Cade Lucas
Wyndham students returning to school next week will be able to do so via a number of new bus routes announced by the state government on Wednesday.
The new services in Wyndham are focussed on two new public secondary schools, Walcom Ngarrwa Secondary College in Werribee and Bemin Secondary College in Truganina.
From the start of term one, new morning and afternoon services will transport students from Wyndham Vale and South Werribee to Walcom Ngarrwa Secondary College which is located on the corner of Frome Crescent and Armstrong Road.
Bemin Secondary College will benefit from six new bus routes, linking students based in Williams Landing, Truganina and Hoppers Crossing.
Laverton MP Sarah Connolly has been running an online campaign for improved bus services in Truganina and welcomed the news.
“People in Melbourne’s west of all ages love their buses and rely on the bus network to get them where they need
to go,” she said.
“The announcement today will make a world of difference for working families by giving their kids a reliable way to get to and from school, whether it’s at Bemin Secondary College or elsewhere. These six new school bus services are the next step in improving Wyndham’s bus network, where we need more buses more often in new and developing estates.”
The extra services are part of a wider update of Wyndham’s school bus network including changes to bus
routes servicing Werribee Secondary College and MacKillop College, and seven existing school services being combined into four to reduce duplication.
The changes are funded by $25 million allocated in the 2022/23 state budget to improve bus services for students in outer suburban growth corridors across Melbourne.
Public and Active Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams said the new bus services would improve public transport and ensure students arrive at school on time.
“We’re delivering a modern bus network that encourages more people to take the bus,” she said.
Late last year western suburbs advocacy alliance LeadWest urged the state government to improve bus services in the west due to what it called the ‘chronic under supply’ of public transport in growth areas like Wyndham.
