Northern Beaches MPs call for boost to bus and driver numbers amid ‘crisis’

MPs and locals say the Northern Beaches bus system is in ‘crisis’ between growing queues, cancellations and commute blowouts. Plans to get buses back on the road and drivers behind the wheel could be the key to ending the chaos.

Bendy buses will be called back into service across the Northern Beaches and driver numbers boosted as the way forward for the region’s escalating transport crisis, with local MPs begging the Minns government to intervene.

It comes after service cuts and cancellations on the B-Line express, 190X and multiple other services caused weeks of chaos for commuters, with bus stop queues stretching hundreds of metres along the road side at peak hour.
There are now mounting calls to hold private bus operator Keolis Downer to its contractual obligations to meet timetabled services.

Five Northern Beaches MPs met with Transport Minister John Graham on Thursday evening to iron out the crisis by working on plans to repair bendy buses and fix driver shortages.

Wakehurst MP Michael Regan said he also called for Mr Graham to immediately purchase seven new double-decker buses for the B-Line route in the meeting, based on former pre-budget submissions.

Commuters wait to board the popular B-line express bus from Mona Vale to Wynyard. Picture: Brendan Read

The request comes after Mr Regan claimed mechanical issues across the weathered B-Line fleet pulled multiple double-decker buses off the road this week, fuelled by a shortage of up to 20 bus drivers across the local network.

Footage showed the stark reality of cancelled and delayed services with lines of commuters snaking around the Dee Why B-line bus stop on Tuesday.

Queues for the B-Line stretched 200 to 300 metres around the block at Dee Why on Tuesday. Picture: Gillian McKenna

Residents faced similar delays elsewhere after 50 per cent of the city’s bendy buses were pulled from the Northern Beaches last October due to cracking parts, followed by an overall 20 per cent cut across the 190X service from Avalon to Wynyard in January.

“The situation this week where mechanical issues with numerous B-Line buses led to cancelled services and massive queues will only get worse as the fleet continues to age, unless extra buses are purchased to increase the capacity for when things go wrong,” Mr Regan said.

“Commuters on the Northern Beaches will not be ignored and the underlying bus fleet management issues must be addressed urgently.”

North Shore MP Felicity Wilson said she decided to call the meeting after being inundated with complaints from residents, while Manly MP James Griffin said the cross-party meeting proved the crisis had become so bad “politics was entirely set aside to call the government to action”.

A Keolis Downer spokeswoman said the operator was “dealing with a real shortage of vehicles due to many of our high-capacity articulated ‘bendy’ buses being temporarily removed from service for urgent repairs”.

“We recognise this isn’t the service (commuters) expect, and we’re focused on restoring reliability as quickly as possible.”