Manly Ferry and B-Line timetables won’t change despite drop in passengers due to coronavirus
What is happening to Manly Ferry and B-Line timetables after a massive drop in passenger numbers due to the move towards working from home?
Manly
Don't miss out on the headlines from Manly. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Timetables for the popular Manly Ferry and B-Line services into and out of the northern beaches will remain — even though daily passenger numbers have fallen by up to 70 per cent.
Despite the massive drop in numbers, due to thousands of people working from home, transport officials have vowed to keep the “critical” commuter services running.
And My Fast Ferry has promised to keep its express Manly Wharf to Circular Quay commuter services running even though it, too, has seen a decrease in daily passengers.
There had been concerns among commuters that Manly Ferry and B-Line timetables would be radically changed due to the coronavirus emergency.
Photographs of almost empty ferries have been circulating on social media in recent days, prompting speculation that services may be cut.
Transport for NSW said on Tuesday that no changes to timetables would be made.
But even before the COVID-19 pandemic changed slashed passenger numbers, the NSW Government said it would replace some of the current Manly “Freshwater-class” ferries with the smaller, and faster Emerald-class ferries.
It was expected that the smaller ferries, which would reduce the 30-minute travel time between Manly and the city by close to 10 minutes, would have been in operation by July this year.
The F1 Manly to Circular route carries more than 300,000 passengers a month. About 16,000 passengers a day tap on to B-Line buses running from Mona Vale to Wynyard Station.
“We understand the important role public transport plays in the daily lives of our commuters and at this stage Transport for NSW has no plan to reduce critical services across the network,” a spokesman said.
“Transport for NSW has established a taskforce to manage incidents and prepare for various scenarios for events that could occur on our network.”
Officials conformed that there has been a decline of 65-70 per cent across all modes of public transport in the past four weeks.
My Fast Ferry owner, NRMA, said it had adjusted its timetable between Manly and the city, due to passenger reductions, but the essential commuter services were continuing.
“The ferry service between Palm Beach and the central coast is also continuing,” spokesman Peter Khoury said.