The Doncaster - Melbourne Bus Service
In 1911, the Doncaster Progress Association tackled the problem of improving transport to Melbourne. They wanted to make Doncaster a suburb of Melbourne rather than a suburb of Box Hill. At that time, a Royal Commission was enquiring into Melbourne's Transport and they hoped that a train or tram to Doncaster would result from the Commission findings. The report of the Commission was thorough and most of the recommendations were carried out.
The Tramways Board was formed as a result of the report and it was recommended that all trams be electrified and included in one network. Suburban Railways were to be electrified and one large power station was recommended to supply power for all Melbourne's needs, also the railway to Caulfield was to be duplicated and level crossings abolished. The report however did not mention transport to Doncaster.
The Doncaster Progress Association set out to organise a bus service between the East Doncaster Post Office and the Melbourne Post Office. It was optimistically expected that forty people would travel each day. An agreement was drawn up with The General Motor Bus Company of Williams Road, Toorak. The fare was 2/- to Melbourne and 3d between East Doncaster and Doncaster. The Association was to pay a subsidy of 12 pounds per week. To pay this subsidy, W.A. Webb, the Association's Treasurer, collected subscriptions from 200 local residents. The route was from the East Doncaster Post Office, Doncaster Road, High Street Kew, Barkers Road, Victoria Street, Bourke and Swanston Street, to St. Paul's Cathedral.
There were three trips a day. Running costs were higher than expected and there were not enough passengers. The service closed after a few months.
In 1913, Mr. Withers offered to run a bus service to Warrandyte. Withers was at that time connected with the bus company that later became Pioneer Motors. The service commenced in April. It kept a reliable time-table and the drivers were praised for their courtesy, but it did not pay and by the end of the year closed down.
The President of the Association, Alfred Thiele and De Moyle the secretary then made arrangements with the British Motor Service. Instead of buses, they used touring cars which could carry up to twenty passengers. These were like extended motor cars, which, instead of having only two seats, had four or five seats the width of the car, each seat had its own door. Once again there were not enough passengers to make the bus route a viable proposition.
It was not until 1925 that Doncaster had a reliable bus service to Melbourne. It was then that Withers, now with his own company, commenced a bus line from Doncaster and Warrandyte to Melbourne. Withers bus continued to give a fast reliable service until the company was bought out by the Tramways Board twenty years ago.
Source: 1983 03 DTHS Newsletter
Withers Bus Depot
Withers Bus Depot was located on the north east corner of Victoria Street and Doncaster Road in Doncaster. Demolished at unknown date. The Tramways Board took over the bus route in 1961 and built the new large bus depot on the south side of Doncaster Road.
Source: Ken Smith, Personal Communication, Oct2021
Morning Star Hotel, Doncaster Road.
Victorian Railways horse-drawn coach resting outside the near Koonung Creek. Driver in driver’s seat with passenger alongside. Coach is drawn by two horses. Lamp prominent in front of hotel. Caption states bus is thought to have run from the Kew Post Office to the Doncaster Hotel (corner Doncaster Road and Victoria Street. 1886 DTHS-dp0042
Hussey's waggon at Ringwood station 1925
Mr Hussey operated a coach service from Warrandyte to Ringwood and also to Heidelberg via Templestowe. The passenger waggon, unlike a coach or horse bus, had open sides with weather proof curtains to let down in wet weather. (Photograph mounted with caption) Source: Croydon Historical Society DTHS-DP0267
General Motor Bus. 1920s
Passengers boarding a bus operated by The General Motor Bus Company. Advertisement for Velvet Soap on top of bus. DTHS-DP0010
Motor bus and four young men. 1920s
Unknown details. DTHS-DP0271
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