told the Herald in July.

Since it took over in 2017, Keolis Downer has changed routes and timetables, which has sparked complaints from some passengers, and a 10,000-signature petition was tabled in Parliament in 2018.

The Minns government established a bus industry task force last year to examine the effects of privatisation and recommend improvements.

A report by the task force published in February identified four Hunter routes as “short-term” priorities - Charlestown to Newcastle via Jesmond and Newcastle University; Cameron Park to Newcastle via New Lambton; Cessnock to East Maitland; and Mimmi to Newcastle via Wallsend.