More weekend buses to and from the Bellarine

BUS users are celebrating after news earlier this week that new weekend services to and from the Bellarine and rescheduled timetables would roll out later this year.

Member for Bellarine Lisa Neville on Monday announced three extra weekend services on the four bus routes that run to the Bellarine.

These extra weekend services will boost access to and from the Bellarine for residents and visitors.

Route 55 Ocean Grove via Barwon Heads, Route 56 Ocean Grove via Leopold, Route 60 St Leonards via Portarlington and Route 61 Drysdale via Clifton Springs/Leopold will each get three extra services, helping better connect with train services departing from Geelong.

As part of this change, all Route 61 services will be extended to the Bayview shopping centre in Curlewis and new bus stops will be built at the shopping centre and on Centennial Boulevard.

“These new bus services will make a huge  difference for anyone having a day out in Melbourne or heading into Geelong,” Ms Neville said.

“We’re giving Bellarine locals more efficient and reliable public transport that will get you where you need to go sooner.”

Northern Bellarine Transport Action Group Co Chair Jenny Wills said while this announcement was great news, it was still important for the community to campaign for their transport needs.

“This is fantastic news for us, but what we want and will keep looking at is our overall demands because what we are interested in is ending the shuttle bus and having a through service from St Leonards to Geelong, having better connectivity with the trains, and having a myki outlet on the Bellarine, so other essential elements,” Ms Wills said.

“But it’s great news and a credit to the community for asking for what we need in terms of public transport.”

These new services are on top of other public transport improvements rolled out by the Labor Government across Geelong, the Surf Coast and the Bellarine Peninsula, including a new bus service from Warralily Shopping Centre to Waurn Ponds that was also recently announced.

The Bellarine timetable changes will begin in December 2019, with timetable information available a month prior at ptv.vic.gov.au.