Transdev Brisbane Ferries

Transdev Brisbane Ferries, formerly Metrolink Queensland and TransdevTSL Brisbane Ferries, was the operator of the CityCat, CityHopper, and Cross River ferry networks on the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from November 2003 until November 2020. The network, operated under contract to the Brisbane City Council, formed part of the Translink integrated public transport scheme.

Transdev Brisbane Ferries

Predecessor	River Connections
Founded	November 2003; 20 years ago (2003-11)
Defunct	3 November 2020; 3 years ago (2020-11-03)
Successor	RiverCity Ferries
Headquarters	Brisbane , Australia
Area served	Brisbane River
Key people	Tilly Loughborough Managing Director (to 2019) Bruno Lancelot (Head of Business Operations)
Services	Ferry services
Number of employees	240
Parent	Transdev Australasia
Website

It was succeeded by RiverCity Ferries, who took over operations from 2020.

History

 

The CityCat and CityFerry flotilla returning to the Brisbane River following the January 2011 floods

In August 1991, River Connections took over the operation of Brisbane City Council's fleet of Cityferries. CityCat services began in November 1996 with six vessels, each capable of carrying 149 passengers, with two further vessels added to the fleet in 1998.^[1] In December 1998 services east of Norman Park were withdrawn.^[2]

In November 2003, Metrolink Queensland (a joint venture between Transdev and Transfield Services) was contracted to operate CityCat and Cityferry services for seven years.^[3]

In 2004, when Translink was established, the first second generation CityCat (Beenung-urrung) was introduced and passenger numbers increased by 26%. Late 2004 saw the restructuring of the Cityferry network which included more late night services. In response to the 31% increase in demand for CityCat services in 2005, another second generation CityCat (Tunamun) was introduced.

In January 2007, services were reinstated to Apollo Road.^[3]

In 2008, Metrolink Queensland was rebranded as TransdevTSL Brisbane Ferries, to align with the TransdevTSL branding of Transdev and Transfield joint ventures across Australia. Also in 2008, three new CityCats (Meeandah, Wilwinpa and Ya-wa-gara) were launched and the Apollo Road wharf was reopened. In 2009 and 2010, three new CityCats (Mahreel, Kuluwin and Gootcha) were added to the fleet. Early 2010 saw the introduction of three express services during morning peak times. The second and third generation vessels have a capacity of 162 passengers.^[3][4]

In November 2010, a new contract for 10 years commenced.^[5] In December 2010 the joint venture was dissolved with Transfield Services selling its shares to Transdev.^[6]

All services were suspended on 10 January 2011 due to severe weather prior to the 2011 Brisbane floods.^[7] While the CityCat and ferry fleet escaped damage by mooring downstream at the Rivergate Marina or Manly harbour, much of the infrastructure was damaged or destroyed by the floods, causing services to be cancelled indefinitely.^[8] Partial CityCat and CityFerry services recommenced on 14 February 2011, using fifteen repaired wharves.^[9] Six of the remaining wharves opened using rescued and repaired pontoons on 18 April 2011.^[10][11]

In 2010, Transfield sold its 50% share in TransdevTSL, and all TransdevTSL operations including Brisbane Ferries became 100% Transdev owned. In March 2011, Transdev merged with Veolia Transport (parent of Veolia Transport Queensland) to form Veolia Transdev.

The upgraded West End was opened at the end of July 2011.^[12] A new terminal at Northshore Hamilton opened in October 2011.^[13]

In order to revitalise patronage on the inner city ferry route, the council converted it into a free service targeted at tourists in 2012.^[14] As part of this change, three of the existing fleet of ferries were painted red to be dedicated to the route, named CityHopper.^[15]

In July 2013, Veolia Transdev was renamed back to Transdev (with a different logo). As part of the rebranding, TransdevTSL Brisbane Ferries was rebranded as Transdev Brisbane Ferries, and became a subsidiary of Transdev Australasia.^[16]

