100-plus CityCat ferry services cut, no more free CityHoppers

More than 100 CityCat services will be axed from early next year and previously free ferries will now come at a cost. But Council says there is an upside to the changes.

Dozens of CityCat services at Milton and Bulimba stops will be axed from January 9, but Brisbane City Council says they are not well used and that the move will slash wait times elsewhere.

As of Monday, every second ferry will skip the Apollo Road (Bulimba) and Milton terminals.

The Labor Opposition claimed that amounted to a total drop of 113 daily services.

The 122 services at Milton would fall to 71. Labor claimed services would drop at Apollo Rd from 173 to 111, but Council said there were in fact 143 presently and that number would fall to 82.

The free CityHopper cross-river services connecting Holman St at Kangaroo Point, Riverside, Howard Smith Wharves, Bulimba and Teneriffe would now be subject to 50 cent fares.

Transport Chair Ryan Murphy did not mention the service cuts earlier this week at a press conference for the upgraded Mowbray Park City Cat terminal in Kangaroo Point, which was due to reopen on December 9 after a $20.5 million upgrade.

The cuts were instead briefly mentioned at the end of a media release sent out after Mr Murphy spoke to journalists.

Bulimba state MP Di Farmer and Morningside ward Councillor Lucy Collier at the Apollo Road ferry terminal. Picture: Renae Droop/RDW Photography

“The reopening of Mowbray Park and the recent opening of the new Howard Smith Wharves terminal has required adjustments to the CityCat timetable as there is now an extra terminal in the network,’’ Mr Murphy said on Friday.

“We deliver more than 42,000 CityCat services across 19 terminals every year to keep Brisbane moving.

“Labor opposed the development of Howard Smith Wharves and the terminal now carries 10 times the number of passengers of Apollo Road.

“We’re focused on delivering better public transport services, while Labor will never support any sensible improvements to our public transport network and they never have.’’

Mr Murphy said the reorganisation of services was partly aimed at addressing complaints about long waits when patrons missed a ferry.

The present ferry loop took 35 minutes, so if patrons could not get on board they faced a long wait until the next one.

TransLink data showed ferry usage had jumped 43 per cent since the introduction of 50 cent fares, leading to overcrowding at popular stops.

TransLink also said the reopening of Mowbray Park had increased travel time, so every second ferry service would bypass Milton and Apollo Road to offset that.

Mr Murphy said passengers would be charged only 50 cents even if they had to catch a connecting service.

But he did not mention at the press conference that the services were previously free.

The Norman Park ferry terminal “end-of-life’’ pontoon, gangway and piles were also removed this week with — according to Labor — no notice or consultation. The heritage hut on site would remain.

The terminal was closed in 2020 due to low patronage.

In good news, a second West End terminal has been included in the latest council Local Government Infrastructure Program after years of lobbying by local Greens councillor Trina Massey and her predecessor Jonathan Sriranganathan.

“I’m frustrated that the LNP are using these changes to sneakily end free services,’’ Ms Massey said.

Her survey of 1100 The Gabba ward residents found they overwhelmingly wanted CityCats to stop in Kangaroo Point, either at Dockside or Holman St terminals.

“Fighting for this to happen will be my top priority during the Ferry Network Review next year,’’ Ms Massey said.

Labor Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy slammed the changes, accusing the LNP-dominated council of “becoming masters of announcing one thing to distract from another’’.

“The Lord Mayor (Adrian Schrinner) and his team are removing the basics for our suburbs while splashing money on advertising, opening parties and travel,’’ he said.

“Residents are paying more and getting less under the LNP.’’

Councillor Lucy Collier, whose Morningside ward covered Apollo Road, said the terminal would get busier once 800 new homes were built nearby at the Bulimba Barracks precinct in the next few years.

“The Lord Mayor and his team are hiding important information from the community in the hope they don’t find out and cutting essential services from our community,’’ she said.

The Apollo Road ferry terminal. Picture: Richard Walker

“We didn’t see these service cuts when other terminals were upgraded, or when Howard Smith Wharves terminal was introduced. This is nothing but an excuse.’’

Labor MP for Bulimba, Di Farmer, said more people than ever wanted to use CityCats because of the 50 cent fares introduced by former Labor Premier Steven Miles.

“It’s a real shame the LNP have decided to cut services from Apollo Road with no notice or consultation,’’ she said.

However, several commenters on social media platform Reddit backed the decision.

“(There are) two bus routes which get you to South Bank or the city faster than the ferry,’’ one posted.

Another posted: “Milton isn’t wildly busy either. Most of the commuters to the city get on at West End and Regatta.’’

Council said Apollo Road was chosen because it had the lowest patronage of any terminal, at 6000 passengers per month.

Milton had the third lowest at 10,028 a month, compared with 60,000 per month for the new Howard Smith Wharves stop.

The CityHopper service would be replaced from Monday with three new cross-river services connecting passengers to CityCats.