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 Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group, is an Australian public company that operates transport services in Australia, United Kingdom and Singapore. History In 1989, the business was founded with the purchase of the Kangaroo Island SeaLink ...

, formerly SeaLink Travel Group.

History

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Lance Francis, Graham Leishman and Neil Smith together operated Bayside Buslines in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Peninsula Bus Lines on the New South Wales Central Coast and

Sunliner Express Sunliner Express was an Australian interstate coach operator. History Sunliner Express was formed in 1986 when the Brisbane to Cairns licence of VIP Express was purchased."Sunliner Express - The High Deck Legacy" ''Australian Bus Panorama'' 9/2 ...

on the east coast. Graham Leishman previously also operated a bus company with his father in 1971. After Sunliner Express collapsed in 1991, all were either sold or liquidated. In 1995, Francis, Leishman and Smith won the Midland bus contract in

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 1995 and founded

Swan Transit Swan Transit is an Australian bus company operating Transperth services under contract to the Public Transport Authority. It is a subsidiary of Transit Systems. History On 21 January 1996, Swan Transit commenced operating services in the Mid ...

, the first business unit of Transit Systems. The Midland operations commenced on 21 January 1996, and was the first time since 1962 that an urban service bus in Perth was operated by a privately-owned operator. Swan Transit was awarded four other contracts within the next two years, and a fifth one in 2002. In 2000, the

Adelaide Metro Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal system offering an integrated network of bus, tram, and train service throughout the metropolitan area. The network has an a ...

East-West bus contract was awarded to Transit Systems, the first bus contract outside of Perth, and operations started in April 2000, operating as Torrens Transit. In April 2005, Torrens Transit commenced operating the North–South and Outer North East contracts. In 2011, the East–West bus contract was renewed, but the North–South and Outer North East contracts were lost to

Light-City Buses Light-City Buses was an Australian bus service operator in Adelaide. It operated services as part of the Adelaide Metro network under contract to the Government of South Australia. It was a subsidiary of Broadspectrum, formerly known as Transfi ...

. Transit Systems entered the ferry market by acquiring Bay Islands Transit (BITS) and Big Red Cat in 2005 and 2007 respectively, both in

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 2011, the

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-con ...

Ferries operation commenced, transporting workers to Curtis Island to support the construction of a liquefied natural gas plant on the island. In the same year, Stradbroke ferries was acquired, and the Big Red Cat operation was merged into it. In November 2012, Transit Systems was awarded its first bus contract in

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 ...

, region 3 of the Sydney Metropolitan Bus System Contracts, in

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

. Operations commenced in October 2013, operating as

Transit Systems NSW Transit Systems NSW, previously known as Transit Systems Sydney, is a bus operator in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is a subsidiary of Transit Systems. History In November 2012, Transit Systems was awarded a contract by Transport ...

. In June 2013, Transit Systems first ventured overseas with the purchase of

First London First London was a bus company operating services in east and west Greater London, England. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup and operated buses under contract to Transport for London. It was formed in the late 1990s through the acquisition o ...

's garages and operations in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England, operating as

Tower Transit A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

. Adam Leishman, the son of Transit Systems co-founder Graham Leishman and the Business Development Director for Transit Systems, relocated to London to become the CEO of Tower Transit. Tower Transit was then awarded a bus contract to operate 26 routes in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in May 2015, and took over operations from the incumbent operators between May and June 2016. In October 2014, Transit Systems took over the Darwin Bus Service operation, operating as Territory Transit. In January 2015, Swan Transit commenced 10-year contracts to operate services in Bunbury and Busselton under the TransBunbury and TransBusselton brands. In November 2015, Transit Systems sold all of its marine operations to SeaLink Travel Group, which includes: *Bay Islands Transit (BITS) ferry operationBay Islands Transit Overview
Transit Systems *

FerriesGladstone Ferries Overview
Transit Systems *Stradbroke ferries operation American on-demand transport company

Bridj BRIDJ (pronounced "bridge") is a SaaS platform designed to support ‘demand responsive’ or ‘on demand’ public transport providers. The platform allows a user to optimise an on-road service and digitise work processes, and includes an opt ...

was brought over and the first Bridj on-demand service in Australia commenced in December 2017. In June 2018, Torrens Transit acquired

, regaining the North South & Outer North East bus contracts which Torrens Strait previously lost in 2011. In July 2018, Transit Systems NSW commenced operating bus and on-demand services in region 6 of the Sydney Metropolitan Bus System Contracts in Sydney's

Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta Rive ...

