Helensburgh parents who have been advocating for better transport options for more than a year have received good news. The promised bus will be delivered.

Read more in last week's article, MP backs school bus after ‘emotional’ community meeting, and see today's announcement below. 

Media release: From the Office of Jo Haylen, Minister for Transport

Date: Thursday 11 April 2024

Improvements to transport options for students who travel between Helensburgh and Bulli High School each day will be rolled out within weeks.

Currently students in the Helensburgh area mostly catch trains as there is no bus service from Helensburgh to Bulli High School.

From term two, three new services will be added to the bus timetable giving students more travel options.

The Route 2 bus will have two new services on weekdays. These services will be extended further north from the current route boundary of Stanwell Park to include Helensburgh town. A new stop at Bulli High School will be added.

This will provide students with an option to get to school on a bus departing Helensburgh Station Interchange at 7:31am and an afternoon bus departing Bulli High School at 3:25pm.

A new weekday bus service will also operate to help students catch the afternoon train home that arrives at 4.01pm at Helensburgh station.

Currently students wait almost 20 minutes at the station for the Route 15 bus service to depart.   

Transport for NSW has worked with the operator to provide an additional service departing at the new time of 4:05pm as well as the existing Route 15 4:20pm service.

This will provide better connectivity between train and bus services, reducing waiting time at the station and getting students home earlier.

The Route 2 and Route 15 services, operated by Premier Illawarra, deliver an important uplift in local bus services.

Transport will continue to look to improving bus services for communities between Helensburgh and Bulli, as well as other services in the broader Illawarra region.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said: “I’m delighted to announce these new bus services, which are a win for Helensburgh families whose children attend Bulli High School.”

“Improving services between Helensburgh and Bulli High School was an important election commitment and we know they’ll be appreciated by students and local parents.

“The Illawarra was one of the first places in the state to host a Bus Passenger Forum, where the taskforce heard from locals who shared what improvements they wanted to see across the region.

“I’m glad we’ve been able to act on some of the feedback we received.”

Member for Heathcote Maryanne Stuart said: “Changes to afternoon bus times to provide better connections with trains are a real game changer for our region. It means students won’t be sitting and around and will be able to get home much earlier.

I thank the families and students for working with the school, myself and the Minister to ensure our children travel to and from school safely.”