The last day of Melbourne's route 673

On the 28th of January, 2022, the route 673 was in operation for the final time. Although PTV states that the route will operate its last service on the 29th, route 673 does not run on weekends, which means that the 28th is officially the date of when the last service operated.

A brief history

Compared to other bus routes, the 673 didn't last for that long, only being introduced as part of bus reforms in the Lilydale area in 2006. The route number had originally been given to a route that operated between Croydon and Lilydale, but the route was eventually cut back in stages and was completely deleted in 1987.

When I say that this route has a brief history, I do mean it. As far as I know, the route was pretty much left untouched during its 15 years of exisistance. Needless to say, there probably wasn't much that really could be changed about this route, mostly because of how redundant such a change would be.

Description

The 673 operated between Lilydale Station and Lillydale Lake and then returned back to the station along the same route. The route itself went along the Maroondah highway and then ran along Andreson Street and Swansea Road before turning right at the Lillydale Lake entrance and reaching the community room. At 2.5 Kilometres the 673 was the shortest bus in all of Melbourne by the time the route was deleted. With the exception of the stop outside the room, the route largely duplicated several other, arguably more useful routes such as the 663 and 680.

The timetable was pretty basic. Services ran exclusively on Weekdays, and only ran during the inter-peak. The frequency of this route was 1 bus per hour or a bus every 60 minutes.

The combination of a lackluster timetable, a short route, and a route that overlapped various routes was reflected in the patronage. The 673 was the quietest route in all of Melbourne, averaging less than 1 passenger for every service operated. It is surprising that such a route not only lasted as long as it did, but was also introduced in 2006, a year which saw a number of bus routes all across Melbourne receive a weekday service for the first time.

The Last Services

I reached Lilydale at around 1:30pm, in time for the 1:55pm service. The heat at the time was unrelenting, so it was nice to actually get on the bus just before it departed. The service departed on time with 2 other passengers on it and collected another 2 passengers near the intersection with Anderson Street. All passengers alighted at the terminus near the community room.

I found the terminus fairly intriguing, with the bus doing a u-turn at the carpark, and then going down a bus only road to reach the bus stop. 

The bus stop itself featured no shelter, a notification regarding its closure, and a timetable that dates back to 2006.

The lake itself is quite a lovely place to be, almost makes me wish I'd taken this route a few more times. The large number of birds, the great walking trail around the lake, and the facilities for children, dogs, and fishermen make this area quite the hidden gem.

The final bus of the day was meant to depart Lillydale Lake at 3:02 PM, but I believe the bus was late by a few minutes. The bus waited at the bus stop for a few minutes to allow for some bus spotters to take a few final pictures of the route.

The last service had 6 passengers on it, possibly the most ever seen on this bus route.

Upon reaching Lilydale Station, the bus that had been used to operate the 673 became a route 680 and then headed off to Mooroolbark.

While the route was arguably the most useless route in all of Melbourne, it was still sad to see it operate for the very last time.

Conclusion

What are your thoughts on the 673? Glad to see it go? Sad to see it go? Don't care at all? Let me know, it would be interesting to hear.