Darwinbus is the official operational name of the public bus network which operates within the Greater Darwin region, this includes the satellite cities Palmerston and

Casuarina ''Casuarina'', also known as she-oak, Australian pine and native pine, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae, and is native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and e ...

, in addition to the Darwin Rural Area in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. The network is exclusively operated by CDC Northern Territory under a six-year contract with the

Northern Territory Government The Northern Territory Government is the executive branch of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory was formed in 1978 with the granting of self-government to the Territory. The Northern Territory is a territory of the Co ...

starting from 1 July 2022, and in the financial year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, carried approximately 3.5 million passengers, equivalent to a 5-6% mode share. Prior to July 2022, the network was operated by two contractors; CDC Northern Territory (previously known as

Buslink CDC Northern Territory is a bus operator providing services in Alice Springs, Bathchelor, Darwin, Palmerston, Jabiru and Humpty Doo. It is the largest operator in the Northern Territory and the sole operator of the Darwinbus network. CDC No ...

), and Territory Transit who had shared operation of the majority of urban bus services. Services formerly operated by Territory Transit had been run by the government-owned Darwin Bus Service ("DBS") until October 2014, who had provided about 40% of all services in the Darwin region since Buslink commenced operation during the 1980s. In December 2013, it was announced that Darwin Bus Service services would be privatised. In July 2014,

Transit Systems Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group. History ...

(owner of Territory Transit) was announced as the successful tenderer. In October 2014, Territory Transit took over the former Darwin Bus Service bus operation. In May 2022, CDC Northern Territory was announced as the successful bidder after a competitive tender process. While both incumbents placed bids for the tender,

Australian Transit Group The Australian Transit Group (ATG) is a bus group with operations in the Northern Territory, Victoria and Western Australia. It was established in 2004 when Michael Baulch and Ben Doolan purchased Fortesque Bus Service, Karratha, Kojonup Bus ...

also placed a bid during the tender process.

Fleet

As of December 2013, the Buslink fleet consisted of 164 buses based out of depots in

Berrimah Berrimah may refer to: * Berrimah, Northern Territory, suburb * Electoral division of Berrimah Berrimah was an electoral divisions of the Northern Territory, electoral division of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly ...

and

Humpty Doo Humpty Doo is a town in Australia's Northern Territory, situated just south of the Arnhem Highway, approximately 40 km from Darwin. At the , Humpty Doo had a population of 4,313 people. Its local government area is Litchfield Municipality ...

, and the then Darwin Bus Service fleet based in Stuart Park consisted of 36 buses. After assuming control of the former Darwin Bus Service depot and its fleet at Stuart Park in 2014, Territory Transit began replacement of many older buses in the fleet. A total of 17 Mercedes-Benz OC500LE rigid buses with Custom Coaches bodywork were added between 2015 and 2020, with the size of the fleet reducing slightly to 34 buses. While these additions largely displaced older rigid buses produced by

MAN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

and

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

, three of four Scania L94UA articulated buses were ultimately replaced. A further two buses (which included the last articulated bus) were withdrawn without replacement prior to CDC Northern Territory taking control of the Stuart Park Depot in 2022. A pair of Mercedes-Benz OH1830LE buses, which had previously been used by Buslink-Vivo, were also based at Stuart Park depot but were mostly utilised for charter work. CDC Northern Territory's depots at

and

had a combined total of 158 buses as of February 2022, although the vast majority of these buses are not utilised for public bus services, instead performing charter, school bus and special needs transport duties. While a total of 47 buses are painted in the Darwinbus livery of black, white and ochre, 6 of those buses were utilised exclusively as school buses. Since commencement of the new contract, some of these buses have been returned to urban service at the Stuart Park depot. As of December 2022, CDC Northern Territory operates 192 buses in the Greater Darwin area, and an additional 16 in Alice Springs. The increase in Darwin is largely attributable to inheriting the former Territory Transit fleet at Stuart Park, with the combined urban fleets totalling 79 buses. All Darwinbus services are now exclusively operated by Mercedes-Benz OC500LE buses with a mix of

Volgren Volgren is an Australian bus and coach body manufacturer. History Volvo Buses, VolGrenda Corporation, gren was formed in 1977 by Melbourne bus operator Grenda Corporation in Dandenong, Victoria. Because Grenda held the Volvo Buses dealership i ...

and

Custom Coaches Custom Denning (previously Custom Bus and Custom Coaches) is an Australian bus body builder based in St Marys, New South Wales. History Cycle Components Manufacturing Company In 1935, Stanley Hillsdon founded Cycle Components Manufacturing ...

bodywork. CDC Northern Territory has announced plans to introduce nine Volvo Hybrid Buses to the fleet during the present six-year contract, although a timeframe for their introduction has not yet been made public.

Routes

A total of 39 public bus routes are operated by Darwinbus, with the majority operating 7-days per week, excepting Christmas Day and Good Friday. A variety of services are provided, including all-stops and semi-express routes between the three interchanges at Darwin, Casuarina and Palmerston, in addition to feeder or shopper style services which predominantly run in a uni-directional circuit. During Mindil Beach Market Season (last Thursday in April to last Thursday in October), additional bus services run, and some late-night outbound bus services are extended to commence from Mindil Beach to facilitate access to the markets. For other significant events in Darwin, such as New Year's Eve, Darwin Show Day or

Bass in the Grass Bassinthegrass (styled as ''BASSINTHEGRASS'') is an Australian music festival. It is the largest music festival in the Northern Territory, and has been held annually since 2003 in the territory capital. The festival is operated by the Northern ...

, additional special event buses run. Timetables and maps are available separately online from th
NT Government Website
Service announcements are publicised on th
CDC Northern Territory
an
NT DIPL
Facebook pages, in addition to separate pages on the NT Government Website
Public Bus Alerts & Route Changes
and
Proposed Bus Changes.
All bus services inbound to Darwin Interchange utilise Mitchell Street, whereas outbound services travel via Cavenagh Street.

References

External links

www.transport.nt.gov.au/public/bus/darwinCDC Northern Territory
{{Authority control Bus companies of the Northern Territory Companies based in Darwin, Northern Territory Transport in Darwin, Northern Territory Transport companies established in 1978 1978 establishments in Australia