Forest Coach Lines is an Australian bus and coach operator. Founded in 1930 in the

Northern Suburbs Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney's north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sy ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, since 2016 it has expanded with purchases in the

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region, situated 416km north of Sydney, covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens at Hawks Nest to as far ...

and

North West Slopes The North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, refers generally to the area west of the Northern Tablelands, to the north of the Central West region and to the east of the Far West region. Despite its name, the region is in north- ...

regions in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It became a subsidiary of

ComfortDelGro Australia ComfortDelGro Australia is a major Australian public transport company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-listed company ComfortDelGro. Founded in October 2005 as ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, a joint venture between ComfortDelGro (51%) and ...

in 2018. In early 2023, the Forest Coach Lines brand was replaced by ComfortDelGro's

CDC NSW CDC NSW is a bus operator in New South Wales, Australia. It is an umbrella brand of ComfortDelGro Australia established in 2017 to cover the latter's New South Wales operations, some of which had been owned by ComfortDelGro since 2005. It was sub ...

branding for the Sydney operations. The Mid North Coast and North West Slopes operations continue to be branded Forest Coach Lines and will be rebranded to CDC NSW in March 2025, with the Forest Coach Lines brand to be phased out.

History

In March 1930, Eric and Trevor Royle trading as Royle Brothers, purchased routes 56 Chatswood station to

Roseville Chase Roseville Chase is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia 11 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. Roseville is a ...

and 201 Roseville station to Roseville Chase from E Jones with three buses. In October 1941 the first service operated across the

Roseville Bridge The Roseville Bridge, is a pre-stressed concrete box girder road bridge that carries Warringah Road, part of the A38 across Middle Harbour, located adjacent to the suburb of , in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge is one of two c ...

Terrey Hills Terrey Hills is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 25 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Forest District and ...

.History
Forest Coach Lines In March 1947, route 52 Chatswood to

Artarmon Artarmon () is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby. History In ...

was purchased but quickly sold in November of that year to Brooks Bros. From the late 1940s, the

Frenchs Forest Frenchs Forest (pron. frenches) is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Frenchs Forest is 13 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Coun ...

area expanded rapidly and by 1960 the Royle Brothers fleet had expanded to 12 buses. The operation was renamed Forest Coach Lines in February 1964 and relocated to a new depot in

Belrose Belrose is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia 19 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Belrose is also considered to be part of ...

. In May 1965, route 201 ceased. An expansion into coach charter saw Forest Trailways established with a separate depot in

Manly Vale Manly Vale is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council, in the Northern Beaches region ...

. Eric and Trevor Royle retired in the mid-1960s with the Trevor's sons Bernard and Tony taking over. In 1973, services were extended to Duffys Forest and in February 1982 to

Warringah Mall Westfield Warringah Mall, previously known as Warringah Mall, is a large indoor/outdoor shopping centre in the suburb of Brookvale, New South Wales, Brookvale in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney. History 20th Century 1960s: opening ...

. In August 1979, a new depot was opened in Terrey Hills to replace those at Belrose and Manly Vale. The Passenger Transport Act 1990 allowed Forest Coach Lines to commence operating services into the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

in July 1992. In August 1991, the Warringah Bus Lines operation was purchased from Shorelink and in July 1998 part of St Ives Bus Service was purchased. In November 2012, it was announced that Forest had been successful in retaining the contract to operate Sydney Bus Region 14. In December 2014, a majority shareholding in the business was purchased by mid-market private equity firm Next Capital. In September 2016, the business of Manly Coaches was acquired with no vehicles. In November 2016, the

business of Ryan's Bus Service was purchased with depots in

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 a ...

and

Woolgoolga Woolgoolga is a town on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Pacific Highway, approximately 550 km north of Sydney and 365 km south of Brisbane. The closest city to Woolgoolga is Coffs Harbour, which lies 24 ...

. In April 2017, Sawtell Coaches was purchased with a depot in Toormina. In September 2017, Wolters Bus & Coach Service was acquired on the

with depots in

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire Local government in Australia, local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Hi ...

and

Wee Waa Wee Waa () is a town located on the north-western slopes of the New England region in New South Wales, Australia. The town is within the Narrabri Shire local government area and is on the Namoi River. Wee Waa is north-west of Narrabri and no ...

