This Sydney ferry wharf was shut down 11 years ago. Soon locals will get it back

Ferries will return to Balmain West more than a decade after the wharf was removed from routes, buoyed by an increased demand for public transport after new apartment blocks were built nearby.

Services to the inner Sydney peninsula’s fourth wharf, which was controversially closed in 2013 by then-transport minister Gladys Berejiklian after it was reported to only be used by 48 people each day, will resume in the second half of next year.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen at the soon-to-reopen Balmain West ferry wharf.Credit: Nick Moir

Locals have campaigned to restore services to the western edge of Balmain, home to many public housing tenants and a recent influx of residents living in newly built luxury waterside apartments. Their campaign was bolstered by increased traffic congestion during last year’s Rozelle Interchange disaster.

An old industrial site directly next to the wharf, opposite blocks of government housing, has been transformed into blocks of units, including one which sold for $4.97 million last year.

The significant increase in potential passengers makes restoring ferry services to the area a more cost-effective proposition, Transport Minister Jo Haylen said.

“I think we will see a significant uptake, good patronage on this service,” she said.

“This area has fundamentally changed in terms of the different land uses by the harbour. This used to be a predominantly industrial part of Sydney that has now been transformed into dense housing, and they’re often residents and families that use public transport and active transport.”

But Transport for NSW is yet to decide where ferries arriving at the wharf will go.

Haylen said planners were looking at Opal data, fleet availability and timetable requirements as they decide whether the wharf should be included on the F8 service between Cockatoo Island and Circular Quay, the route it was connected to before its closure, or the F3 service to Parramatta.

The decision to reopen the wharf comes months after the government decided against opening one at Birkenhead Point. The transport agency is still considering a stop in the densely packed suburb of Rhodes.

Construction to install Opal machines, CCTV and passenger information systems at Balmain West will begin on Monday. Haylen forecast services to begin “in the second half of 2025”.

Balmain MP Kobi Shetty said the developments were a welcome step for locals after the “bitterly disappointing” closure in 2013.

“Our community wants to see more access to public transport, not less,” she said.

The wharf at Pyrmont’s Pirrama Park will also reopen early next year and be incorporated into the F10 route, between Blackwattle Bay and Barangaroo. The route, currently a trial, will also be added to the Opal network.

The four wharves that will service the Balmain peninsula by the end of 2025

• Balmain East (Darling Street)
• Balmain (Thames Street)
• Birchgrove (Louisa Road)
• Balmain West (Elliott Street)

“Pyrmont is so geographically close to the CBD, but it’s so hard to get from one point to the other,” Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich said.

“People in Pyrmont look at [Barangaroo], but it takes forever to access it. Now this direct ferry will make Barangaroo and the city accessible.

“You can build more apartments, but unless people can get to and from Pyrmont, it makes absolutely no sense.”

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