The new weekday ferry commute service will run to Circular Quay. Photo courtesy of ANDREW KACIMAIWAI
After more than 10 years, ferries are returning to the Balmain West Wharf on Elliott Street, Sydney, from Monday, August 18.
The NSW Government says weekday peak services will connect the Balmain peninsula to Barangaroo and Circular Quay, and west to Drummoyne, Huntleys Point and Chiswick.
Four extra weekday services at Balmain West will operate as part of the F3 Parramatta River route: from Chiswick to Circular Quay at 5.50am, 6.50am, 7.50am and 8.50am, and from Circular Quay to Chiswick at 3.12pm, 4.12pm, 5.12pm and 6.12pm.
All of the new services will stop at Barangaroo, Drummoyne and Huntleys Point but there will be no weekend ferry services from Balmain West.
Last year, 14 extra weekday services and 26 weekend services were added to the F3 route.
The wharf will be added to the Opal ticketing system in time for the new services.
NSW Transport Minister John Graham says the new service delivers on an election promise to restore the weekday ferry commute from Elliot St.
The service to Balmain West was axed in 2013 as part of cost-cutting on the F8 Cockatoo Island ferry route, the government says.
“Every ferry passenger departing and returning here is one less car on the busy Inner West road network or one less person vying for a seat on a bus,” Graham says.
“This wharf means a lot to the Balmain community and services resuming will save people 20 minutes compared to a bus trip to the CBD in the peak.”
WHAT WENT BEFORE
Work began last November to prepare the wharf for the return of services.
The final touches are being applied to the installation of Opal ticketing, CCTV, better safety features and real-time passenger information systems.
In April, a ferry stop was added to Pirrama Park, Pyrmont, to the F10 ferry route.
The F10 is being integrated into Sydney’s ferry network and is due to join the Opal network by early next year.
