Beaches commuters waiting on better buses will have to keep waiting.
The NSW Government has announced 3,000 additional weekly bus services across the state, starting Sunday 15 November and Sunday 22 November. Not one of them is headed for the Beaches.
Where the Buses Are Going
The boost brings the total number of extra weekly services added since the Minns Government took office in 2023 to 9,000. New services and timetable changes will expand connections across Greater Western Sydney, including growth areas like Marsden Park, Schofields, Riverstone, Box Hill and Tallawong. In the Eastern Suburbs, routes 343 (Kingsford to Circular Quay) and 370 (Coogee to Glebe Point) will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Government says the changes follow extensive community consultation by the Bus Industry Taskforce, and are part of rebuilding a network it says was cut and privatised under the former Liberal Government.
Seventy Calls and Counting
Manly MP James Griffin, Wakehurst MP Michael Regan and Pittwater MP Jacqui Scruby have all pushed for better local buses this term. According to Mr Griffin, Hansard records show the Beaches’ Independent and Liberal MPs have raised the issue in Parliament 70 times since 2023, more than once every sitting week.
“Northern Beaches MPs have raised the issue of poor bus services in NSW Parliament on 70 separate occasions this term, made countless representations to the Minister, met with the bus operator, conducted community surveys and held public forums, but none of it mattered because the Government found funding and resources to deliver 3,000 additional weekly services across Sydney without allocating a single one to the Northern Beaches,” Mr Griffin said.
He said the Government had relied on the former Liberal Government’s B-Line to do the heavy lifting for local public transport, rather than tearing up the bus contract as local MPs had called for.
“Commuters are rightly fed up with community forums, social media posts spruiking a constructive meeting and endless promises to raise their concerns with the Minister. They need tangible improvements to local bus services and a State Government that gives the Northern Beaches the same priority as the rest of Sydney,” he said.
The Story So Far
It’s been a bumpy ride for local commuters. The withdrawal of 43 faulty articulated buses led to long queues and cancellations, and in 2025 the Government ordered 50 new bendy buses and ten new B-Line double-deckers for the Beaches. Driver shortages remain a sticking point, with Mr Griffin calling in August for a full overhaul of local routes and timetables built around the workforce available.
Commuters face more disruption this week, with industrial action from Wednesday 4 November potentially affecting bus services across the Beaches.
Plan your trip at transportnsw.info
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