100 years of Canberra Public Transport: 1946-1955
Government-operated public transport commenced in Canberra in July 1926 as the “City Omnibus Service”. During 2026, ACT Bus will be looking back at some of the vehicles which have been used over those years.
The next buses to be ordered following the end of World War II were 18 AEC Regals [see note below], ordered in 1946. Both chassis supply and body construction had not returned to normal after the end of World War II, but the first bus from this order – a Syd Wood bodied AEC Regal – commenced service in October 1946. By April 1947, only five of these new buses had arrived. The last of this order arrived by mid-1948.
The new-model AEC Regal III were the next bus to be ordered – with 46 of these buses (with Commonwealth Engineering bodies) being delivered between November 1948 and June 1951.
Two OB Bedford School Buses, each seating 31 passengers, commenced service at the start of 1949 replacing a Commer and the AEC Mercury.
The remaining Commers, petrol-powered AEC Regals and Ford “Austerity” buses had been sold by March 1949, and by 1955 the Canberra Bus Fleet consisted of (an unknown number of) AEC Regals, 46 AEC Regal IIIs and the two Bedford school buses.
Images:
Further reading:
- Early History: Part 2 – Expansion in the 1930s and the first diesels
- Early History: Part 3 – Post-war reorganisation and the first low-floors
- Top 15 Buses – AEC Regal
- Top 15 Buses – AEC Regal III
Note:
Detailed records about the bus fleet for this period are not available.
- There is uncertainty about whether 16 or 18 AEC Regals were delivered.
- The registration numbers for the AEC Regals are not known.