All CityHopper and CityFerry services were suspended 25 July 2020, due to safety concerns over the ageing fleet.^[17] From 7 August CityCats started servicing Holman St.^[18]

Transdev Brisbane Ferries ceased operating on 3 November 2020, with the next contract awarded to RiverCity Ferries.^[19]

Services

CityCat

CityCat services operate from UQ St Lucia to Northshore Hamilton calling at West End, Guyatt Park, Regatta, Milton, North Quay, South Bank, QUT Gardens Point, Riverside, Sydney Street, Mowbray Park, New Farm Park, Hawthorne, Bulimba, Teneriffe, Bretts Wharf and Apollo Road. Not all CityCat services stop all stops, with some peak time express services operating.^[20]

CityHopper

CityHopper is an inner city service between North Quay and Sydney Street, stopping at South Bank, Maritime Museum, Thornton Street, Eagle Street Pier, Holman Street and Dockside.^[21] CityHopper services were suspended in July 2020 due to deterioration in the hulls of the ferries.^[22]

Cross River

Cross River services operate at three locations.^[23]

• Bulimba – Teneriffe
• New Farm Park – Norman Park
• Holman Street – Eagle Street – Thornton Street known as the Kangaroo Point Cross River Service.

Cross River services were suspended in July 2020 due to deterioration in the hulls of the ferries.^[22] The Bulimba to Teneriffe service resumed 17 August 2020.^[24]

Fleet

As at December 2018, Transdev Brisbane Ferries's fleet consisted of 22 CityCats, 3 CityHoppers and 6 CityFerries.^[25] The fleet has grown in size to cater for the significant increase in patronage on CityCat ferry services (by 88% in the last six years).^[26] Apart from the support vessels, the fleet is owned by Brisbane City Council and operated by Transdev.^[27]

CityCat

The CityCat vessels are catamarans, and named after the Aboriginal place names for various parts of the Brisbane River and adjacent areas (with the exception of the 19th CityCat, the Spirit of Brisbane, which honours the 2011 flood recovery volunteers^[28]). All CityCats are operated by a crew of three - a master, a deck hand and a ticket seller.

On 26 November 2019, Transdev Brisbane Ferries commenced operating the new double-decker CityCat, Yoogera, on behalf of Brisbane City Council. Yoogera is the first of the Fourth Generation CityCats, of which Council plans to introduce 7 by 2023.^[29] It is the twenty-second CityCat to be built.

First generation

First generation CityCats have a capacity of 149 passengers.^[27]

Name	MMSI	Call sign	Builder	Launched	Namesake	Reference	Wrap Theme	Image
Kurilpa	503575300	11930QE	Brisbane Ship Constructions	November 1996	West End	^[1]	Brisbane City Council's corporate colours of blue, yellow and white
Mirbarpa	503575600	12012QE	Brisbane Ship Constructions	November 1996	Indooroopilly	^[1]	Brisbane City Council's corporate colours of blue, yellow and white
Barrambin	503575500	12013QE	Brisbane Ship Constructions	November 1996	Breakfast Creek	^[1]	Commemoration of 20 Years of CityCat services
Tugulawa	503575400	12014QE	Brisbane Ship Constructions	November 1996	Bulimba	^[1]	Brisbane Bandits baseball team
Mianjin	503575800	12132QE	Brisbane Ship Constructions	December 1996	Gardens Point	^[1]	Brisbane City Council's corporate colours of blue, yellow and white
Binkinba	503575700	12133QE	Brisbane Ship Constructions	December 1996	New Farm	^[1]	Brisbane Bullets basketball team
Mooroolbin	503575900	20481QE	Brisbane Ship Constructions	October 1998	Hamilton Sandbank	^[1]	Queensland Maroons State of Origin team
Baneraba	503576100	20854QE	Brisbane Ship Constructions	December 1998	Toowong	^[1]	Brisbane Global Rugby Tens tournament

Second generation

Second generation CityCats have a capacity of 162 passengers.^[27]

