Bus Frustrations: Last month when I went to my job interview, I boarded a 461 bus at Broadway heading into the city. I figured I’d have to walk the several blocks from Town Hall where it terminates over to William Street. Instead the bus driver informed me that the 461 now turned up Park Street to the Domain, meaning it stopped right by the new place! This was great news. I verified on the fancy new printed bus stop sign that the 461, 480, and 483 all used the new route. On my first official workday two weeks ago, I happily flagged down a 461 only to notice “Town Hall” still listed as its destination. Hm. It terminated there and I had to walk. The next day was the same. I went to the website to see what the heck had happened, only to find this cryptic notice that the new route has been suspended “indefinitely.” Last week I finally got mad enough to send them a complaint.

“Can you please advise WHY the 461, 480, and 483 buses no longer travel on to the Domain? … I looked it up on the site and I can see the notice. Are there any plans to reinstate the route? Why extend it for such a short period of time, print it on all the bus stop signage, and then stop service??”

I finally got a reply back today.

“These services have been temporarily curtailed from going to THE DOMAIN due to a safety concern by the bus union. They will terminate at Town /Hall. Sydney Buses is attempting to resolve this matter as soon as possible. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

Interestingly, this all but confirms the rumour I heard over the weekend that the drivers were complaining about junkies hassling them on College Street. But hello, all the Eastern Suburbs buses go that way too! Why the sudden safety concerns for drivers just on these three lines? It’s really annoying.