Inner West buses to be opened to world's best operators

The NSW Government will invite the world’s best operators to compete to run bus services in the Inner West to improve customer service on some of the city’s busiest routes.

Bus Region 6 which services suburbs from the city west to Strathfield and Olympic Park – would be competitively tendered to ensure extra and more reliable services for commuters.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance said Inner West services attracted the highest number of complaints out of Sydney’s metropolitan area in recent years, well above the results of bordering regions operated by private industry. It also had one of the worst on-time running results last year.

“There have been improvements in recent years, but State Transit still lags a long way behind its industry competitors in measures like on-time running and reliability.

“If the bus industry can provide quality in western Sydney, the Inner West deserves the same, especially as Sydney grows.”

Industry has been operating buses in metropolitan Sydney for more than a decade with a strong track record of delivering a safe, reliable and efficient service all while meeting or exceeding contracted performance targets.

The Government will continue to own Region 6 buses and assets, including depots.

About Transport for NSW

Transport for NSW is the lead agency of the NSW Transport cluster. Our role is to lead the development of a safe, efficient, integrated transport system that keeps people and goods moving, connects communities and shapes the future of our cities, centres and regions.