Deluxe Coachlines

Deluxe Coachlines was an Australian interstate coach operator.

History[]

Sydney based travel agent Len Roden^[2] conceived of Deluxe Coachlines in 1979. He believed Australia needed a "quality, coast-to-coast express coach service" to compete with the largest Australian coach operators Greyhound Australia and Ansett Pioneer.^[3] In May, 1979 with one second-hand coach, Roden began operating a service between Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, using his agency Deluxe Travel as the base.^[4]

As Deluxe began to expand, Roden subcontracted Wangaratta based Hoys Roadlines coaches, drivers and maintenance facilities.^[5] From this association Roden formed Deluxe Coachlines with Hoys' General Manager, Geoff McIntyre.^[6] The company was now based in Wangarratta, Victoria.

Deluxe's focus was on providing safe travel^[7] in top quality coach equipment while significantly discounting bus fares.^[8] To further compete against the established operators, Deluxe organised "lavish" functions for travel agents in towns along its routes^[9] to encourage them to refer passengers. Deluxe also displayed buses at country Shows and provided free rides in Rockhampton to demonstrate its newer buses.^[10]

Deluxe gradually expanded and in 1988 was Australia's largest coach operator with a 50% market share operating across the country with 193 coaches^[11] including 15 imported German-made ‘Super Deckers’ worth half a million dollars each,^[12] financed by the Commonwealth bank of Australia. Deluxe were seen as a significantly player in "shaking up" the intercity bus industry in Australia.

By 1989, they employed over 900 people Australia wide, had terminals in every capital city plus Broome, Canberra, Alice Springs, Townsville, Surfers Paradise and Cairns.^[13] Deluxe had an office in the United Kingdom^[14] plus representation in the USA, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan.^[15] Deluxe installed a $5 million computer reservations system which handled all reservations, agents accounting, and the complete maintenance schedule of their fleet.^[16] In 1989 Deluxe was operating services between every mainland Australian capital and at that time, operated five services a day each way on the trunk route between Brisbane and Cairns^[17] with the route generating 33% of national passenger revenue. Their success is believed to have led to the demise of other operators, for example Sunliner Express in Queensland^[18] and they are credited with Greyhound and Ansett Pioneer discounting their fares.^[19]

A drop off in demand after the World Expo 88 held in Brisbane, Australia significantly impacted passenger numbers. At the same time, the deregulation of the Australian air market saw the introduction of major discounting by the airline industry. These two factors saw significant consolidation in the Australian coach market,^[20] resulting in just three national express operators by the end of 1991: Greyhound, Pioneer and Bus Australia.^[21][22]

Deluxe Coachlines faced significant revenue falls in 1989 and 1990. Its failure to reduce operations to match this revenue fall saw Deluxe placed in receivership by the ANZ Bank in August 1990,^[23] reportedly owing 100 million Australian dollars including $A15million to ANZ and between 60 and 70 million dollars to the Commonwealth Bank. Their last day of operation was August 28, 1990.^[24] Eight other coach companies honoured Deluxe tickets for twenty four hours.^[25]

Coopers and Lybrand acted as liquidator for the company.

Operations briefly resumed out of Adelaide in November 1990 before Deluxe ceased for good.^[26]

Fleet[]

Deluxe built up a large fleet of Domino and Austral Tourmaster coaches. It later purchased coaches from Denning, MotorCoach Australia and Setra.^[27]

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.^[28][29]

Legacy[]

The Deluxe name was revived by a Hawkesford Coaches, in the early 2000s.^[30] In 2009, Melbourne Coach charter Operator, Executive Coach Travel, purchased Deluxe Coachlines from Hawkesford,^[31] which itself collapsed in 2011.^[32]

External Links[]

“Deluxe Days” DVD tracing the history of the coach line

Contemporary Deluxe Coachlines

References[]