Grey hound buses in OZ?

Question

any one been on grey hound buses in oz. I will be arriving in Brisbane from UK.then hope to ctch a bus to Mackay ,about 16hr, trip ...can I catch a bus from the airport?..are they comfortable ?will I be able to sleep in comfort ,are meals etc. ok .I m a granny but not afraid to travel...having lived in africa for many years ,and used to long distant...travel..whould appreciate your advice..thank you in anticapation

Answer 1

There are good coach companies in Aust. I do not believe you can get the bus from the airport, but there is a great electric train service from the airport to the city where the bus terminal is at Roma Street Railway Station, just get off the train then onto the bus.
A 16hr trip on any bus is not comfortable! I would suggest you look into getting the Tilt Train to Mackay. lot better than a bus and probably cheaper! This service leaves from Roma Street so you may be able to work something out if you have to stay in Brisbane overnight, packpackers or the like. You will appreciate the difference between the train and the bus!!!!
I am 63 years old and travel too.
Best of luck, hope you enjoy Oz.

Answer 2

Hi There,

I have caught a bus from Brisbane to Noosa Heads after landing at the airport before, and this is basically how it worked:

All intercity coach services depart from the Roma St Transit Centre in Central Brisbane, which is no where near the airport. Luckily, just outside the international and domestic terminals at Brisbane airport, are railway stations. Almost all of the Brisbane bound trains stop at Roma St Station, which is on the BOTTOM floor of the Roma St Transit Centre. When you get off the train, take the lift, or stairs to the 3rd floor of the same building, and you will be in the coach terminal. Just go the the relevant bus companies desk, sign in for your trip, and you are ready to go.

It's really, really easy, because everything is well marked with signs. Just follow the signs to "Intercity Coaches" when in the station.

The buses are pretty comfortable most of the time. When they fill up (during peak travel times) they can get a little cramped, but otherwise, most have drinking fountains, toilets, movies and comfortable seats.

By law, these buses must stop every few hours for meal breaks and a walk around. Most of the time these stops go for 20 mins or so, and are at a higway roadhouse.

Answer 3

As has been suggested above...for real comfort for this long trip take the train rather than a bus. For either train or bus you need to get to the Roma Street transit centre which you can get to directly via the 'Airtrain' from all terminals of the airport.

Answer 4

nice question, a friend of mine would know.

Found some other info for you though.

Greyhound Lines
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Greyhound Lines is the largest inter-city common carrier of passengers by bus in North America, serving 2,200 destinations in the United States. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914 and incorporated as "The Greyhound Corporation" in 1926. Today it is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Its famous name and its logo are based on the Greyhound, the fastest breed of dog used in dog racing.

Contents [hide]
1 Early history, growth
2 Making Greyhound
3 Greyhound Lines is spun-off from parent
4 Laidlaw ownership
5 Greyhound Lines in the 21st century
6 Notable accidents/incidents
7 Greyhound in Australia
8 Trivia
9 Fleet
10 See also
11 External links



[edit]
Early history, growth
Today's Greyhound is the result of nearly a century of expansion and acquisition. The company has been headquartered in Hibbing, Duluth, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, Chicago, Illinois, Phoenix, Arizona, and now Dallas, Texas. Greyhound Lines grew so quickly in the 1920s and 1930s that the Interstate Commerce Commission encouraged smaller independent operators to form the National Trailways Bus System (NTBS) to provide competitive markets. Unlike Greyhound which centralized ownership, Trailways member companies became a formidable competitor while staying an association of almost 100 separate companies.


Eastern Greyhound Lines of Ohio, Yellow Coach, photo credit Redden Archives[edit]
Making Greyhound
Carl Wickman was born in Sweden in 1887. He moved to the United States, and in 1914 began a bus service in Minnesota where he transported iron ore miners from Hibbing to Alice at 15 cents a ride.

