Old map at Greensborough

One of the things that I would like to talk about in this blog are what could be considered 'glimpses of the past'. And this map I saw at Greensborough Station is a good example of that.

So, peep the image below (apologies for the quality):

Map of Greensborough Station and surrounding area, includes some bus routes that no longer exist.

What's the image?

If you don't know what it is, it is a map that is intended to show the bus stops that train replacement buses depart from.

But that is not the thing that makes this map interesting.

What makes it interesting is that it mentions bus routes that no longer exist. Routes such as the 560, the 562, the 563, and the Sunday only 569 are mentioned on this map but none of those operate anymore. The mention of the route 569 makes me believe that the map was produced sometime before 2007, with 2007 being the year when the 569 ceased running.

I will briefly go over these four bus routes and talk about when they stopped running

Route 560

Route 560 on this map is the route that ran from Greensborough Station to Broadmeadows Station via Keon Park Station. It ran the same route as the route 902 Smartbus, which makes sense when you consider that the 560 was replaced by the 902. This bus route ceased running in April 2010.

Map showing where route 560 ran.

The route number was later revived in 2015, operating between Pascoe Vale Station and Coburg North Village. This version of the route ceased operations in January 2016, and was replaced by an extended route 561.

Route 562

Route 562 at the time of this map's creation ran from Greensborough to Whittlesea and Humevale, operating mostly via Plenty Road. The 562 was then modified in April 2012 to operate to Northland Shopping Centre, no longer serving Greensborough, and being modified to operate via South Morang Station. 

Map showing where route 562 ran.

Eventually, in 2016, Route 562 would be discontinued and would be replaced by route 382 and 384. The 562 has not been in use since.

Route 563

Route 563 was an interesting bus route. When this was produced, it ran from Greensborough to Northland, operating via Plenty River Drive and South Morang (no station yet). The Krustylink timetables tell an interesting story for this route. You probably should not have used this route if you wanted to get anywhere in a timely manner.

Map showing where route 563 ran.

The 563 ceased operations in April 2012, being replaced by routes such as the 562 and the 901.  The 563 number has not been used since.

Route 569

Route 569 was a Sunday only route that operated between Greensborough and Epping.* It basically acted as a combination of routes 564 and 566 on this one particular day. Sunday only routes no longer exist and 569 is no exception, it ceased in June 2007, being replaced with 564 and 566 operating seven days a week.

Map showing where route 569 ran.

The 569 number is now used for a bus route operating from Epping Plaza to South Morang Station, with the route being introduced in April 2012. Finally enough, prior to 2012 what is now served by the 569 was once part of the 564.

* - The link provided will take you to information on Route 566, however, the timetables on that website will show you info of the 569.

That is it!

That is all I have for this week! Make sure to comment on if you think these bus routes should still exist or suggest how I should improve my blog! Tune in next week where I will tell you where the name's of Melbourne's Werribee Line come from!