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On the Friday 24th April 2009. While in Melbourne for my sisters wedding I met up with 3 other members of the ATDB site for a half day tour of middle suburban Melbourne and the much hyped Route 903 orbital bus service.

My Trip on Route 903 began with a bus ride on Route 708 from Hampton East to Mordialloc Metro Station. Upon arrival at Mordialloc I met up with two of the 3 people joining me on the Route 903 trip.

Our trip on Route 903 Departed Mordialloc's Centreway Bus Terminus at 10.30am on Bus number 903 – 707. At Box Hill Bus Terminal the final member of our group joined the bus. After another good hour or so on the bus we all stopped at Northland Shopping Plaza for lunch and a rather poor attempt at photographing buses at Northland. The weather and light was terrible at Northland for photography.

After lunch we boarded Bus number 903 -572 at the underground bus terminal at Northland for our trip to Essendon Metro station for another attempt at getting better bus photographs. The weather was a little better at Essendon it wasn't pissing down with freezing rain. After we all had got some bus photographs at Essendon we boarded Bus number 903 – 558 for the final leg of Route 903 to Altona Metro station.

Despite the length of Route 903 it would be one of Melbourne more useful bus services as it creates some very useful cross town links. The weekday frequency of Route 903 is also quite good for Melbourne standards. But the weekend and evening service leaves a lot to be desired.

One area I would like to see an improvement is the introduction of limited stop buses between Mentone and Northland Shopping Plaza. This Limited Stop bus would only stop at major points between Mentone and Northland. This would help reduce travelling time over this busy section of the 903. As quite a number of users travel longer distances on the eastern section of the 903.

Now onto the photographs from the Route 903 trip.

Please note this images are not of the best quality as they were taken with a borrowed camera from a family member and it was not the best camera in the world.

1. This is a shot of a Route 708: Hampton – Carrum Bus. Taken as it approached a bus stop on Wickham road. Bus Number 708 – 590. Bus type Merc Aircon Low floor Metro bus.

2. This is another shot of the Route 708 bus. This time taken as it waits to depart from Mordialloc Bus terminal on a trip to Carrum. Bus Number 708 – 590.

3. This is another angle on the Route 708 bus. Taken from the station side of the road at Mordialloc. Note this bus has a horrible advert covering over the bus windows. Why they don't put the advert on the metal parts of the bus only.

4. This is a shot of a Route 903: Mordialloc – Altona bus. Taken as it approached Centreway Bus terminal at Mordialloc. Bus number 903 – 707. Bus type Merc Low floor aircon metro bus. Note the soi this bus departs from is also heavily used by cargo trucks accessing the businesses near the terminal.

5. This is a shot of Bus number 903 – 707 waiting to depart of the 10.30am service to Altona. This bus stop has the new electronic information signs which also show Metro train information. However this stop is quite a distance from the actual metro station.

6. This is an inside shot of Bus number 903 – 707. Taken looking towards the back while waiting at Morialloc Centreway bus terminal. It is interesting this Merc bus has windows that can be opened in the event of an aircon failure unlike the Metro trains in melbourne.

7. This is a shot of a Route 549: Northland – Ivanhoe Bus. Taken in the underground bus terminal at Northland shopping Plaza. Bus number 549 – 6. Bus type Isuzu High floor non aircon. This is one of the better buses of the day.

8. This is a shot of a Route 903 bus. Taken in front of the Ukrainian Consulate opposite Essendon Metro station. Bus number 903 – 572. Bus type Unknown. Do these buses suffer from over heating at lot? As there seems to be very little ventilation for the engine.

9. This is a shot of a Route 465: Essendon – Keilor Park bus. Taken as it waits to depart from Essendon metro station. Bus number 465 – 30. Bus type Merc High floor non aircon. This was also quite a nice looking bus.

10. This is another angle on Bus number 465 – 30. Taken looking back toward Essendon Metro station. Note the metro train in the background.

11. This is a shot of bus number 903 – 572. Taken as it passed over the railway crossing just south of Essendon Metro station on a trip to Altona.

12. This is an image of a Route 477: Essendon – Broadmeadows bus. Taken as it was approaching Essendon Metro station. Bus number 477 – 2. Bus type Merc Low floor Metro bus.

13. This is a shot of a Route 476: Essendon – Sydenham Bus. Taken as it was loading at Essendon Station. Bus number 476 – 2. Bus type Merc High floor non aircon. This bus route appears to get a good loading compared to some of the others.

14. This is a shot of a Route 903 bus. Taken as it waits outside Essendon Metro station. Bus number 903 – 635. Bus type Unknown. Note how the electronic sign is not working at Essendon.

15. This is a shot of the Route 903 bus we rode from Essendon to Altona. Taken just after it arrived at Altona Metro station. Bus number 903 – 558. Bus type unknown. Again the electronic sign at the bus stop was not working.

16. This is a shot of Bus 903 – 558 waiting to depart on its 4 hour long trip to Mordialloc.

17. This is an image the rather quiet Altona Metro station. Taken looking west along the single track. I wonder if they will ever build a second platform at this station.

18. This is a shot of a Werribee bound Metro train. Taken as it was approaching Altona Metro station. Train number unknown. Train type Siemens Metro.

19. This is another angle on the Werribee bound Metro train. Taken looking west along the platform at Altona. This train had a reasonable number of people get off it at altona.

20. This is a shot of the City bound metro train we all took back to the city. Taken looking west along the platform. Train number unknown. Train type Comeng Metro.

After about 6 hours of travelling around the low density middle suburban areas of Melbourne our trip on route 903 was complete. If someone wanted a tour of suburban area of Melbourne I highly recommend an afternoon on Route 903.

Overall the concept of Route 903 is good but there is room for improvements to the frequency and speed of the route. One of the big time wasters on this route is having to fully stop before opening the bus doors. This appears to add 5 to 10 seconds to stop over a route this long it can add as much as 20 mins to the travelling time.

If the drivers opened the doors as the approached the stop it would shorten stop times greatly as most passengers would step out as the bus was moving very slowly rather than waiting for it to fully stop thus allowing the driver to get under way again quicker. Although when they sell tickets in the future that process will add even more time to pick stops on the route. Major stops like box hill and northland etc could introduce BRT style off bus ticketing to help reduce ticket sales delays at major terminals on Route 903.

Only time will tell if Route 903 will be a success. As an end to end trip its not a viable service but in any number of shorter sections it will offer a good service and create new direct links between major areas.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures let me know what you though of the Route 903 and the pictures.