In 1915 Wickman joined forces with Ralph Bogan, who was running a similar service from Hibbing to Duluth. The name of the new organization was the Mesaba Transportation Company, and it made $8,000 in profit in its first year.

By the end of the First World War Wickman owned 18 buses, and was making an annual profit of $40,000. In 1922 Wickman joined forces with Orville Caesar, the owner of the Superior White Bus Lines. Four years later, Wickman reached agreement with two West Coast operations, the Pickwick Lines and the Pioneer Yelloway System.

In 1926 Wickman's bus operations became known as the Greyhound Lines. Wickman, who was president of the company, continued to expand, and by 1927 his buses were making transcontinental trips from California to New York.

Wickman's business suffered during the Great Depression, and by 1931 was over $1 million in debt. However, with the improvement in the economy, the Greyhound Corporation began to prosper again. In 1935 Wickman was able to announce record profits of $8 million. By the outbreak of the Second World War the company had 4,750 stations and nearly 10,000 employees.

Wickman retired as president of Greyhound Corporation in 1946, and was replaced by his long-time partner, Orville Caesar. Carl Wickman died at the age of sixty-seven in 1954.


Greyhound's 1954 Scenicruiser was one of its most popular buses. Photo credit: Robert Redden, Redden ArchivesAfter World War II, and the building of the Interstate Highway System beginning in 1956, automobile ownership and travel became a preferred mode of travel in the United States. Along with a similar downward trend in public transportation in general, ridership on Greyhound and Trailways bus routes began a long decline.


Ready for boarding in Salem, Oregon for a fast trip north on new Interstate 5 in Autumn 1965.Greyhound leadership saw the trend, and used the profitable bus operations to invest in other industries. By the 1970s, Greyhound was a large and diversified company, with holdings in everything from the Armour & Co. meat-packing company to the Dial soap company, Traveller's Express money orders, MCI bus manufacturing company, and even airliner leasing.

Greyhound established the Premier Cruise Line in 1983. It would last until 2000, and at one time billed itself as the "Official Cruise Line of Walt Disney World".

In late 1984, Greyhound had a very bitter bus driver's strike, with one fatality in Zanesville, Ohio. By the time contract negotiations were due again three years later, the bus line had been spun-off from the parent company to new owners, which resulted in Greyhound Lines becoming solely a bus transportation company headed by Fred Currey, a former executive with the largest member of the National Trailways Bus System. The old parent changed its name to Dial, Inc.

[edit]
Greyhound Lines is spun-off from parent
Under the new ownership in 1987, led by Currey, Greyhound Lines shortly thereafter acquired the former Continental Trailways company, the largest member of the rival National Trailways Bus System, effectively eliminating a large portion of the bus competition. Although Greyhound negotiated cooperative schedules with Carolina Coach Company and Southeastern Trailways, two of the larger members of the Trailways system, many smaller Trailways carriers were effectively forced out of business.

Three years later there was another costly strike. This, combined with the loss of diversification and strength of the former parent company, and labor-law violations, forced the company to file for bankruptcy, from which it emerged in the early 1990s. At the same time, Greyhound had to contend with the rise of low-cost airlines like Southwest Airlines, which reduced further the market for long-distance inter-city bus transportation.

In 1997, Greyhound Lines acquired Carolina Trailways, one of the largest members of the National Trailways Bus System. Though today Carolina Trailways still operates as a brand name, most of the other independent members of the Trailways System fell into line and began interlining cooperatively with Greyhound. Some discontinued regular route services, diversified into charters and tours, or went out of business.

[edit]
Laidlaw ownership
In 1998, Hamilton, Ontario-based transportation conglomerate Laidlaw Inc. acquired a majority interest in Greyhound Lines, Inc. (U.S. operations) and Greyhound Lines of Canada, including Carolina Trailways and other Greyhound affiliates.

After incurring heavy losses through its investments in Greyhound Lines and other parts of its diversified business, Laidlaw Inc. filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in June 2001.


