Looking up the company name, I found the bus featured on the ‘Ride with Addikted’ Facebook page – their game being “Premium bus transport service: Birthdays, Hens, Bucks, Corporate events, Weddings & more!”.

The bus has national heavy vehicle plate number “XV22LW”, so my next step was to look up the registration plate on the VicRoads website.

Registration number:
XV22LW

Registration status & expiry date:
Current – 04/06/2024

Vehicle:
2005 BLACK M.A.N. BUS

VIN/Chassis:
WMAA66ZZ05C005571

Engine number:
19510105291015

Registration serial number:
7499449

Compliance plate / RAV entry date:
06/2005

I then searched online for the VIN of “WMAA66ZZ05C005571” – and found this expired auction listing on the machines4u website.

Showing a bus with a mismatched livery of white, blue and orange – a common sight for buses originally delivered to the National Bus Company, and then rebranded for Public Transport Victoria after their takeover by Transdev Melbourne in 2013.

With the full story becoming clear when I put the VIN into the search at the Australian Bus Fleet Lists site, which brought this up.

Operator
Transdev Melbourne

Depot
North Fitzroy

Fleet Number
#544

Registration
5840AO

Chassis Type
MAN 15.220

Chassis No
WMAA66ZZ05C005571

Body Manufacturer
Custom Coaches “CB30”

Body No
04-133

Body Date
6.2005

Withdrawn
15/10/2019

And with registration plate 5840AO on hand, I then searched my collection of photos, and what did I get – a photo of the bus in service with Transdev Melbourne back in June 2015.

And a parting shot from 2012, with the bus in the National Bus Company blue livery.

Quite the journey indeed!

Footnote – another ex-Transdev bus

I spotted another ex-Transdev CB30 bus in the back blocks of Ballarat earlier this year – where the wet weather and lack of shelter have not been kind to it.

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