Wimmera Roadways owner Leigh McGinty says the company hopes to launch a bus service covering the entire Henty Highway.
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The company that operates Horsham's metropolitan bus network briefly discussed its plans with Public Transport Minister Melissa Horne visited the city on Wednesday to welcome the overhaul of bus routes and timetables.
Mr McGinty said a service connecting Hamilton was "what people had wanted for an amount of time".
"Wimmera Roadways already has a service running from Mildura to Horsham, and I think the idea is to run a bus the length of the Henty," he said.
The Highway runs for 360 kilometres between the south-west coastal town of Portland and the southern Mallee town of Lascelles.
Mr McGinty said Wimmera Roadways, which employs 40 people, had recently taken ownership of Hamilton-based bus company Trotters Coaches.
He said having a presence in Hamilton would make it easier to run services to the town from the Wimmera.
"We will need to get the state government to come on board," he said. "It will need to be a subsidized service initially."
Mr McGinty could not say how much it would cost to extend the Henty Highway bus service south, nor by when the company hoped to be providing the service.
Ms Horne said the updated timetable included 96 additional bus services.
"About 40 bus stops have been upgraded around Horsham with low floor accessibility, concrete hardstand so that people who have prams or wheelchairs or walkers can get off a bus so much easier," she said.
The new timetable came into effect on Tuesday. It involves the consolidation of seven bus routes into five, and services being offered from before 7am until after 7pm.
Wimmera Roadways' Horsham depot manager Bruce Wylie said the company had received a lot of feedback in the 24 hours since the new bus service came into effect, much of it positive.
He said bus drivers carried the updated timetables in their vehicles to hand out to commuters.
Would you use a bus that connected Horsham to Hamilton and Portland?
Alexander Darling
Alexander has been a member of the Wimmera Mail-Times' editorial team since December 2018, covering politics, business and property among other rounds. He is a passionate St.Kilda and rock and roll fan, and has previously worked as a radio reporter in Port Macquarie and Gosford, NSW.
Alexander has been a member of the Wimmera Mail-Times' editorial team since December 2018, covering politics, business and property among other rounds. He is a passionate St.Kilda and rock and roll fan, and has previously worked as a radio reporter in Port Macquarie and Gosford, NSW.