Name	MMSI	Call sign	Builder	Launched	Namesake	Reference	Wrap Theme	Image
Beenung-urrung	503576200	26483QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	August 2004 (sunk on 1 March 2022 due to collision with a houseboat)	Highgate Hill	^[30]^[31]	Brisbane Lions AFL team
Tunamun	503576300	26579QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	June 2005	Petrie Bight	^[32]	Brisbane Roar Football Club (soccer)
Meeandah	503576400	28744QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	February 2008	Meeandah	^[33]	INAS Global Games 2019
Wilwinpa	503576500	28744QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	June 2008	Old Observatory^[34]	^[35]	Brisbane Heat Twenty20 cricket team
Ya-wa-gara	503576600	27885QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	November 2008	Breakfast Creek	^[36]	ATP Cup tennis tournament
Mahreel	503576700	27885QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	April 2009	Spring Hill	^[37]	Brisbane City Council's corporate colours of blue, yellow and white

Third generation

Third generation CityCats have a capacity of 162 passengers.^[27]

Name	MMSI	Call sign	Builder	Launched	Namesake	Reference	Wrap Theme	Image
Kuluwin	503576800	29438QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	February 2010	Wooloowin	^[38]	Brisbane City Council's corporate colours of blue, yellow and white
Gootcha	503576900	29440QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	July 2010	Toowong	^[39]	Brisbane City Council's corporate colours of blue, yellow and white
Walan	503577100	29439QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	December 2010	Herston	^[33]	Brisbane City Council's corporate colours of blue, yellow and white
Mudherri	503577200	29437QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	July 2011	Murarrie	^[12]	Queensland Reds rugby union team
Spirit of Brisbane	503586200	29436QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	October 2011		^[40]	Commemorates the city's recovery following the 2011 Brisbane floods.
Nar-dha	503017210	A3K0202	Norman R Wright & Sons	November 2014	Nudgee	^[41]	The 2014 G20 Brisbane summit
Gilwunpa	503025670	32038QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	June 2015	Nundah	^[42]	Queensland Firebirds

Fourth generation

Two fourth generation CityCats were delivered in 2019/2020. They have a capacity of 170 passengers, including 20 on an open upper deck, plus more space for wheelchairs and bicycles than earlier generations. The vessels which each cost $3.7 million, are being constructed at Murarrie by Aus Ships.^[43][44][45]

Name	MMSI	Call sign	Builder	Launched	Namesake	Reference	Wrap Theme	Image
Yoogera	503092890	456106	Aus Ships Group	October 2019	Mouth of Breakfast Creek	^[46]
Neville Bonner	503102970	457882	Aus Ships Group	August 2020	Neville Bonner	^[47]

CityHopper

CityHopper is the inner city ferry service. These are powered by 134 kW (180 hp) Scania engines, have a maximum speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) and are operated by a crew of one.^[27]

Name	Call sign	Builder	Launched	Namesake	Passengers	Image
Mermaid	4372QEC	Norman R Wright & Sons	1987	HMS Mermaid (1817), ship used by John Oxley who explored the Brisbane River in December 1823	78
Doomba	4902QE	Norman Park Boat Builders	1989	SS Doomba	78
Otter	4908QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	1989	HMQS Otter	78

CityFerry

CityFerry covers shorter distance and cross-river services. These are powered by 86 kW (115 hp) Perkins engines, have a maximum speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and are operated by a crew of one.^[27]

Name	Call sign	Builder	Launched	Namesake	Passengers	Image
Bulimba		Norman R Wright & Sons	1984	Bulimba	47
Lucinda	1185QE	Norman Park Boat Builders	1986	Lucinda	47
Koopa	1124QE	Norman Park Boat Builders	1986	SS Koopa, the Bribie Island ferry from 1912 to 1963	47
Gayundah	1283QE	Norman Park Boat Builders	1986	HMQS Gayundah	47
John Oxley	6950QE	Norman R Wright & Sons	1990	John Oxley	47
Kalparrin	9570QE	Queensland Port Services	1993	An Aboriginal word meaning "to help carry a load"^[48]	47

Support vessels

TransDev owns two support vessels.^[27]

Name	ID	Builder	Launched	Type	Image
Tenacity		River Connections	1991	Maintenance barge
Tenacious		Aus Boats	1993	Fuel barge

Ferry network

The wharves are given in geographical order, heading upstream along the Brisbane River.

