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.jpg) Express Coach Builders bodiedIveco Metro in February 2024 | |
| Parent | Buslines Group |
|---|---|
| Commenced operation | 1925 |
| Headquarters | Cessnock |
| Service area | Hunter Valley |
| Service type | Bus & coach operator |
| Routes | 11 |
| Depots | 3 |
| Fleet | 59 (February 2024) |
| Website | www.rovercoaches.com.au |
Rover Coaches is an Australian bus company operating services in theHunter Valley. It is a subsidiary ofBuslines Group.
In 1925, George Ryder purchased two small bus operators, the South Maitland Motor Company and the Marble Bar Motor Service, and named the company Rover Motors. Ryder was soon joined in the business by Rab Lewis. In the 1930s, Rover Motors introduced the first centre-door double decker buses in Australia and purchased the Cessnock to Maitland service from the Fogg family. In 1944, Rover Motors introduced the firstsemi-trailer bus inNew South Wales. In the 1940s, the Fogg and Mordue families become part owners of the business.[1][2][3]
By the 1950s, services ran toMaitland every half-hour from 04:30 until midnight. Services commenced toWangi Wangi andSwansea on Friday nights, returning on Sundays. Services commenced operating to transport employees to theBHPNewcastle Steelworks. In the 1960s, Rover Motors begins operating coach tours to theGold Coast andSnowy Mountains. With the withdrawal of passenger services from theSouth Maitland Railway to Cessnock, Rover Motors began operating services to Newcastle on 3 October 1967.[2][4]
In the 1970s, Rover Motors opened a travel agency and began operating tours across Australia as well as providing overseas and domestic travel arrangements. In 1986, the Lewis and Mordue families terminated their shared interests in Rover Motors andHunter Valley Coaches, with the Lewis family taking full ownership of Rover and the Mordue family, Hunter Valley.[2][5]
In July 2009, a Cessnock toMorisset station service was introduced.[6][7]
In December 2022, the Lewis family sold Rover Coaches toBuslines Group.[8][9] The Rover name will be retained.
Since September 2006, Rover's services have formedSydney Outer Metropolitan Bus Region 1.[10] It primarily operates services from Cessnock to Maitland, with limited services to Morisset andNewcastle Interchange.
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As at 20th of February 2024, the fleet consisted of 59 buses and coaches.[11] Rover was a long timeLeyland purchaser, continuing to build up its fleet with second-handTigers long after it had gone out of production.[12] The original all red livery was replaced by red and white in the 1980s, and white and red in the late 1990s. In 2012, theTransport for NSW white and blue livery was adopted for route buses.
Rover Coaches operate a depot and overflow yard in Cessnock as well as a depot inKurri Kurri.
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