McCafferty's Coaches was an Australian family run interstate

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

operator from 1940 to 2004. In October 2004 the McCafferty family sold its shares and its operations were rebranded as part of

Greyhound Australia Greyhound Australia is an Australian coach operator that ran services in all mainland states and territories until reduction of services in the 2000s. It is owned by KordaMentha (85%) and the Chapman Group (15%). The company was established i ...

History

McCafferty's Coaches was formed in April 1940 when

Jack McCafferty John Francis McCafferty (1914-1999) was one of the pioneers of the bus and coach industry in Australia, founder of McCafferty's Coaches and mayor of Toowoomba for 9 years. McCafferty was born at Breakfast Creek, Brisbane on 11 March 1914, the ...

began a service from Picnic Point to Rangeville in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

. In 1955 McCafferty's began operating a service from Toowoomba to the Gold Coast. Over the next few decades McCafferty's expanded to operate long distance services throughout

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. In December 1980 McCafferty's entered the interstate coach market with a Brisbane to Sydney service extending to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

in December 1983. On 22 December 1989, one of their coaches was involved in a disastrous bus crash near Kempsey,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in which 35 people were killed. In November 1992 McCafferty's commenced operating Melbourne to

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and Adelaide to

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

services followed by Sydney - Canberra - Adelaide in late 1993 and Darwin -

Broome __NOTOC__ Broome may refer to: Places Australia *Broome, Western Australia **Broome International Airport **Broome Tramway **Roman Catholic Diocese of Broome **Shire of Broome **Attack on Broome during World War II United Kingdom *Broome Park, Ke ...

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

in May 1995 making it a national operator. The latter service was withdrawn in June 1996. The Brisbane to

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** C ...

service was acquired from

Skennars Skennars was an Australian interstate coach operator. History Clarrie Skennar began operating coach services in southern Queensland in 1956. By 1960 he was running a service from the Goondiwindi Shell Garage to the Barnes Auto Depot in North Qu ...

in 1992. In 1999 McCafferty's purchased

MotorCoach Australia MotorCoach Australia was an Australian bus manufacturer in Kingston Logan, Brisbane. History MotorCoach Australia was formed in 1982 by former Denning employees Kevin Johnson and Dick White based in Kingston. It initially manufactured bus chas ...

from the administrator of

Clifford Corporation Clifford Corporation was a listed Australian company that purchased several bus manufacturing businesses in the mid-1990s before collapsing in November 1998. History In August 1995 Clifford Corporation purchased the Ansair bus bodybuilding busin ...

. As well as building coaches for McCafferty's it also completed orders for external customers. It closed in 2004 having completed over 60 coaches. In March 2000 McCafferty's entered into negotiations with Greyhound Pioneer Australia about a possible merge. In September 2000 a takeover bid from McCafferty's for Greyhound was accepted. As part of the deal the McCafferty family sold their shares to Tony McCafferty. In October 2004 the McCafferty family sold its shares to

ANZ Bank ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ** ...

and George Chapman, and both operations were rebranded as Greyhound Australia.

Fleet

From the late 1960s, McCafferty's purchased exclusively new Denning coaches. In the first half of the 1990s, 40 second-hand Denning Landseers from a variety operators were purchased for its interstate expansion. From 1994 it began purchasing

coaches. In the 1970s McCafferty's coaches were painted in a white with blue and black, then into the early 1980s, a magenta and blue livery appeared. In 1987 a silver, grey, blue and red livery was introduced followed by a two-tone gold and blue livery, originally intended as a special livery to mark the company's 50th anniversary in 1990, but adopted as standard. The final livery was a sand-like "Platinum" with blue colour scheme to celebrate the company's 60th anniversary.McCafferty's
Australia Showbus

References

External links

{{Australian interstate coach operators, state=collapsed Bus companies of Australia Toowoomba Transport companies established in 1940 Transport companies established in 2004 Australian companies disestablished in 2004 Australian companies established in 1940 Bus companies of Queensland