‘Not ideal,’ government admits, as fleet of buses bought from China

A fleet of 60 diesel buses will be bought from a Chinese manufacturer to guarantee there are enough vehicles to run replacement services for commuters when a busy train line in Sydney’s south-west is shut for a year, sparking criticism from a key transport union.

As part of a deal for replacement services, Transport for NSW has confirmed that Transit Systems had offered to buy and operate 60 diesel buses for “dedicated use” during the Bankstown line’s closure.

Up to 60,000 commuters a day will be forced to take replacement buses when the Bankstown line is closed for a year.Credit: Kate Geraghty

The agency awarded a major contract to the company in February for replacement buses while the 13-kilometre stretch of rail line between Sydenham and Bankstown is closed from as early as July so it can be converted to metro train standards.

Transport for NSW said the 60 buses being made in China would be owned by Transit Systems and that the agency had “no ongoing commitment” to the vehicles after the rail line reopened in 2025. It added the cost of the replacement bus contract would be disclosed in the coming weeks.

While the transport agency distanced itself from the purchase of overseas-built buses, Rail Tram and Bus Union divisional secretary David Babineau said Transit Systems would not be buying a new fleet if it had not been awarded a lucrative contract to provide replacement services.

“It is a way to get the bus infrastructure without having the cost of it on Transport for NSW’s bottom line,” he said.

Babineau, who is critical of the decision to convert the Bankstown line into one for driverless metro trains, said he was surprised at the purchase of overseas-built diesel buses because Labor had a policy of building more buses locally and electrifying the fleet.

“They are flying in the face of their own policy to make sure this rail line conversion happens when it’s still unclear why it has to,” he said.

A spokesperson for Transport Minister Jo Haylen described the diesel-bus purchase as “not ideal” and said the measure did not represent government policy over the medium to long term.

“Like the wider temporary transport plan that we are working on, this is an imperfect solution to a difficult, short-term problem,” he said.

He said disability-compliant buses were needed to transport passengers during the closure and, while the bus manufacturing industry was growing, “we don’t yet have the capacity to punch out 60 buses in a short period of time”.

Last month, Haylen said the government was “determined to restore” local manufacturing because “building buses, trains and ferries here means more local jobs”. In the lead-up to the state election last year, she said the “only way to make sure we build our trains, ferries, trams and buses here is to vote for Chris Minns and Labor”.

Coalition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said Labor promised jobs in NSW but, so far, it had delivered Tasmanian ferries and buses built in China. “The government could have honoured its commitment but instead talks a big game and under-delivers,” she said.

Illustrating the extent of disruption to passengers from the Bankstown line’s closure, internal modelling by Transport for NSW has forecast journey times for about 60,000 commuters will double in morning and evening peaks when buses replace trains.

The shutdown is due to start between July and October. A major challenge will be to find enough bus drivers to operate replacement services. Sydney had 272 bus driver vacancies this month, down from 500 in May last year.

Haylen’s spokesperson said the minister had directed the transport agency to ensure the bus replacement program for the Bankstown line was done “without stealing drivers” from other parts of Sydney.

Transit Systems would not reveal where in China the buses were being manufactured, saying it had appointed an “Australian-owned bus distributor to supply the fleet”. The buses would provide services for the rail project and be part of the company’s national charter fleet, it said.

“We are working closely with Transport for NSW to align delivery dates with the rail service replacement plan,” the company said.

The company has long-term contracts with the government to provide bus operations from Bondi Junction in the east to Camden in the south-west, servicing areas including the CBD, Burwood, Parramatta, Bankstown, Liverpool and Campbelltown. The contracts make it Sydney’s largest bus operator, running more than 1200 buses.