Wharf	Stopping pattern SE = SpeedyCat Express (weekday peak) CC = CityCat CH = CityHopper CF = CityFerry (cross river)						Connections
	SE	CC	CH	CF	CF	CF
Northshore Hamilton	●	●
Apollo Road		●
Bretts Wharf		●
Bulimba		●		●
Teneriffe	●	●		●			Blue CityGlider
Hawthorne	●	●
New Farm Park		●			●
Norman Park					●
Mowbray Park		●
Sydney Street		●	●
Dockside			●
Howard Smith Wharves	Construction commences late 2020^[49]
Holman Street			●			●
Riverside	●	●
Eagle Street Pier			●			●
Thornton Street			●			●
Maritime Museum			●
South Bank 3			●
QUT Gardens Point		●
South Bank 1 & 2		●
North Quay	●	●	●
Milton		●
Regatta		●
Guyatt Park	●^[a]	●
West End	●^[a]	●					Blue CityGlider
UQ St Lucia	●	●					UQ Lakes busway station

1. SpeedyCat Express services only stop at West End and Guyatt Park in CBD peak flow direction^[20]

Wharf damage

 

Damaged West End ferry wharf, 2011

In January 2011, all of the wharves were damaged or destroyed during the Brisbane floods and the services were suspended indefinitely. Ten wharves had minor damage (Bretts Wharf, Apollo Road, Teneriffe, Bulimba, Hawthorne, New Farm Park, Mowbray Park, Dockside, Riverside, Guyatt Park), six had moderate damage (Norman Park, Eagle Street Pier, Thornton Street, River Plaza, South Bank 3, South Bank 1 & 2) and seven required rebuilding (Sydney Street, Holman Street, QUT Gardens Point, North Quay, Regatta, West End, University of Queensland).^[50] No ferries were lost.^[51]

It was expected that the infrastructure repairs would take months to replace.^[52] Temporary facilities were operating at most terminals by mid-April 2011.^[53]

