Many small communities need to link in with outer regional centres for medical, dental and allied health appointments, as well as for social and recreational purposes, and the Gannawarra Shire is no exception.
The Southern Mallee Transport Connections Partnership conducted a survey in 2009, and found that many people needed to travel from the Gannawarra Shire to Echuca for various reasons. As a result of this survey, the Southern Mallee Transport Connections Partnership (SMTCP) and the Gannawarra Shire Council formed a partnership to improve access to Echuca, and by doing so developed a trial bus service between Kerang and Echuca (via Murrabit, Koondrook, Cohuna, Leitchville, Gunbower and Torrumbarry), in order to further assess community demand. The bus service proved to be very popular, so Public Transport Victoria decided to conduct a formal bus trial which ran for approximately 2 years, which also proved successfull. This resulted in a government decision to fund the bus service on a recurrent basis, resulting in improved access for many small townships. This has been a fantastic result for not only the Gannawarra Shire, but for the various towns along the route in the Campaspe Shire as well.
The Kerang to Echuca Bus Service provides transport on the first Tuesday and the third Friday of each month (except for November when the first Tuesday service is provided on the second Tuesday due to the Melbourne Cup).
For further information relating to the timetable and bus stops, please click on the following link - Gannawarra Transport Services. Although the Kerang to Echuca Bus Service provides a vital link to the outer regional centre of Echuca, it is not the intention of the transport service to promote shopping out of town, so all passengers are urged to continue to shop locally whenever they can.
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