An extra seven services will operate on the Parramatta River route each weekday between Circular Quay and Olympic Park and an additional 26 on weekends.
The latest figures show patronage on the Parramatta River route rose to almost 240,000 trips in December,up almost 17 per cent on the prior year. It is also higher than the 225,000 trips recorded in December 2019,shortly before the pandemic when patronage slumped.
Action for Public Transport spokesman Graeme Taylor said the extra services for the Parramatta River route were a step in the right direction,but commuters were still being left behind at wharves during peak periods because ferries were full. “There is much more to do to provide extra capacity on the river,” he said.
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Taylor said the government’s seven new ferries being built by a Hobart shipbuilder would each take about 140 passengers,which made them smaller than the three-decades-old fleet of RiverCats they would replace. The first of the new vessels is due to arrive in Sydney by April.
A boost to the inner west light rail fleet from 12 to 16 trams has also cleared the way for an extra 200 services a week on the link between Central Station and Dulwich Hill during the weekday peak and on Friday nights. The four extra Spanish-built trams were purchased forabout $25 million in total.
It means a tram will run every six minutes on the 12.8-kilometre light rail line during morning and evening peaks,from an eight-minute frequency previously.