See also

• Transport in Brisbane

References

1. Brisbane CityCats 26 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine BSC Marine
2. Wind of change has no mercy on ferry The Courier Mail 4 December 1998
3. Our History 3 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine Transdev
4. CityCat Timetable Transdev Brisbane Ferries 15 June 2015
5. Transfield Services JV wins 150 million renewal of Brisbane CityCat and CityFerries contract 15 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine Transfield Services 15 September 2010
6. Half Year Report 31 December 2010 15 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine Transfield Services
7. O'Loan, James (11 January 2011). . The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
8. . The Courier-Mail. 14 January 2011. p. 11. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
9. . Brisbane City Council. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
10. Sarah Vogler (18 April 2011). . The Courier-Mail. p. 8. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
11. Spencer Howson, Melanie Arnost (14 April 2011). "More CityCat terminals opening soon". Breakfast. 612 ABC Brisbane. from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
12. Calligeros, Marissa (25 July 2011). "CityCat terminal to plumb new depths". Brisbane Times. from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
13. Calligeros, Marissa (26 September 2011). "New CityCat terminal to open on Sunday". Brisbane Times. from the original on 24 February 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
14. Moore, Tony (22 April 2012). "Quirk pledges to take ferry commuters for a free ride". Brisbane Times. from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
15. Feeney, Katherine (26 June 2012). "Hop to it: Free ferries to start Sunday". Brisbane Times. from the original on 12 August 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
16. A New Brand for Brisbane Ferries 15 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine Transdev
17. Dennien, Matt (24 July 2020). . Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
18. Moore, Tony (4 August 2020). . Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
19. SeaLink Travel Group Onboard As Brisbane's New Ferry Operator 29 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine Sealink Travel Group 29 June 2020
20. "CityCat timetable" (PDF). Translink. 15 November 2020.
21. "CityHopper timetable" (PDF). Translink. 15 November 2020. pp. 1–2.
22. "Ageing ferries pulled by council after 'deterioration' concerns". Brisbane Times. 24 July 2020. from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
23. "Bulimba-Teneriffe cross river timetable" (PDF). TransLink. 15 November 2020. pp. 3–6.
24. CityHopper and Cross River ferries suspended 7 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine TransLink 17 August 2020
25. Fast Facts 27 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine Transdev Brisbane Ferries
26. "CityCat Terminal Expansion Project". Brisbane City Council. from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
27. "Brisbane Ferries". Transdev. from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
28. "New CityCat honours Brisbane's flood heroes". Brisbane Times. from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
29. "CityCat services | Brisbane City Council". from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
30. Griffith, Chris (2 August 2004). "Supercat's launch barely raises a ripple". The Courier-Mail. p. 4. from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
31. Read, Cloe (1 March 2022). "CityCat hit by houseboat sinks in Brisbane River". Brisbane Times. from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
32. Kennedy, Julian (22 June 2005). "Ferry fever catching". Brisbane City News (1 ed.). p. 12. from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
33. "Brisbane CityCats". Norman R. Wrights & Sons. from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
34. Petrie, Constance Campbell; Petrie, Tom, 1831-1910 (1980). Tom Petrie's reminiscences of early Queensland (PDF). Currey O'Neil. p. 316. ISBN 978-0-85550-278-2. (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
35. Robinson, Georgina (23 June 2008). "New CityCat bolsters fleet". Brisbane Times. from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
36. Waters, Georgia (13 November 2008). "Lucky 13 as Rice launches newest CityCat". Brisbane Times. from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
37. Moore, Tony (21 April 2009). "CityCats to get military-style cameras". Brisbane Times. from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
38. Moore, Tony (18 February 2010). "CityCats go express". Brisbane Times. from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
39. Moore, Tony (2 July 2010). "New CityCat a floating canvas". Brisbane Times. from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
40. Moore, Tony (4 October 2011). "New CityCat honours Brisbane's flood heroes". Brisbane Times. from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
41. Kim Stephens (4 November 2014). "CityCat No. 20 a floating tribute to leaders' summit". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Media. from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
42. Queensland Firebird colours cover Brisbane CityCat ferry to mark 10 straight wins 14 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine 612 ABC Brisbane 3 June 2015
43. "CityCat 22". Brisbane City Council. from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
44. "Multimillion-dollar double-decker CityCat to be built". Brisbane Times. 6 November 2018. from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
45. "Cat's out of the bag: First look inside Brisbane's double-decker CityCat". Brisbane Times. 20 August 2019. from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
46. "Brisbane's first double-decker CityCat hits the water". Brisbane Times. 22 October 2019. from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
47. "Neville Bonner's legacy to travel the Brisbane River". Brisbane Times. 25 August 2020. from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
48. Gardan, Stephanie; Pemberton, Alexander Gordon; Graham, Verna E (1 January 1972). Kalparrin : a voluntary agency looks to itself. University of Queensland Press. p. 127. from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
49. "Construction timeline for Howard Smith Wharves ferry terminal". Brisbane Times. 18 December 2019. from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
50. "List: CityCat, CityFerry terminal damage". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Media. 20 January 2011. from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
51. Kym Agius (17 January 2011). "Brisbane ferries to be offline for months due to damaging floodwaters". news.com.au. News Limited. from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
52. "CityCats: Long wait for restart". The Courier-Mail. News Queensland. 7 January 2011. from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
53. "Six CityCat terminals back in business". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Media. 18 April 2011. from the original on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.

External links

• Transdev Brisbane Ferries website