Description

The story of Sydney bus operator Ken Butt, Hunters Hill Bus Company and North & Western Bus Lines

Published June, 2026

A name once synonymous with private bus operations in Sydney, Ken Butt developed a keen interest in passenger transport from an early age. As a teenager living in south-western Sydney during the baby-boom years following World War Two, he witnessed the rapid of growth of suburban areas and the major private bus operators serving them,. Ken worked with a number of these companies – Punchbowl Bus Company, Narwee Bus Service, Kogarah Bus Service,, HT Saint & Sons and Punchbowl again – undertaking such duties as bus conducting, timetabling, rostering, driving and more. Ken’s rise to prominence within the NSW private bus industry began in his early thirties when he joined Hunters Hill Bus Company of Gladesville in 1965 to take on the role of manager. Thirteen years later, he and his wife Judith bought the company and renamed in North & Western Bus Lines. A hands-on operator, Ken grew this family business over the next twenty years into one of almost 100 vehicles conveying three million passengers annually. Services stretched from Chatswood on the North Shore to Parramatta in the west, and even reached into Sydney CBD. North & Western was then Sydney’s largest private bus operation based at one location. Although he sold North & Western to the State Transit Authority of NSW in December 1999 and retired soon afterwards, Ken maintained his connections with the bus industry. Retirement also enabled Ken to spend more time pursuing his wide-ranging transport interests and hobbies – the very things that enticed him into a lifetime of buses.

Sydney Bus Museum