History

After being involved in the bus industry since 1950, Ray Higginson bought a bus serving Dawson St Brunswick in 1964. By 1966 he had registered the name Moonee Valley bus Lines, and in 1969 bought out the other operators on the service in partnership with Joe Bellafiori.

Charter services in Melbourne began in 1968, which expanded to Australia wide touring and camping tours in 1970, which was when the first new dedicated charter coach was bought. The early seventies saw more expansion with the purchase of Nuline Bus Service in Caulfield (later taken over solely by Joe Bellafiori in 1985 when their partnership dissolved) and a share in Expo Adventure a specialist travel agency. During this time countless numbers of tours carrying hundreds of thousands of passengers were operated by Moonee Valley Coaches and Expo Adventure and their subcontractors. The second generation of the Higginson family joined the company in 1978 when Garry became an apprentice mechanic, later Coach Captain and now Director of the company.

The eighties saw further strengthening of the family involvement when Craig began to work with his father and brother. 100% of Expo Adventure was purchased. There was also more local expansion with Moonee Valley Coaches operating contracted urban and rural school runs on behalf of the Government of Victoria. And in 1987 Route 503 from Essendon to East Brunswick was acquired from Cunningham Bus Lines, which cemented Moonee Valley Coaches place in the local community.

The third generation became an integral part of the company with Garry’s son Daniel joining the company fulltime in 2010. In the same year Ray’s contribution to the bus industry was recognised when he was inducted into the National Road Transport Hall of Fame at Alice Springs. And later receiving lifetime achievement recognition for his many years of contribution to the Bus Association of Victoria.