Goulburn Mulwaree Council mayor Bob Kirk has remained focused on ensuring a bus service to Canberra returns as the district marks four months since Greyhound Australia terminated its service.
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Over the past few months, Cr Kirk has maintained communication with a local businesses operator interested in resurrecting the bus line.
He did not reveal the name of the operator to The Post, but announced the operator is “well advanced” with his plans and is now only waiting for approval from the ACT government.
“It would be very similar in terms of quality of the facility and the timeline of operation I would presume,” Cr Kirk said.
“It’s just a matter of ticking that final box and him making an announcement as a commercial operator. Private enterprise has to drive this. We’re doing what we can to contribute to what is happening.”
Related content: Greyhound plans to stop Goulburn-Canberra service
The council have repeatedly contacted Greyhound Australia following the termination of the bus service – announced last September unexpectedly via email – but ultimately dismissed a request for a follow up meeting.
He said commuters who used the former Greyhound Australia bus service had contacted the mayor for up-to-date information on a new Goulburn-Canberra line.
The decision for the council to provide the bus service with state support is “up to the community,” said Cr Kirk, but unlikely to happen in the near future.
“We see [this issue] as important, I only got a call last week asking for an update. A woman said the the bus service dropped her husband only a couple of blocks away from his work. This was a deciding factor to move to Goulburn. So it’s important to a lot of people,” he said.
“A bucket load of people live in Goulburn and work in Canberra and Queanbeyan, if the service can show their efficiency’s, a bus service will be pretty popular.
“I hope we can get a solution to these efforts and get this line happening sooner rather than later.”
The service were available for commuters on June 15, 2015.
The bus departed from the Big Merino at 7.00am to arrive in Canberra at 8.15am, and departed Canberra at 5.00pm from Jolimont Centre to arrive in Goulburn at 6.00pm.
