Article: Melbourne's longest bus route ...

[ozbob]

From the Herald Sun click here!

Melbourne's longest bus route takes passengers from Frankston to the airport

Melbourne's longest bus route takes passengers from Frankston to the airport

    * James Campbell
    * From: Sunday Herald Sun
    * October 10, 2010 12:00AM

THE wheels of the bus go round and round and round. For almost 4 1/2 hours.

America has Route 66, famed in song and legend.

Now Melbourne has SmartBus Route 90, a 115km odyssey from Frankston to Melbourne Airport, which takes more than four hours and travels much of city's northern and eastern suburbs.

To celebrate the arrival of this new route, travel has been free for the past two weeks, concluding today.

But even after the complimentary period ends, the bus won't be expensive - a one-way trip to the airport will cost a full fare adult passenger only $2.80.

Though, if you are planning on flying anywhere in Australia, it is more likely than not you will spend more time getting to the airport than you will on the plane.

The Sunday Herald Sun decided to try out the new bus on its four-hour journey through Melbourne's suburbs.

Shortly after 11.27am we board the bus outside Frankston station and head past Seaford towards Dandenong via Carrum Downs.

It is school holidays and most of the passengers are teenagers chatting or staring into space listening to music on their headphones.

Dandenong and Frankston are both well-established suburbs, but much of the Frankston-Dandenong Rd is still paddocks.

Most of the passengers change at Dandenong Station, something that is to be repeated each time we cross a railway line.

It seems we are the only people destined to follow the 901 to the bitter end.

But at Rowville, a couple board the bus carrying a brochure advertising the new route.

Maybe we are not the only ones going all the way.

Paul and Maureen Lucas have read about the 901 in their local newspaper and have decided to give it a try.

And their journey is going to be a longer than ours - almost twice as long because they will be taking the bus home again while we will be coming back to Southbank.

"We thought it would be interesting to see Melbourne this way," Mr Lucas explains.

After Rowville, the 901 goes through Scoresby, Wantirna and Ringwood.

Then at Nunawading we pass a cluster of shops selling the same thing.

When Channel 10 was in Nunawading I was taught its name was an Aboriginal word meaning "low ratings", but I now realise it must actually mean "here be bedding shops" - because within about 100m lie Dreamworks Bedding, Regal Mattress, Snooze, Bedshed and Fortywinks.

Shortly afterwards, at 1.39pm, we cross the Eastern Freeway - roughly halfway through our journey - and pass through Doncaster and Templestowe.

The Lucases are passing the time with a book of Sudoku puzzles.

At 2.10pm we cross the Yarra and head towards Greensborough, where built-up suburbia gives way to bushland.

Two and half hours into our trip, the bus seats are starting to seem very hard indeed. This is a suburban bus, not a coach.

There are no facilities on board. If you need to get off, the driver won't be waiting while you respond to the call of nature. You'll just have to catch the next bus along - though luckily there are four every hour.

After Yarrambat we pass through South Morang, Mill Park and Epping.

Then Campbellfield, Roxburgh Park and Broadmeadows.

By this time the end can't come quick enough.

After what seems an age we are on the freeway streaking for the airport.

Then finally, shortly after 3.45pm, we are dropped outside the Tiger Airways terminal.

We've travelled for 115km and stopped 200 times along one of the least scenic routes in Melbourne.

We head off in search of a toilet and then a taxi.

[#Metro]

These bus routes are cross town services and they actually work.
I'm guessing that they are very long because they are there to link up all the railway lines and combine a number of local trips into one consolidated service that is worth running. Most people would only spend a small amount of time on the bus- maybe to get to the local station or by interchanging off another bus or train into it.

Our 599/598 needs boosting.