Public Transport Commission

The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia from October 1972 until June 1980.

Public Transport Commission

Preserved Pressed Metal Corporation bodied Leyland Atlantean
Commission overview
Formed	20 October 1972
Preceding agencies	Department of Railways Department of Government Transport Sydney Harbour Transport Board
Dissolved	30 June 1980; 43 years ago (1980-06-30)
Superseding agencies	State Rail Authority Urban Transit Authority
Jurisdiction	New South Wales
Headquarters	Sydney
Minister responsible	Peter Cox, Minister for Transport
Key documents	Public Transport Commission Act 1972 (NSW) Public Transport Commission and Sydney Harbour Transport (Amendment) Act 1974 (NSW)

Upon dissolution, responsibility for rail services transferred to the State Rail Authority and responsibility for bus and ferry services to the Urban Transit Authority.

The PTC, composed of five Commissioners appointed by the Governor of New South Wales, was accountable to the Minister for Transport.

Structure

 

80 class locomotive in 1978

The PTC was established pursuant to the Public Transport Commission Act 1972 (NSW) and led to the abolition of the offices of Commissioner for Railways and Commissioner for Public Transport.^[1][2]

The Act facilitated the merger of the Department of Railways and the Department of Government Transport,^[3] the latter being the agency that operated government bus services in Sydney and Newcastle. In December 1974, the Public Transport Commission and Sydney Harbour Transport (Amendment) Act 1974 (NSW) dissolved the Sydney Harbour Transport Board and ferries were added to PTC's responsibility.^[4] This coincided with government also taking over the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company ferries.^[5]

In June 1980, the PTC was dissolved with the State Rail Authority assuming responsibility for rail services and the Urban Transit Authority responsibility for bus and ferry services through the enactment of the Transport Authorities Act 1980 (NSW).^[3][6][7]

Management

The Public Transport Commission consisted of five commissioners appointed by the Governor of New South Wales, two of whom were nominated by the Minister for Transport. Two of the Commissioners were full-time one of these was appointed by the Governor as Chief Commissioner. The Commission acquired the assets and liabilities of the former commissioners, were bound by current agreements or contracts, and were responsible for the completion of business commenced by them. The Commission inherited the functions of the previous Commissioners as prescribed in the Railways Act 1912 (NSW) and the Transport Act 1930 (NSW).^[3]

The first Chief Commissioner of the PTC was Philip Shirley, a former chairman of Cunard, who came out of retirement to take up the position. Shirley had been involved with the Beeching cuts being vice chairman of the British Railways Board in his native United Kingdom in the 1960s. His cost-cutting approach was criticised by sections of the public, trade unions and the parliamentary opposition. Shirley retired in 1975, two years before his commission was due to conclude. His successor, until the PTC was disbanded in 1980, was Alan Reiher. Upon the dissolution of the PTC, Reiher became chairman of VicRail.^[8]

Chief Commissioners

#	Commissioner	Term	Time in office	Notes
1	Philip Shirley	20 October 1972 – 1 December 1975	3 years, 42 days	^[9]^[10]
2	Alan Reiher	20 April 1976 – 19 March 1980	3 years, 334 days	^[11]^[12]^[13]
Vacant to 30 June 1980, succeeded by CEO State Rail Authority and CEO Urban Transit Authority

Deputy Chief Commissioners

Commissioner	Term	Time in office	Notes
Joshua Trimmer	12 December 1974 – 28 September 1979	4 years, 290 days	^[14]^[11]
Jack Davies	28 September 1979 – 30 June 1980	276 days	^[15]

Commissioners

Full-time Commissioner	Term	Time in office	Notes
Dr Robert Nielsen	20 October 1972 – 31 December 1973	1 year, 72 days	^[9]^[16]
Joshua Trimmer	20 October 1972 – 12 December 1974	2 years, 53 days	^[9]
Eric Archer	1 January 1974 – 15 January 1974	14 days	^[17]^[18]
Eugene Gordon	13 June 1974 – 30 June 1980	6 years, 17 days	^[19]^[11]
Nominated Commissioner	Term	Time in office	Notes
Barrie Unsworth	20 October 1972 – 19 October 1975	2 years, 364 days	^[9]
Reginald Watson
Edington Byrne	20 October 1975 – 19 October 1979	3 years, 364 days	^[20]^[21]
Ralph Marsh
David Hill	12 November 1979 – 30 June 1980	267 days	^[22]^[23]
Eric Lyndon	21 May 1980 – 30 June 1980	40 days	^[24]

Activities

 

A mixed-set electric suburban train in 1977, made up of S sets and Tulloch carriages in the blue and white livery

A mandarin blue and riviera white livery was introduced on buses, suburban electric trains and ferries while freight wagons were painted in a teal blue livery.^{[25][26][27][28]} From November 1976, trains reverted to Tuscan red while ferries would revert to their Tuscan and green liveries in the 1980s.^[29] In November 1979, a modified livery for locomotives was introduced with the colours on the Tuscan and yellow painted ends reverted.^[30][31]

 

44 class locomotive in the reverse yellow paint scheme

The original logo had the letters NSW with arrows pointing east and west. It was replaced in 1975 by the L7 logo.^[32][33] It would continue to be used, albeit with different colours, on buses and ferries until 1989 and on trains until 2010.