Late model Greyhound Lines Bus with seating for 55 passengers. Photo credit: Robert Redden, Redden ArchivesNaperville, Illinois-based Laidlaw International, Inc. listed its common shares on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: LI), on February 10, 2003, and emerged from re-organization on June 23, 2003 as the successor to Laidlaw Inc.

[edit]
Greyhound Lines in the 21st century
During 2004, Greyhound Lines announced major schedule reductions in its route system, particularly in the northwest and north central United States, and elimination of some long-distance routes. Similar changes were taking place during 2005 in other parts of the country. These changes have eliminated some routes, most notably the Interstate 90 route between Chicago and Seattle, and cut many stops in rural areas. Service to rural towns has been assumed by local transit agencies or independent bus companies, requiring government subsidy in some cases. [1] [2]

Recently, Greyhound has come under criticism for its bus assignment practices. Although bus tickets have times and dates printed on them, seating is not guaranteed, and is first come first served. Greyhound will add additional "sections" (buses) in periods of high demand, but the threshold required to trigger an additional section varies. Passengers may have to wait several hours to take the next bus. [3]

Increasingly, concern has been given to bus security. As a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks, train and airplane security have been substantially increased, but the same increase has not been provided to bus security. Drug smuggling is increasingly common on buses, as baggage is not inspected, nor is identification checked. Greyhound says that metal detector wands have been deployed on buses, but they do not appear to be routinely used. [4] In addition, the types of demographics of riders have gradually shifted downward. Greyhound bus terminals are often located in poor neighborhoods. Specifically, the terminal in Los Angeles, one of the busiest terminals in the country, is located adjacent to Skid Row. Competition from discount airlines like Southwest Airlines, increased reliability of inexpensive automobiles for long trips, and other bus lines attracting an Internet-savvy rider market such as Chinese bus lines and Megabus have led to Greyhound's revenue decline. Prisoners are often transported on Greyhound buses, some unescorted. The inmates, mostly offenders deemed a low flight risk, sign contracts to show up, but some flee anyway. [5]

During the past few years, Greyhound Lines has been expanding its charter and sightseeing services, and is the largest operator of Gray Line Sightseeing Tours franchises in major markets. Though it no longer owns the firm, Greyhound's fleet is still composed primarily of buses built by Motor Coach Industries (MCI).

[edit]
Notable accidents/incidents
A major accident happened at Bean Station, Tennessee in 1972 when a Greyhound Scenicruiser hit a tractor trailer head on. Fifteen people on the bus were killed including the driver.

The worst accident to befall Greyhound occurred on May 9, 1980, when the southbound span of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay in Florida was destroyed in a collision with a tanker. A Greyhound bus was among several vehicles falling into the bay. A total of 35 people, including all 26 on the bus, died.

On October 3, 2001, at approximately 4:15AM local time, Greyhound passenger Damir Igric attacked the driver of his bus, slitting his throat. The bus careened off the highway and crashed near Manchester, Tennessee, killing Igric and five other passengers and injuring 32 others. As the incident occurred only weeks after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Greyhound shut down their entire system as soon as they learned of the incident for fear that it may have been part of a larger coordinated attack. After investigation by the company and the FBI, it was confirmed that Igric had acted alone, and service resumed later that afternoon.[6] Since the incident, Greyhound bus stations increased security, though not nearly to the same level as airports or train stations.

On November 27, 2005, at approximately 7:10AM local time, a Greyhound bus travelling from Los Angeles to San Francisco crashed near Santa Maria, killing two people, one of whom was a 7-month pregnant woman. At the time, driver fatigue was blamed as the primary cause of the crash, though this may not now be the case.[7]

[edit]
Greyhound in Australia
In Australia, the primary long-distance bus carrier is Greyhound Australia, a company not related to the North American Greyhound bus operations.

[edit]
Trivia
Greyhound also played a part as the background transportation 'vehicle' (In this case bus number 6072, a 2000 MCI 45-foot coach) for Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie during the third season of The Simple Life in 2005.