When I was a little kid going for a ride on a double decker bus was always a fun day out, and I happened to instil the same sense of adventure in my son after showing him book upon book about Hong Kong buses. But where can one go for a double deck bus ride in Melbourne?
My first through was City Sightseeing Melbourne – they operate a fleet of open top double deck buses around Melbourne, running a hop-on hop-off service targeted at tourists.
But when I checked the ticket prices I got second thoughts – a 24 hour pass for adults is $35, and children aged 4-14 are $15.
What about the SkyBus service to Melbourne Airport?
Another expensive adventure – $33 return for adults, but at least kids can come along free on a family ticket.
But the real cheap seats are the route 190 bus that runs between Werribee and Wyndham Vale.
It’s just a standard Myki zone 2 fare, but only one of the buses used on the route is a double decker – which makes tracking it down an adventure.
I was lucky enough to find it at Wyndham Vale station at 9am where my son and I rode it to Werribee station, after which it retired to the CDC Melbourne depot at Truganina. Apparently it emerges again in the afternoon to complete a number of school runs, then heads back to the depot again for the night.
Back in 2015 Daniel Bowen wrote more about CDC’s double deck bus.
And some other options
If you a pack of excited kids to entertain, then chartering a double decker bus is always an option.
Dee Decker Tours has a number of double deck buses for charter.
While Rockleigh Tours has two luxurious double deck coaches for hire.
And Melbourne’s double deck train
Melbourne once had a double deck train – the 4D. Introduced in 1992 as a testbed, after years out of service it was finally scrapped in 2006.
Photo by Zed Fitzhume, via Wikimedia Commons
4D should have been preserved. It would be greater for tours of skyrail, think of the extra view!
Though the top deck of a double deck train isn’t that much taller than a standard train.
In many places the extra metre would allow more buildings, hills and trees to be seen over. It would also mean a slightly further away horizon.
I am not sure I would trust Dee Decker Tours to have safe vehicles.
In the news back in March 2018 for dodgy buses:
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/popular-bus-companys-fleet-of-unroadworthy-vehicles-exposed/news-story/d3fbccb35e6d779a8b4ca2ba6025aba0
And later lost their accreditation:
https://transportsafety.vic.gov.au/bus-safety/newsroom/tsv-alerts-police-to-plate-swap
Or take him up to Sydney where we have double deck buses on numerous routes, including Route B1 that is exclusively Double Deck! 😛
Last time I was in Sydney was during the 2017 Transport Heritage Expo, so there were double deckers everywhere!
I’ve been meaning to head up again when the ex-Hong Kong double deckers are out:
https://www.checkerboardhill.com/2018/08/hong-kong-double-decker-buses-in-australia/
But at the rate I’m going we’ll be seeing them in Hong Kong first.
You might enjoy a historical view of why double deck buses aren’t a Melbourne thing.
http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/doubledeck.htm
Thanks for sharing – the tale of the failed Bourke Street tramway replacement is an interesting one.
If the windows of the 4D train were anything like those of the contemporary Sydney “Tangara” trains, I can assure you that the view out of any of the windows is craptacularly bad.
I suspect the curved windows followed by vandals scratching the cheap glass are to blame there.
[…] Articulated buses aren’t the only oddball vehicles on Melbourne’s bus routes – there is also an even smaller handful of double deck buses. […]