The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was a state government agency responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 between 1972 and 1980.

History

The PTC was created in 1972 by the merger of the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...

 and the New South Wales Department of Government Transport (which operated government bus services). In 1974, ferries were added to its responsibility when the services of the private harbour ferry companies, particularly the assets of the former Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company, were assumed by the government.

The first Chief Commissioner of the PTC was Mr Phillip Shirley, a former chairman of Cunard Liners in the UK, who came out of retirement to take up the position. He was also involved with the infamous Beeching era in the UK. His ruthless cost-cutting approach led to heated criticism from the public and the State Opposition, to the point where Mr Shirley retired early from the post during 1975. His successor, until the PTC was disbanded in 1980, was Mr Alan Reiher. Mr Reiher recognised that the PTC faced many problems that defied short-term solutions, the most chronic being the lack of modern passenger rolling stock. Upon the break-up of the PTC, Mr Reiher became chairman of VicRail.

The PTC was broken up in 1980 into the State Rail Authority

New South Wales State Rail Authority

The State Rail Authority was the government authority responsible for the operation and maintenance of railways in the Australian state of New South Wales between 1980 and 2003.-History:...

 and Urban Transit Authority.

The Public Transport Commission instituted the blue and white livery on government buses and ferries, which survives on buses in a modified form to this day, and a short-lived blue and white livery on Sydney suburban trains. Many classes of modern bulk freight wagons were introduced during the PTC years, many of which carried a teal livery. The air-conditioned Gold Coast MotoRail service to Murwillumbah was introduced during the PTC era in 1973. The original 'NSW' two-arrow logo was too close to being a copy of British Rail's, and so the 'L7' logo was introduced in 1975, a modified version of which was used by CityRail up until it's official discontinuation as the logo, in favour of the NSW Government 'Waratah'. The logo still remains on all rollingstock in service, and has only been used on publicity material.