City Hopper, Cross River ferry services cancelled as wooden vessels undergo inspections
Nine of Brisbane’s older-style ferries are suddenly being pulled from service over safety concerns – and there’s no word on when they’ll be back on the river.
QLD News
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BRISBANE’S iconic free cross-river ferries are suddenly being pulled from service indefinitely over concerns over their deteriorating condition.
Seven small timber vessels which service the Cross River and City Hopper services will run their last services by midnight Friday, with two already suspended from Thursday night by Brisbane City Council.
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Extra bus and CityCat services have been arranged to tide commuters over from Monday.
The decision to suspend the wooden ferries, which date back to the 1980s, came after inspections found “deterioration” in their condition.
“When assessing the vessels earlier this year as part of our steps towards a disability compliance upgrade it was identified that one of the vessels, which is 32 years old, required a significant maintenance overhaul,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.
“While we could continue to operate services, I have made the decision for all ferries to be assessed concurrently, as soon as possible.”
“Very early expert indications suggest some deterioration requiring further investigation,” Cr Schrinner said.
The Lord Mayor said the Cross River and City Hopper services would return as soon as possible but said the decision to suspend services was out of an “abundance of caution.”
“I will not compromise safety,” Cr Schrinner said.
Labor councillor Kara Cook slammed the late decision to take the ferries out of action.
“Adrian Schrinner has serious questions to answer,” Cr Cook said.
“Pulling these ferries from the water without warning is going to cause chaos for Brisbane commuters come Monday morning,” she said.
As a result of the suspension, Brisbane City Council advised commuters to take advantage of the following transport alternatives:
KANGAROO POINT + EAGLE STREET PIER + THORNTON STREET
- Existing bus route 234 services near Holman Street and Thornton Street.
- New Shuttle Bus with stops at the Story Bridge and Eagle Street. It will run every 30 minutes with the trip taking about 12 minutes.
CITY HOPPER
- Holman Street, Thornton Street and Dockside are serviced by the existing 234 service nearby.
- South Bank 3 customers are encouraged to use bus services from the South Bank Busway
- Maritime Museum customers are encouraged to use bus services from the Mater Hill Busway.
- Existing CityCat services connect North Quay and South Bank.
BULIMBA + TENERIFFE
- Both terminals serviced by scheduled CityCat services
- Bus 230, P231,232 services Bulimba to the City and Valley
NORMAN PARK + NEW FARM
- Existing bus routes 227, 230,232,235 P228 are available near Norman Park terminal and travel to the city where you can transfer to service 196 to travel to New Farm.
Originally published as City Hopper, Cross River ferry services cancelled as wooden vessels undergo inspections