AN EXPRESS ferry service will operate between Parramatta and the city by the end of this year under a State Government plan to ease traffic congestion.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the Government will inject $4 million over the next two years to establish the service, which will be announced as part of the State Budget and be operational before the new year.

Under the plan, the average city-bound journey will take less than 55 minutes. RiverCats will be used at hourly intervals in peak time to transport commuters.

Although the ferries will not travel faster than the present ones, they will bypass some stops.

The new route will operate between Parramatta and King St Wharf, rather than Circular Quay.

A one-way adult fare is expected to cost around $7.70, but is yet to be determined by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal.

The Government's decision to introduce the express service comes after failed attempts to find a private operator to run such a service.

Expressions of interest were sought last year after a special commission of inquiry found the existing service unsustainable.

 

All-stop services will still operate, but mainly for tourists.

Premier Nathan Rees said the new service would operate as an express to make it an attractive option for families and workers in western Sydney.

 

"The expression-of-interest process did not identify a satisfactory proposal from the private sector, so the Government will invest $4 million per year over two years to deliver the service," he said.

"The new service will be a more attractive and faster option for families and workers who travel to and from the city."

A report by Bret Walker SC last year found few people used the Parramatta ferry service because it was not available in peak periods.

He recommended the route be terminated at Rydalmere.

Wash restrictions west of the Silverwater Bridge also meant the journey was slow.

The shallowness of the river hampered the State Government's quest to find suitable craft for the journey.

The Government has been under pressure to retain the service by its own members whose constituents rely on the ferry to get to work.

With the service a sensitive electorate issue, Parramatta Labor MP Tanya Gadiel has been lobbying to keep a service.

A petition conducted by the MP attracted thousands of signatures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

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