Sorry for a non-news post. The post about route 566 reminds me of my observation the other day along Plenty Rd. There used to be 3 bus routes between Tyler St. and Boldrewood Pde., but only route 566 remains today. I know route 567 got rerouted to travel direct along Tyler St. What happened to route 563? What's the alternative of travelling to "Apollo Parkways"? Thanks.
Sorry for being late to the party, I don't get on here very often nowadays.
The history of the Plenty Rd routes varies. Whilst others can comment pre 1970s, up until 1986 there was the 562 Northland/Regent Station to Whittlesea, 563 Northland/Regent to Mill Park, 564 Northland/Regent to Janefield, 566 Northland / Regent to Greensborough, 567 Regent to Northcote along the section you refer to between Tyler St and Boldrewood Pde, 568 Northland / Regent to Watsonia North (with a small number of trips still operating to Balaka Place on Friday night shopping trips, Balaka Place being an earlier terminus before Greenwood Dve was completed to the Watsonia shops), and 569 from Northland / Regent to Kingsbury (between Tyler St and Boldrewood Pde).
With the extension of the 88 tram to Bundoora (becoming the 86), the routes changed on 25th July 1986 to merge the northern end of the 563/566 to run between Greensborough and Mill Park West, and delete the 564, and merge the 568/569 (and delete 568 deviations to Balaka Place). There was still the 562, and 568 along Plenty Rd duplicating the tram (and 567 in the section you mention). The 563 also became a Mill Park North to Bundoora route.
Later changes extended the 563 south to LaTrobe Uni, then Northland at the same time the 562 diverted to Greensborough along the Ring Rd, and extended the 563 north to South Morang, then Greensborough via Apollo Parkways, subsuming the 565 Apollo Parkways loop. As an aside I'd love to hear what happened to Joe and Peter who were the drivers allocated exclusively to that route and associated school buses. I have an article somewhere of Joe's retirement in a contemporary Diamond Valley News - I'll have to dig it out and scan it.
As mentioned, the 563 was deleted - one of the few outcomes of the 2010 Bus Reviews - in favour of the 520 operating through Apollo Parkways and becoming an all day operation to Doreen, then Mernda North; as well as changes to other routes in Mill Park and the 562 deleting its Bundoora to Greensborough section to resume its previous route to Northland. With the more recent changes, the 520 became the 385 and changed terminus from Mernda North to Mernda station; and the 562 became the 382 along a similar route.
For the 70s, 80s, and 90s routes and timetables, a quick google of Krustylink and the route number should provide some old timetables for each route outlining some of the changes. I do have more recent timetables for each to scan and upload but will need to consider whether Google Sites is still the best option, or maybe even a giant zip file of all the scans I have uploaded somewhere is a better option of disseminating what I have in the future.
For what it's worth, I grew up in the area and was a frequent user of a lot of these services, so if you want any more info, post here and I'll answer what I can.