. In October 2018, Tower Transit's CEO Adam Leishman left the company and set up his own transport company Ascendal Group, and the

Go Whippet Whippet, formerly Go Whippet, is a bus and coach operator based in Swavesey, Cambridgeshire, England. History Whippet Coaches was founded in Huntingdonshire by bicycle salesman Henry Lee in 1919. The first Whippet coach was converted from an ...

operations were transferred to the newly formed company. His position was not replaced and Tower Transit operations were overseen by Paul Cox as CFO and Charlie Beaumont as COO. In April 2019, Transit Systems entered into the Melbourne bus market for the first time by acquiring Sita Buslines. It was rebranded Transit Systems Victoria in November 2020. In October 2019, it was announced that the company would be purchased by the SeaLink Travel Group. As part of the deal, the CEO of Transit Systems, Clint Feuerherdt, became CEO of SeaLink. Feuerherdt and Transit Systems co-founder and chairman Neil Smith took up a combined 18% shareholding in Sealink. The sale was completed in January 2020. Sealink would later rename as Kelsian in November 2021. In July 2020, Transit Systems operated trams for the first time, with the Torrens Connect joint venture commencing Adelaide's North–South contract including the Glenelg tram line. In December 2022, Transit Systems had its first bus operation in Queensland, after acquiring North Stradbroke Island Bus Service, .

Current Australian operations

Transit Systems Group' business units in Australia are: *

bus operation in

*Territory Transit school bus operation in

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

* Torrens Transit bus operation in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

** Torrens Connect bus and tram operation in Adelaide (since 2020) *

bus operation in Sydney *

on-demand services in Sydney * Transit Systems Victoria in Melbourne *North Stradbroke Island Bus Service in

North Stradbroke Island North Stradbroke Island ( Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Originally there was o ...

, Queensland

Swan Transit

is a bus operator in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

. Founded in 1995, it was the first business unit of Transit Systems to be created. In its first four years, Swan Transit was awarded five bus contracts in

and they commenced operations between 1996 and 1998. Swan Transit later acquired other contracts in Perth as well, with all of its contracts operating under the

Transperth Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...

brand. Swan Transit also commenced 10-year contracts to operate services in Bunbury and

Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...

under the TransBunbury and TransBusselton brands in January 2015.

Territory Transit

Territory Transit is a school bus operator in

with a fleet of 10 school buses, transporting nearly 850 students to six schools. Territory Transit began operating these school bus services in February 2021. Between October 2014 and June 2022, Territory Transit was also one of the two bus operators in

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 ...

, constituting part of the Darwinbus bus network, with other operator being Buslink. Territory Transit took over the government-owned Darwin Bus Service operation in October 2014, after Transit Systems successfully tendered the contract in July that year. In 2022, the

Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...

combined the contract with the Buslink contract to create an expanded contract, which Territory Transit attempted to bid for in a competitive tender. In May 2022, Territory Transit announced it was unsuccessful in its bid, and its Darwinbus services were taken over by

CDC Northern Territory 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 Nort ...

(renamed from Buslink) on 1 July 2022.

Torrens Transit and Torrens Connect

Torrens Transit is a bus operator in

. It first founded in 2000 when it commenced operating the

East-West contract under contract to the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

, which was renewed in July 2011. In April 2005, Torrens Transit commenced operating the North–South and Outer North East contracts, but these contracts later passed to

in October 2011. Due to continuous poor performance by Light-City Buses, eight of their routes were stripped off and were returned to Torrens Transit in April 2013. In June 2018, Torrens Transit acquired the Light-City Buses business and integrated it into the Torrens Transit brand. In July 2020, Torrens Transit began operating the Glenelg tram line through its joint venture Torrens Connect.

Transit Systems NSW

is a bus operator in south western Sydney, operating region 3 of the

Sydney Metropolitan Bus System Contracts The Sydney Metropolitan Bus Service Contracts are contracts issued by the Government of New South Wales to metropolitan bus operators in Sydney, Australia. Since 2005, the government has moved from individual contracts with operators to larger cont ...

. It commenced operations in October 2013, taking over services from the incumbent operators. In July 2018, Transit Systems took over the operation of region 6 in the

from State Transit on an eight-year contract.

Bridj

Transit Systems acquired on-demand transport company

in October 2017 following the cessation of its operations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

earlier that year. Bridj started operations in Sydney with the Wetherill Park demand service in December 2017, followed by the

demand service in July 2018. In August 2018, it also took over the Eastern Suburbs demand service from Transdev's RIDE Plus, while the Wetherill Park service ceased operations. Transit Systems plans to introduce more Bridj on-demand services into other Australian cities as well as

Transit Systems Victoria

Transit Systems Victoria is a bus and coach operator in

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 ...

's western suburbs, formed following the acquisition of Sita Bus Lines in April 2019, with rebranding of the former business formally taking place in November 2020. This purchase marked Transit System's entry into the Victorian bus market.

