Kefford Corporation

The Kefford Corporation was started in the early 1850s when Richard Papworth Kefford began operating horse-drawn lorries in Collingwood. The business later began operating trucks but sold that side of its business in 1976.[2]

In January 1976 Kefford Corporation became a public transport operator, with the purchase of Point Cook - Werribee Passenger Service, Werribee. In the 1980s and 1990s a number of other bus operations were purchased:[3]

• December 1981: Davis Motor Service, Ballarat[4]
• July 1987: Bono Bus Lines, Maidstone, with bus Route 406, operation re-branded as Westrans and operating from a new depot in Footscray. The Bono family continues to operate Firefly Express in Maidstone [5]
• January 1988: Sinclair's Bus Service with routes 605 Melbourne City Centre - Elsternwick and 630 Elwood - Monash University[6]
• January 1988: Sitch Group and subsidiaries:[6]
  • Altona Bus Lines, Altona
  • Footscray - Yarraville Bus Service, Yarraville
  • North Sunshine Bus Service, Sunshine
  • St Albans Bus Service, Sunshine
  • Sitch Bus Service, Sunshine
• May 1991: St Kilda Bus Service with route 606 Port Melbourne - St Kilda[7]
• March 1999: Benders Buslines, Geelong[8][9]

In the 1990s, the Point Cook - Werribee, Bono and Sitch services were rebranded as Westrans, and the former Sinclair services as Eastrans.

In November 2008, ComfortDelGro Cabcharge acquired Kefford Corporation for A$149 million.[1] At the time Kefford was the fourth-largest bus operator in Victoria, with a fleet of 328 buses and six depots, and with a 16% market share.