Sydney’s T-Way turns 20!

On 16 February 2003, the 31km bus only corridor – known as T-Way officially opened. The T-Way provides high frequency, priority services on Route T80 for customers between Liverpool, Bonnyrigg and Parramatta – Australia’s fastest growing city.

Route T80 is one of the most popular bus routes in Sydney, with patronage now averaging more than 43,000 per week.

Transit Systems has operated this iconic route for half of its lifetime, having first won the Region 3 contract 10 years ago in 2013. Some local routes now also use parts of the T-way corridor, benefiting from the bus-only infrastructure and offering connections to the T80.

While there was no official opening by then Transport Minister Carl Scully, a range of community events marked the launch of the new facility. Customers were also provided with free travel in the first week of operations, which lead to healthy passenger loads, with 3,000 using the T80 by lunchtime on the first day.

When the Route T80 commenced service, it was operated exclusively by a fleet of 17 new Mercedes Benz O405NH Custom Coaches CNG buses (bus numbers 1389 – 1405), which were all accessible and air-conditioned. Considering at the time only 28.7% of the Government fleet were accessible and only 43% was air-conditioned, T80 customers enjoyed one of the most modern fleets in the industry.

Due to the high cost of installing CNG re-fuelling facilities at Bonnyrigg Depot, buses were sent empty from either Parramatta Terminus to Ryde Depot, or from Liverpool Terminus to and from Kingsgrove Depot to refuel.

Another standout feature of the T-way was the level of customer information and unique infrastructure at each stop. More closely resembling a modern light rail station than a traditional bus stop, the T-way stations also included real-time service information for customers, showing the number of minutes until the next arrival on passenger information displays. Having access to real-time arrival information was rare at the time and has since been replaced with the more cost efficient and easier to maintain option of real-time phone apps, developed by third-party providers using TfNSW and operator data.

The Transit Systems team is delighted to now be able to continue operating the T-way for the people of Sydney. Here's to the last 20 years and to many more!