Much of the current ACTION bus fleet have been given names – either officially or unofficially.
The first bus to be officially named was Bus 319 – an Irisbus Agora Line based at Belconnen Depot. It was named “Big Merv” to commemorate a longtime ACTION driver who has since passed away. The name has been sign-written on the back of the bus and also appears on a plate inside the vehicle.
The next names to be applied were to the Scania L94UB buses at Tuggeranong Depot in 2009, albeit unofficially. The source of these names are unknown but are believed to have been applied by workshop staff. The name labels were applied inside the bus and also on the rear window. Over time, many of these labels have been removed or faded.
The unofficial naming was further increased in June 2012, when name labels started appearing on other buses based at Tuggeranong Depot. However, these labels were mostly applied inside the buses.
With the arrival of the Scania K360UA articulated buses in July 2012, ACTION commenced naming its new deliveries and invited suggestions for names through its Twitter account. All 33 of these buses were officially named via Twitter, but some buses may not have been labelled.
In 2014 a second bus honoured a deceased driver. Bus 554 was dedicated to Nigel Stokes, a long time ACTION bus driver trainer. The bus featured signwriting below the driver’s window and on the front bulkhead. This was later removed from 554 and re-applied to Bus 560 since it was the first bus delivered to Tuggeranong Depot following Nigel’s death.
In 2020, the unofficial naming of buses resumed – with name labels appearing on previously unnamed Belconnen Depot buses, as well as new arrivals at Tuggeranong Depot. As before, the source of these names are a mystery.
Other than the official names listed below, any bus names shown on ACT Bus are unofficial names which have been reported by members of the ACT Bus forum. The name labels may have been removed or changed since they were sighted and thus it is not possible for a complete listing to be made of the unofficial names.
319 – Big Merv
506 – Big Bendy
507 – Flexy Lexy
508 – Hector the Connector
509 – Bend-Jamin
510 – Walter Curly Griffin
511 – Murrumbendy
512 – Colonel Link
513 – Artic Monkey
514 – Mo-bender
515 – Twisted 515ter
516 – The Bennie [1]
517 – Gordon the Accordion
518 – So Long
519 – Bender Bending Rodrigeuz, Sr (aka Bender)
520 – Centy
521 – Long John
522 – Lulu
523 – Titania (the Scania)
524 – Marion
525 – Quintero
526 – Bossman
527 – The Green Wiggle
528 – Snazzy
529 – Road Whale
530 – North West
531 – South West
532 – George Articulated Louis
533 – Oliver Twist
534 – BART-iculated
535 – Jelly Belly
536 – Blossom
537 – Flo Rider
538 – Katie-Pillar
560 – Nigel Stokes
[1] named for retired ACTION mechanic Ben Buckley
Article updated 26 November 2022
This page was last updated on 26 November 2022
