Deluxe Coachlines

Deluxe Coachlines

Founded	December 1979
Ceased operation	November 1990
Headquarters	Wangaratta
Service area	Adelaide Brisbane Canberra Darwin Melbourne Perth Sydney various regional destinations
Service type	Coach services
Fleet	circa 200 (September 1990)

Deluxe Coachlines was an Australian interstate coach operator.

History

Deluxe Coachlines was formed in 1979. It gradually expanded and by 1988 was Australia's largest coach operator with a 50% market share operating across the country with nearly 200 coaches.^[1] A drop off in demand after World Expo 88 as well as the arrival of deregulated discount airlines, seen the demise of the Company. The failure to reduce its size to match a fall in revenue saw Deluxe placed in receivership in September 1990.^[2]

Operations briefly resumed out of Adelaide in November 1990 before Deluxe ceased for good.^[3]

Routes

In 1990 Deluxe was operating these services:^[4]

• 1 daily Adelaide to Brisbane via Mildura & Dubbo
• 2 daily Adelaide to Melbourne via Horsham
• 1 daily Adelaide to Melbourne via Mt Gambier
• 1 daily Adelaide to Sydney via Wagga & Canberra
• 1 daily Brisbane to Adelaide via Dubbo & Mildura
• 1 daily Brisbane to Geelong via Wagga & Albury
• 2 daily Brisbane to Melbourne via Wagga & Albury
• 1 daily Brisbane to Melbourne via Echuca & Bendigo
• 1 daily Brisbane to Melbourne via Orange & Bathurst
• 5 daily Brisbane to Sydney via Gold Coast
• 2 daily Brisbane to Sydney via New England Highway
• 2 daily Brisbane to Wollongong via Gold Coast
• 1 daily Geelong to Brisbane via Albury & Wagga
• 2 daily Melbourne to Adelaide via Horsham
• 1 daily Melbourne to Adelaide via Mt Gambier
• 1 daily Melbourne to Brisbane via Albury & Wagga
• 1 daily Melbourne to Brisbane via Bendigo & Echuca
• 1 daily Melbourne to Brisbane via Bathurst & Orange
• 4 daily Melbourne to Sydney via Hume Highway
• 2 daily Melbourne to Sydney via Princes Highway
• 1 daily Sydney to Adelaide via Canberra & Wagga
• 5 daily Sydney to Brisbane via Gold Coast
• 2 daily Sydney to Brisbane via New England Highway
• 4 daily Sydney to Melbourne via Hume Highway
• 2 daily Sydney to Melbourne via Princes Highway
• 2 daily Wollongong to Brisbane via Gold Coast
• 1 daily Adelaide to Alice Springs
• 2 daily Adelaide to Perth via Kalgoorlie & South West
• 1 daily Alice Springs to Adelaide
• 2 daily Alice Springs to Ayers Rock
• 1 daily Alice Springs to Darwin
• 2 daily Ayers Rock to Alice Springs
• 1 daily Ayers Rock to Erldunda
• 1 daily Coral Bay to Perth via Kalbarri
• 1 daily Darwin to Alice Springs
• 1 daily Darwin to Perth via Port Hedland
• 1 daily Erldunda to Ayers Rock
• 2 daily Perth to Adelaide via Kalgoorlie & South West
• 1 daily Perth to Coral Bay via Kalbarri
• 1 daily Perth to Darwin via Port Hedland
• 1 daily Port Augusta to Sydney via Broken Hill
• 1 daily Sydney to Port Augusta via Broken Hill

Fleet

Deluxe built up a large fleet of Domino and Austral Tourmaster coaches. It later purchased coaches from Denning, MotorCoach Australia and Setra.^[5] Deluxe adopted a white with two shades of blue livery that was a familiar sight on Australia's road for many years after its demise courtesy of the number of operators who elected not to repaint former Deluxe coaches they purchased.

Legacy

The Deluxe Coachlines name was revived in the 2000s by a Melbourne coach operator.^[6]

References

1. "Victorian Buses in the Eightes" Australian Bus Panorama 7/1 August 1991 page 3
2. "Express Coach Companies in Major Rationalisation" Australian Bus Panorama 6/3 October 1990 page 18
3. "Deluxe Australia" Australian Bus Panorama 6/5 January 1991 page 35
4. Timetables Issued 1990 Deluxe Coachlines Reunion
5. Fleet Overview Deluxe Coachlines Reunion
6. Hawkesford's International Bus Australia Fleet Lists