 | |
 | |
| Parent | Kinetic |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1995 |
| Defunct | 2022 |
| Service area | Cairns Magnetic Island Rockhampton Sunshine Coast Townsville Toowoomba |
| Service type | Bus operator |
| Routes | 200 as of 2022 |
| Depots | Caloundra Garbutt Glenmore Marcoola Nelly Bay Smithfield Wilsonton |
| Fleet | 275 (July 2022) |
| Website | www.sunbus.com.au https://www.wearekinetic.com/ |
Sunbus was an Australian bus operator in the Australian state ofQueensland. It operated in 5 regional areas across the state under contract to theGovernment of Queensland under theTranslink banner. As of 2022 Sunbus has changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company,Kinetic. Sunbus has now been dissolved into the Kinetic brand with its fleet of buses reflecting this change.[1]
In 1995, Harry Blundred, the proprietor ofThames Transit in the United Kingdom, was awarded the operating rights to route services in a number of regions inQueensland following thestate government deciding to put the operation of these services out to tender. Sunbus were awarded the rights to operate services in theCairns,Ipswich,Rockhampton,Sunshine Coast andTownsville regions.[2] As part of the deal, Sunbus was also responsible for the operation of school bus services in the region, however these were sold in 1997 to fellow British bus operatorStagecoach.[3][4]
In January 2000, the Ipswich business was sold to thePulitano Group and in September 2003 Hagan's, Bus Service,Toowoomba was purchased and rebranded Garden City Sunbus and was based at 487 Greenwattle Street,Wilsonton. This was sold in April 2009 to the Pulitano Group.[5][6]
In April 2008, Blundred sold the remaining Sunbus operations toTransit Australia Group.
In November 2008,Magnetic Island Bus Services was purchased[7] and in April 2010 the Townsville operation was expanded with the acquisition of Hermit Park Bus Service.[8][9]
In April 2019, Transit Australia Group was purchased by AATS Group, parent company ofSkybus and majority owned byOPTrust.[10] In August 2019, AATS Group was rebranded theKinetic Group.[11]
In late 2022, Sunbus was officially branded asKINETIC with all new advertising now showing the Kinetic Brand. All new buses will display the Kinetic logo with the current fleet of Sunbus slowly being updated to reflect the new brand name. The current website for Sunbus will stay active until early 2023 before it will be deactivated, directing customers to the new Kinetic website.
Sunbus operated as:
As at July 2022, the fleet consisted of 275 buses.[12] When Sunbus commenced it introduced a large number ofMercedes-Benz Vario midibuses. These were replaced byBustech bodiedVolvo B7RLEs,B12BLEs, Bustech MDis and XDis. Fleet livery was light blue.