. In September 2018,

(CDC) purchased the business. In November 2022, CDC was awarded the contract to retain Region 14. The Forest Coach Lines brand in Sydney was replaced by the CDC NSW brand when the contract commenced on 21 May 2023. The Forest Coach Lines brand remained in the regional New South Wales operations. In January 2025, the brand in regional New South Wales was to be phased out for the CDC NSW brand. This had been delayed to 31 March 2025.

Fleet

Forest Coach Lines' Sydney depot was located at Terrey Hills with a small fleet stored at Cromer. Regional New South Wales depots were located at Coffs Harbour, Sawtell (Toormina), Woolgoolga, Narrabri and Wee Waa.CDC NSW
Australian Bus Fleet Lists As of November 2022 prior to rebranding of the Sydney operations to CDC NSW, the combined fleet consisted of 255 buses and coaches, with 175 in Sydney and 80 in regional NSW. As of April 2025, the fleet in the remaining regional New South Wales depots consists of 86 buses. Forest Coach Lines built up its fleet with Leyland buses. In 1972 it placed the first

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 ...

in Sydney in service. Since then most purchases have been on Volvo or

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

chassis. In March 2013 two Bustech CDi double deckers were introduced. When the business was renamed Forest Coach Lines in February 1964, a new white and green livery was introduced. These remained the fleet colours until 2013 when as part of its new regional bus contract Forest was required to adopt the

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

white and blue livery.

Routes operated in Sydney

As at time of rebranding to CDC NSW (May 2023): *141: Austlink to Manly via Belrose, Northern Beaches Hospital, Seaforth, Balgowlah & Fairlight *193: Austlink to Warringah Mall via Northern Beaches Hospital, Beacon Hill & Narraweena *194: St Ives Village Shops/St Ives Chase to City QVB via East Killara, East Lindfield, East Roseville, Middle Cove, Northbridge and Cammeray *194X: St Ives Village Shops/St Ives Chase to City QVB via East Killara, East Lindfield, East Roseville & Alpha Road (Express Service) *195: Gordon to St. Ives Chase Loop *196: Gordon to Mona Vale via St Ives Village Shops and Austlink *197: Macquarie University to Mona Vale via Macquarie Centre, Macquarie Park, West Pymble, Gordon Station, St Ives Village Shops and Austlink *260: Terrey Hills to North Sydney via Frenchs Forest, Forestville, Northbridge and Cammeray *270: Terrey Hills to City QVB via Frenchs Forest, Forestville & Alpha Road *270X: Terrey Hills to City QVB via Frenchs Forest, Forestville & Alpha Road (Limited Stops) *271: Terrey Hills/Austlink/Belrose to City QVB via Frenchs Forest, Forestville & Alpha Road *273: Killarney Heights to City QVB via Frenchs Forest, Forestville & Alpha Road *274: Davidson to City QVB via Frenchs Forest, Forestville & Alpha Road *277: Chatswood to Castle Cove *278: Chatswood/Forestville to Killarney Heights *280: Chatswood to Warringah Mall via East Roseville, Forestville, Frenchs Forest, Skyline & Allambie *281: Chatswood to Davidson via Forestville & Frenchs Forest *282: Chatswood to Belrose via Forestville, Frenchs Forest & Davidson *283: Chatswood to Belrose via Forestville & Frenchs Forest *284: Chatswood to Duffys Forest via Forestville, Frenchs Forest & Belrose, Austlink & Terrey Hills

Routes operated in Coffs Harbour

* 362: Boambee to Coffs Harbour via SCU Coffs Harbour Campus & CH Base Hospital * 363: Boambee to Coffs Harbour via Pacific Hwy * 364: Sawtell to Coffs Harbour via Hogbin Dr (Loop Service) * 370: Sawtell to Coffs Harbour via Toormina & SCU, Coffs Harbour Campus * 371: Toormina to Boambee (Loop Service) * 372: Coffs Harbour to Grafton via WoolgoolgaForest Coach Lines route 372
Transport for NSW

References

External links

*
Bus Australia gallery
{{Regional NSW public transport Bus companies of New South Wales Bus transport in Sydney ComfortDelGro companies Transport companies established in 1930 Australian companies established in 1930