illawarra pressed metal corporation bodied mercedes benz o405 in wollongong in september 2007 parent john king founded december 1987 headquarters nowra service area nowra wollongong gold coast central queensland service type bus & coach services alliance hopkinsons depots 9 operator premier shoalhaven premier motor service premier illawarra surf city premier queensland premier charters website www.premierms.com.au the premier transport group is an australian operator of bus and coach services in new south wales and queensland . its origins can be traced back to december 1987 when john king purchased nowra coaches . it has since expanded through a number of acquisitions . contents 1 premier shoalhaven 2 premier motor service 3 premier illawarra 4 surf city 5 premier queensland 6 premier charters 7 hopkinsons 8 further reading 9 external links 10 references premier shoalhaven edit in december 1987 john king purchased nowra coaches from bill gill . nowra coaches expanded in august 1988 when the school bus services of sampson tours were acquired . 1 an all blue livery was adopted . following the purchase of pioneer motor service the turquoise and white livery of the express operator was adopted in the 2000s and the operation rebranded premier shoalhaven . in july 2013 premier shoalhaven commenced operating a service between moss vale station and goulburn under contract to nsw trainlink . it also operates late night services between bomaderry and kiama for nsw trainlink . local bus services operated in nowra still under the nowra coaches name 724 nowra to wollongong university shoalhaven campus 732 nowra to basin view 733 nowra to wreck bay premier motor service edit pioneer motor service commenced operating in august 1929 when cecil haigh commenced operating a service from bomaderry station nowra to bega via tilba bermagui cobargo and quaama . in 1946 the bega to eden service was purchase from edwards bus service . towns north of tilba were served by bartletts bus service and harrisons motor service . 2 in 1962 pioneer motor service purchased bartletts bus service from john a gilbert resulting in pioneer motor service covering the whole of the south coast between nowra and eden . harrisons continued to operate the night service until it ceased operating the service in the 1970s . pioneer motor service commenced picking up on the night service also becoming the sole long distance operator on the south coast . following deregulation in the 1990s pioneer motor service extended its services north to sydney . 2 in may 1995 the haigh family sold the business to john king with the depot relocated to the nowra coaches facility . 2 3 in june 1996 the sydney to brisbane services of kirkland s bros were acquired 4 followed in august 1996 by the sydney to brisbane services of lindsay s coaches . 2 5 both of these were rebranded as pioneer motor service . in 1997 greyhound pioneer australia took legal action to prevent the pioneer motor service name being used on the services north of sydney . this action was successful and the operation was rebranded as premier motor service . 2 6 in november 1998 services were extended from eden to melbourne 7 this extension ceased on 12 december 2014 . 8 after a takeover bid for greyhound pioneer australia was unsuccessful premier motor service commenced a brisbane to cairns service in august 2000 . 9 in august 2008 the lismore to brisbane services of kirkland bros were acquired . 2 10 premier illawarra edit on 14 june 2001 john king purchased the two largest operators in wollongong john j hill and rutty s bus service with 125 buses and rebranded both as premier illawarra . 11 12 since 2008 premier illawarra s routes have formed sydney outer metropolitan bus region 10 in wollongong s southern suburbs . 13 it operates depots in shellharbour and unanderra . surf city edit in july 2007 the surf city coach operation on the gold coast was purchased . 10 premier queensland edit in 2012 premier transport group purchased the business of busit queensland with depots in mackay and moranbah . it operates school services and contracts for central queensland mines including for the bhp billiton mitsubishi alliance . 14 premier charters edit on 2 february 2015 the business of green s northern coaches thirroul was purchased with 18 buses and rebranded as premier charters . 15 16 it operates two routes as part of sydney outer metropolitan bus region 9 in wollongong s northern suburbs . 17 2 stanwell park wollongong 15 helensburgh station coalcliff hopkinsons edit on 1 march 2015 a 50 % shareholding in western sydney charter operator hopkinsons was purchased . 18 19 further reading edit birchmeier john 2011 . kembla keira and around the lake a history of rutty s bus service wollongong 1925 2001 . kingsford . isbn 9780980627312 . external links edit company website bus australia gallery references edit nowra coaches fleetline november 1988 page 276 a b c d e f about us nowra coaches ownership changes fleetline july 1995 page 129 nowra coaches australian bus panorama issue 12 1 august 1996 page 54 long distance services fleetline november 1996 page 202 change of name for pioneer motor service australian bus panorama issue 13 3 december 1997 page 29 express coach australian bus panorama issue february 1999 page 21 travellers left scrambling as bus service axed eden magnet 2 december 2014 national & manufacturing australian bus panorama october 2000 page 19 a b kings kirklands takeover opens routes australasian bus & coach 6 march 2008 john s king of the road south coast register 19 june 2001 private operators fleetline july 2001 page 112 outer metropolitan sydney bus contract regions 9 and 10 nsw government transport & infrastructure october 2009 about us premier queensland premier illawarra has taken over green s northern coaches illawarra mercury 4 february 2015 premier illawarra acquires green s northern coaches australian bus issue 68 march 2015 timetables premier charters hopkinsons australian bus panorama issue 30 6 may 2015 page 53 hopkinsons australian bus panorama issue 31 1 july 2015 page 49 v t e australian interstate coach operators current aat kings australian pacific tours firefly express greyhound australia murrays premier motor service former ansett pioneer bus australia casino 99 deluxe coachlines intertour kirkland s omnibus service lindsay s coaches mccafferty s coaches newmans coach lines oz experience redline skennars sunliner express trans city express vip express v t e public transport in regional new south wales train intercity blue mountains central coast & newcastle hunter south coast southern highlands regional north coast north western southern western bus services blue mountains central coast illawarra newcastle nsw trainlink bus & coach services operators blue mountains transit busways coastal liner dion s bus service hunter valley buses newcastle buses & ferries port stephens coaches premier illawarra red bus services rover coaches ferry services newcastle to stockton operators newcastle buses & ferries light rail newcastle light rail proposed ticketing opal independent pricing & regulatory tribunal government transport for new south wales roads & maritime services sydney outer metropolitan bus system contracts taxi taxis in new south wales cabcharge retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title premier transport group & oldid 737090595 categories bus companies of australiabus companies of new south walesbus transport in queensland1987 establishments in australiahidden categories use dmy dates from november 2013use australian english from november 2013all wikipedia articles written in australian english navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout 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