Overseas operations

Tower Transit Group, Transit Systems Group' overseas subsidiary, operates these business units: *

RATP Dev Transit London RATP Dev Transit London is a joint venture between RATP Dev and Kelsian Group in London. It owns the London bus companies of London Sovereign, London United and London Transit. It commenced on 11 December 2021. History In September 2021, RATP De ...

bus operation in

, England, as part of a joint venture with RATP Dev *

Tower Transit Singapore Tower Transit Singapore is a contracted bus operator operating in Singapore. It commenced operations on 29 May 2016 and it is a subsidiary of Transit Systems. History In October 2014, the Land Transport Authority called for tenders to operate ...

bus operations in

Tower Transit Singapore

is a bus operator in Singapore, operating 57 routes out of

Bulim Bus Depot Bulim Bus Depot is the first bus depot to be built by the Land Transport Authority in Singapore. It houses the buses of 30 bus services under the Bulim Bus Package. It is located along Bulim Avenue in Jurong West. Since 31 July 2015, the Bulim Bus ...

and Mandai Bus Depot as part of the Bulim bus package and the Sembawang–Yishun bus package respectively. The contract for the Bulim package was first awarded in May 2015, taking over the bus operations from incumbent operators

SBS Transit SBS Transit Limited (SBST or just SBS) () is a multi-modal public transport operator in Singapore operating bus and rail services. With a majority of its shares owned by Singaporean multinational transport conglomerate ComfortDelGro Corporatio ...

and

SMRT Buses SMRT Buses is a bus operator in Singapore. A subsidiary of SMRT Corporation, it traded as Trans Island Bus Services until 10 May 2004. History Trans-Island Bus Services (1983–2004) In April 1981, Communications & Labour Minister Ong Teng Ch ...

between May and June 2016. In September 2020, Tower Transit Singapore was re-awarded the Bulim bus package, including 3 bus services operated by SMRT Buses. It also secured the Sembawang–Yishun bus package which consisted of 26 bus services operated by SMRT Buses and 1 service already operated by Tower Transit. Tower Transit Singapore took over the 3 Bulim services and 26 Sembawang–Yishun bus services from SMRT Buses in May and September 2021 respectively.

RATP Dev Transit London

Transit Systems holds 12.5% of

, a joint venture with RATP Dev, operating buses in West London. The joint venture, formed on 11 December 2021, consisted of RATP Dev's West London bus operations (including London United and

London Sovereign London Sovereign is a bus company in North London. It is a subsidiary of RATP Dev Transit London and operates buses under contract to Transport for London. Company history London Sovereign can trace its roots back to independent Borehamwood ...

) and

's (a subsidiary of Transit Systems) Westbourne Park garage.

Former operations

Ferry operations

Transit Systems formerly had three ferry operations in

until they were sold to SeaLink Travel Group. They were reunited when Sealink purchased Transit Systems in January 2020, but the ferry operations remain operationally separate from Transit Systems.

Bay Islands Transit (BITS)

Bay Islands Transit (BITS), is one of Transit Systems' ferry operations in

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

. It operates services between Redland Bay and the Macleay, Lamb, Karragarra and Russell Islands in Southern Moreton Bay. BITS operated ferry services since 1982. In 2005, it was acquired by Transit Systems and sold to SeaLink Travel Group in November 2015, along with Gladstone Ferries and Stradbroke Ferries.

Gladstone Ferries

Gladstone Ferries is a passenger and vehicular ferry operation in

Gladstone, Queensland Gladstone () is a coastal city in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. Gladstone has an urban population of 34,703, and together with Boyne Island and Tannum Sands, had an estimated population of 50,317 at August 2021. This urban area ...

, transporting workers to Curtis Island to support the construction of a liquefied natural gas plant on the island. The operation started in February 2011, following the award of two contracts for the ferry services. It was sold to SeaLink Travel Group in November 2015, along with BITS and Stradbroke Ferries.

Stradbroke Ferries

Stradbroke Ferries is the other of Transit Systems' ferry operations in

. It was founded by Frank Dobias and Geoff Ford in 1963. Stradbroke Ferries was acquired by Transit Systems in 2011. Prior to this, Transit Systems also owned the Big Red Cat ferry operation, acquired in 2007. The Big Red Cat operation merged with the Stradbroke Ferries operation after the acquisition of the latter. It was sold to SeaLink Travel Group in November 2015, along with BITS and Gladstone Ferries.

Go Whippet

, is a bus operation in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, England. It was purchased by Transit Systems Group in November 2014. The bus operation was transferred to Ascendal Group in October 2018.

Tower Transit

was Transit System's subsidiary and operation in London. It was established when Transit Systems purchased some of

's operations and garages in June 2013. After Tower Transit's Westboune Park garage became incorporated into

in December 2021, the only remaining Tower Transit operation in London was the Lea Interchange garage in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

. This operation was announced to be sold to Stagecoach London in May 2022 and was finalised on 25 June 2022.

References

{{Transit Systems, state=collapsed Bus companies of Australia Companies based in Brisbane Ferry companies of Queensland Kelsian Group Transport companies established in 1995 1995 establishments in Australia