Melbourne bus route 901

Route 901
Ventura Bus Lines Volgren bodied Mercedes-Benz OC500LE on route 901 in April 2013
Overview
Operator	Kinetic Melbourne
Vehicle	Gemilang & Volgren bodied Scanias
Began service	24 March 2008
Former operator(s)	Transdev Melbourne Ventura Bus Lines Grenda's Bus Services Invicta Bus Services East West Bus Company
Route
Start	Frankston station
Via	Dandenong station Westfield Knox Ringwood station Blackburn station Greensborough station South Morang station Broadmeadows station Gladstone Park
End	Melbourne Airport
Length	115 kilometres
Service
Level	Daily
Frequency	15-30 minutes
Journey time	4 hours
Zone(s)	Myki Zone 2
Timetable	PTV

Melbourne bus route 901 is a bus route operated by Kinetic Melbourne between Frankston station and Melbourne Airport in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the SmartBus network.

History

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, orbital bus routes began being introduced in Melbourne as an alternative form of public transport to trains which allowed people to get to major areas without needing to go via the city. SmartBus Route 901 was introduced on 24 March 2008 as the yellow orbital and operated from Frankston station to Ringwood station, absorbing route 665 (operated by Invicta Bus Services) and routes 830 (operated by Grenda's Bus Services).[1] The new route was initially jointly operated by Grenda's and Invicta, and the latter was bought over by Grenda in 2009.[2]

In September 2010, route 901 was extended to Melbourne Airport, replacing part of East West Bus Company route 571, making it Melbourne's second longest bus route by distance and longest by total journey time.[3][4][5] East West then also became an operator of the route.[6][7]

In 2012, the route became operated by East West and Ventura Bus Lines, after Ventura bought Grenda.[8][9] The route was then fully taken over by Transdev Melbourne in 2013,[10] and then by Kinetic Melbourne in January 2022.[11][12]

Route

Route 901 operates from Frankston station to Melbourne Airport via the outer eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne. It travels via Dandenong station, Westfield Knox, Ringwood station, Blackburn station, The Pines Shopping Centre, Greensborough Station, South Morang station, Epping station, Broadmeadows station and Gladstone Park.[13]

Vehicles

Route 901 was initially operated by a dedicated fleet of Volgren bodied Mercedes-Benz OC500LEs painted in SmartBus silver and orange livery, with Grenda and East-West later supplementing the Mercedes-Benz fleet with Volvo B7RLEs, and Invicta with Scania K230UBs. These have been superseded by Gemilang and Volgren bodied Scania K320UBs in standard Public Transport Victoria livery.^[citation needed] As of 2022, Volgren bodied Scania K320HB hybrid buses are also in service alongside their diesel counterparts.

As of October 2024, Kinetic have over 100 hybrid buses, meaning that it's less likely to catch a fully diesel bus.

References

1. "SmartBus network expands in Melbourne's South East". Metlink. 10 March 2008. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008.
2. Route 901 timetable Metlink
3. Doncaster DART set to start Australasian Bus & Coach 2 September 2010
4. SmartBus Route 901 Department of Transport. Archived on 26 February 2011
5. Introduction of Doncaster Dart and extended 901 Smart Bus services Australian Bus Panorama issue 26/3 November 2010 page 18
6. "East West Bus Company". Wongm's Rail Gallery. Retrieved 17 July 2024.^[self-published source]
7. "Bus Timetables and Route Details". East West Bus Company. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011.
8. Ventura buys Grenda Australian Bus issue 49 January 2012 page 5
9. Ventura takes over Grenda's bus operations Australian Bus Panorama issue 27/4 January 2012 page 7
10. Transdev to begin operating the Melbourne Metropolitan Bus Franchise from Sunday 4 August Public Transport Victoria 2 August 2013
11. New bus franchise to jump start zero-emission pledge Department of Transport
12. Kinetic wins Victorian Government Contract to run a third of Melbourne's bus network Kinetic Group 5 October 2021
13. Route 901 timetable Archived 19 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine Public Transport Victoria