Southern River Bus Depot has recently celebrated 50 years of service to the community.
The main bus operator of Perth’s south-eastern suburbs, it has now been half a century since its establishment.
On the 14th March, from 9am to 2pm, the depot’s staff, along with various other significant Swan Transit figures, celebrated together with a delicious meal of burgers and salads, all of which were freshly made on site. Of course, the event would not be complete without a cake, which was enthusiastically shared by those in attendance.
Operations Manager Damon Hancey, who has worked at the depot since 2021, described the event as bringing together members of a very-well-connected drivers’ community.
“We celebrated with a depot lunch. Not just for the staff at this depot, but also those that work for Swan Transit at other depots, serving other functions.
“We’ve got a well-connected drivers’ community that serves the southeastern suburbs. We’re all here to serve the community and the local schools and we’re here to help move people safely every day through the Armadale and Gosnells districts.
“We also connect them through to the city via Albany Highway.”
He said that a total of 110 buses are stationed at the depot, all servicing a large number of different routes.
Besides the depot itself, many staff working there have been in the transport industry a long time.
“My co-worker Dennis, for example, has been very proactive in supporting the celebration. You see him a lot. He’s a public transport guy going way back. He used to work for Bendigo Trams, and, you know, a number of other networks all across Australia. So, he’s very much into the public transport industry, very knowledgeable about it,” said Mr Hancey.
He has emphasised that the area was very different, even barely recognisable, in 1976 when the depot opened.
“Back then, it was such a different area. The Tonkin Highway hadn’t gone through yet, and most of the area was still just farmland. They operated diesel trains on the tracks outside. There was a small estate built right behind us at the time, which was connected to the railway.”
Given the growth of the area in the following decades, Mr Hancey thinks it was opportune that the depot was built when it was.
The history of the depot, and the many vehicles used throughout its long life, were discussed at the event.
“Besides a couple of speeches from myself and the general manager of Swan Transit, we had a couple of displays of buses that have served here at the depot for the last 50 years,” he said.
“There were also a couple of displays of badges and some other small ones as well.”
Recently, the function of the depot was greatly expanded for a period of time, due to the disruptions to Perth’s transport network as expansions were constructed.
“The depot completed a programme recently where we supplemented a lot of these services for the Armadale replacement line.
“Essentially, this was the head of that operation for those two years, whilst they built the Skyrail, and refurnished that entire arm of our line. We substituted for the services that were lacking while that service was being built, which was a big project.
“So, this was the main location where all the replacement services were being operated from for those two years that the line was closed.”
Recently, the Southern River Bus Depot has also been instrumental in servicing the Byford area, following improvements in connectivity within the region.
“We now serve the Byford area quite well. That area’s bus services are now operated from this depot, since it’s expanded,” Mr Hancey said.
