AFTER a break of more than 50 years, Adelaide-bound passengers are again catching a bus from the centre of Millicent.
The new bus freight and passenger depot is the Millicent Visitor Information Centre.
One of the four passengers who boarded the first city-bound service at 8.53am on Wednesday was Millicent resident Rosemary Irwin.
In her youth, Ms Boyle would catch a bus from outside the Millicent Post Office and it would take her to meet the Adelaide-bound train at Kalangadoo for the rest of her journey.
Ms Boyle said she usually drives herself to Adelaide, but she had car trouble on her last trip.
“I am going to be met by my daughter and we are going to get another car,” Ms Boyle said.
Former Kalangadoo railway stationmaster Peter Savage said the coordinated bus and train service operated from Millicent from the 1930s until the 1980s.
Among the 14 other passengers on the first run on Wednesday was a Millicent man who was travelling by bus and plane to Darwin to see his son.
Their bus driver was city resident Scott Bowyer, who has driven the Adelaide/Mount Gambier route for the past 11.5 years.
After working in vineyards and dairies and as a seed cleaner, Mr Bowyer is happy in the transport industry.
“You see a bit of the countryside by driving the inland and coastal routes and the country people are good,” Mr Bowyer said.
The Premier Stateliner bus company operates the Adelaide/Mount Gambier run and it has come to an arrangement with Wattle Range Council, which operates the centre after the closure of the Pines Service Station on Tuesday.
The two parties have a long-standing arrangement with the bus freight and passenger depot at Penola also being that town’s visitor information centre.
Council economic development manager Roger Babolka said the new arrangements at Millicent would be trialled for a month.
“We will see what is working and what is not,” Mr Babolka said.
“We will see if it is what is required for the community.
“Premier Stateliner approached us and we think the visitor information centre will be workable and a good location which is closer to the CBD.
“Tickets can be purchased online, at the centre and from the drivers.”
Mr Babolka said the Centennial Park toilets would be open longer hours for the benefit of bus passengers, while the need for a freight collection box would be monitored.
He said the average daily number of passengers who either boarded or alighted from the bus in Millicent was between three and 4.5. while the parcel freight numbers were low.
“Council would like to see the bus service continue and we have received positive feedback,” he said.
Mayor Peter Gandolfi said Wattle Range Council believed it was a vital service for the Millicent community.
“We are pleased to be working in conjunction with Premier Stateliner to provide this service,” Mr Gandolfi said.
“The council has had a long association with Premier Stateliner as it has been providing the same service at its Penola Visitor Information Centre, very successfully, for many years.”
