Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Bus and coach services |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Fate | Route operations sold to Metropolitan Transit Authority in April 1985; Melbright Coaches closed November 1992; operating licences transferred to Driver Group |
| Headquarters | Melbourne , Australia |
Area served | Melbourne, Australia |
Number of employees | 43 buses and coaches (fleet size at time of route operations sale) |
Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines was a bus and coach service provider based in Melbourne, Australia.
History
Formed in 1954 through the consolidation of operators running route 1 (from Gardenvale to Melbourne CBD) and route 2 (from Middle Brighton to Melbourne CBD), the company began with a fleet of 24 vehicles housed at a depot located in Brighton.
In September 1958, the business expanded by purchasing route 140A (connecting Middle Brighton to St Kilda station) from Eastern Suburbs Omnibus Service. The depot was relocated to Elwood in 1959. By 1971, routes 140A, 1, and 2 were renumbered as 600 through 602, with shorter trips assigned numbers 603 and 604.
March 1979 marked the addition of Denning service and spare parts dealerships, alongside the introduction of Melbright Coaches to manage its coach services. In April 1985, the company divested its route operations along with 37 buses to the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
Melbright Coaches operated out of Port Melbourne until November 1992, when it was forced to close due to uncollected debts from Austral Denning following that company's receivership. Subsequently, the company’s operating licences were transferred to the Driver Group.
Fleet
The original vehicle lineup featured models from Bedford, Daimler, International, Leyland, and Reo. Starting in 1961, robust Leyland buses and Denning coaches were incorporated specifically for charter purposes. At the time of selling its route-bus segment in 1985, the fleet consisted of 43 buses and coaches.
In 2012, Bayside Coaches undertook restoration of a Denning Landseer painted in Melbright Coaches’ colours.