Newcastle Transport
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| Parent | Keolis Downer |
|---|---|
| Commenced operation | 1 July 2017 |
| Headquarters | Hamilton, New South Wales |
| Service area | Newcastle Lake Macquarie |
| Service type | Bus, ferry, light rail |
| Chief executive | Campbell Mason |
| Website | www.newcastletransport.info |
Newcastle Transport is a public transport operator in Newcastle, New South Wales. A subsidiary of Keolis Downer, it operates bus, ferry and light rail services under contract to Transport for NSW.
History and operations
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In November 2015, the Government of New South Wales announced its intention to contract out the operation of Newcastle Buses & Ferries services to the private sector.[1][2] Keolis Downer and a Transit Systems/UGL Rail consortium announced their intentions to bid.[3][4] In December 2016, a ten-year contract was awarded to Keolis Downer effective from 1 July 2017.[5][6]
Ticketing
[edit]All public transport services under Newcastle Transport utilise the Opal ticketing system.
Services
[edit]Bus
[edit]In January 2018, the bus route network was completely redesigned with the number of routes reduced from 27 to 21.[7][8] In the same year, Newcastle Transport began trialling an on-demand bus service[9] within the Lake Macquarie area, servicing the suburbs of Dudley, Mount Hutton and Warners Bay.[10]
Newcastle Transport commenced operations with a fleet of 172 MAN, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo buses.[11] Buses are operated out of depots in Belmont and Hamilton.
In February 2023, Newcastle Transport began using zero emission electric buses built by Bustech on the ZDI-450 electric integral chassis.[12]
Ferry
[edit]Newcastle Transport operates a passenger ferry service that takes five minutes to cross the Hunter River between Queens Wharf and Stockton. The 1986 built ferries are MV Hunter and MV Shortland.
Light rail
[edit]Newcastle Transport operates the Newcastle Light Rail between Newcastle Interchange and Newcastle Beach station in Newcastle East with six CAF Urbos 3 trams. The light rail opened in February 2019.[13][14]
References
[edit]- ^ Building tomorrows Newcastle: A New Approach to Transport Transport for NSW 5 November 2015
- ^ Transport for Newcastle: private operator to integrate city’s public transport ABC News 5 November 2015
- ^ Keolis Downer eyes acquisitions ahead of Newcastle public transport bid Sydney Morning Herald 3 December 2015
- ^ Transit Systems and UGL announce intention to jointly bid for Newcastle iso Transit Systems 26 February 2016
- ^ Keolis Downer awarded contract to run light rail, buses and ferries says Baird government Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Newcastle Herald 12 December 2016
- ^ Downer awarded Newcastle Transport Contract Keolis Downer 12 December 2016
- ^ Newcastle timetables to change Transport for NSW 1 December 2017
- ^ Transport changes Newcastle Transport
- ^ Newcastle Transport Launches on Demand Service Newcastle Transport 29 November 2017
- ^ Newcastle Transport On Demand Information Newcastle Transport 18 February 2019
- ^ Newcastle: all change Australian Bus issue 83 September 2017 page 12
- ^ Newcastle Transport begins journey with first electric bus Australasian Bus & Coach 22 February 2023
- ^ It's a date – free community open day for Newcastle Light Rail on 17 February Transport for NSW 31 January 2019
- ^ Light rail in Newcastle opening from Monday 18 February Transport for NSW 3 February 2019
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