Newcastle Transport is a public transport operator in Newcastle, New South Wales. A subsidiary of Keolis Australia, it operates bus, ferry and light rail services under contract to Transport for NSW.
History and operations
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.Building tomorrows Newcastle: A New Approach to Transport Transport for NSW 5 November 2015Transport for Newcastle: private operator to integrate city’s public transport ABC News 5 November 2015 Keolis Downer and a Transit Systems/UGL Rail consortium announced their intentions to bid.Keolis Downer eyes acquisitions ahead of Newcastle public transport bid Sydney Morning Herald 3 December 2015Transit Systems and UGL announce intention to jointly bid for Newcastle iso Transit Systems 26 February 2016 In December 2016, a ten-year contract was awarded to Keolis Downer effective from 1 July 2017.Keolis Downer awarded contract to run light rail, buses and ferries says Baird government Newcastle Herald 12 December 2016Downer awarded Newcastle Transport Contract Keolis Downer 12 December 2016
Ticketing All public transport services under Newcastle Transport utilise the Opal ticketing system.
Services Bus
In January 2018, the bus route network was completely redesigned with the number of routes reduced from 27 to 21.Newcastle timetables to change Transport for NSW 1 December 2017Transport changes Newcastle Transport In the same year, Newcastle Transport began trialling an on-demand bus serviceNewcastle Transport Launches on Demand Service Newcastle Transport 29 November 2017 within the Lake Macquarie area, servicing the suburbs of Dudley, Mount Hutton and Warners Bay.Newcastle Transport On Demand Information Newcastle Transport 18 February 2019
Newcastle Transport commenced operations with a fleet of 172 MAN, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo buses.Newcastle: all change Australian Bus issue 83 September 2017 page 12 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.Newcastle Transport begins journey with first electric bus Australasian Bus & Coach 22 February 2023
Ferry
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
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.It's a date – free community open day for Newcastle Light Rail on 17 February Transport for NSW 31 January 2019Light rail in Newcastle opening from Monday 18 February Transport for NSW 3 February 2019
References