In June 1974, the PTC took over the operation of Bowden's Bus Service route 79 from the Town Hall to Tamarama.^[34] In September 1975, the PTC began operating Denning coaches out of Dubbo when the Far West Express was replaced.^[35][36]

While best remembered as an era of cutbacks, investment was made during the tenure of the Public Transport Commission with the following ordered:

• 312 Leyland Leopard buses^[27]
• 750 Mercedes-Benz O305 buses^[27]
• 359 Comeng built S set double deck suburban carriages^[37]
• 150 A Goninan & Co built S set double deck suburban carriages^[37]
• 30 V set double deck interurban carriages^[38]
• 10 FAM sleeper carriages
• 30 80 class diesel locomotives^[39]
• 10 85 class electric locomotives^[39]
• various modern bulk freight wagons
• More than 1,000 RACE containers suitable for the Australia standard pallets
• 2 Lady class ferries (Street & Herron)

Publication

The PTC published an in-house journal, Transport News, with the first edition published in November 1972.^[40]

See also

• Railways in Sydney
• Rail transport in New South Wales
• Timeline of Sydney Harbour ferries

References

1. Single Authority Planned for Public Transport in NSW Railway Transportation March 1972 pages 3, 10
2. One body to run public transport Truck & Bus Transportation March 1972 page 127
3. "Public Transport Commission of New South Wales". State Records. Government of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
4. Sydney Harbour Transport Board NSW State Records
5. Andrews, Graeme (1994). Ferries of Sydney. Sydney: Sydney University Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-424-00202-7.
6. Complete Re-organization of Public Transport in New South Wales Network July 1980 page 7
7. Here & There Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 514 August 1980 page 57
8. Railway History in Victoria 1950 - now 21 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Australian Railway Historical Society Victorian Division
9. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 110. New South Wales, Australia. 20 October 1972. p. 4122. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
10. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 155. New South Wales, Australia. 28 November 1975. p. 4974. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
11. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 59. New South Wales, Australia. 30 April 1976. p. 1842. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
12. Top NSW transport man quits Canberra Times 21 March 1980 page 7
13. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 51. New South Wales, Australia. 28 March 1980. p. 1389. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
14. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 159. New South Wales, Australia. 27 December 1974. p. 5083. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
15. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 134. New South Wales, Australia. 28 September 1979. p. 4819. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
16. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 156. New South Wales, Australia. 14 December 1973. p. 5331. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
17. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 156. New South Wales, Australia. 14 December 1973. p. 5332. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
18. "RE will of ERIC DOUGLAS ARCHER, late of Strathfield". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 52. New South Wales, Australia. 10 May 1974. p. 1807. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
19. "PUBLIG TRANSTORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 81. New South Wales, Australia. 5 July 1974. p. 2590. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
20. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 135. New South Wales, Australia. 17 October 1975. p. 4265. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
21. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 162. New South Wales, Australia. 17 November 1978. p. 4707. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
22. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 153. New South Wales, Australia. 16 November 1979. p. 5725. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
23. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 73. New South Wales, Australia. 16 May 1980. p. 2432. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
24. "PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT, 1972". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 80. New South Wales, Australia. 30 May 1980. p. 2741. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
25. New colour scheme for Sydney transport Network December 1972 page 2
26. New Livery for Government-owned Transport Fleet Railway Transportation December 1972 page 10
27. Travers, Greg (1982). From City to Suburb a Fifty Year Journey. Sydney: The Historic Commercial Vehicle Association.
28. "20 Years Ago" Railway Digest November 1992 page 442
29. Blue & White Suburban Cars Railway Digest May 1977 page 105
30. New Colour Scheme for Locomotives Railway Digest February 1980 page 47
31. The Yellow End Paint Scheme Railway Digest May 1984 pages 76-78
32. PTC Logo Changes Railway Digest April 1975 page 6
33. New symbol for PTC Network May 1975 page 4
34. Private Route Goes Electric Traction July 1974 page 12
35. Super Coaches for NSW Network September 1975 page 4
36. Country rail branch lines now served by coaches Truck & Bus Transportation October 1975 page 130
37. EMU Review Railway Digest March 1985
38. Rostering Electric Interurban Trains Railway Digest January 1985
39. Oberg, Leon (2007). Locomotives of Australia 1854 to 2007. Dural: Rosenberg Publishing. ISBN 9781877058547.
40. Transport News State Archives