The story
In August 1991, River Connections took over the operation of Brisbane City Council's fleet of Cityferries. CityCat services began in November 1996 with six vessels, each capable of carrying 149 passengers, with two further vessels added to the fleet in 1998. In December 1998 services east of Norman Park were withdrawn.
In November 2003, Metrolink Queensland (a joint venture between Transdev and Transfield Services) was contracted to operate CityCat and Cityferry services for seven years.
In 2004, when Translink was established, the first second generation CityCat (Beenung-urrung) was introduced and passenger numbers increased by 26%. Late 2004 saw the restructuring of the Cityferry network which included more late night services. In response to the 31% increase in demand for CityCat services in 2005, another second generation CityCat (Tunamun) was introduced.
In January 2007, services were reinstated to Apollo Road.
In 2008, Metrolink Queensland was rebranded as TransdevTSL Brisbane Ferries, to align with the TransdevTSL branding of Transdev and Transfield joint ventures across Australia. Also in 2008, three new CityCats (Meeandah, Wilwinpa and Ya-wa-gara) were launched and the Apollo Road wharf was reopened. In 2009 and 2010, three new CityCats (Mahreel, Kuluwin and Gootcha) were added to the fleet. Early 2010 saw the introduction of three express services during morning peak times. The second and third generation vessels have a capacity of 162 passengers.
In November 2010, a new contract for 10 years commenced. In December 2010 the joint venture was dissolved with Transfield Services selling its shares to Transdev.
All services were suspended on 10 January 2011 due to severe weather prior to the 2011 Brisbane floods. While the CityCat and ferry fleet escaped damage by mooring downstream at the Rivergate Marina or Manly harbour, much of the infrastructure was damaged or destroyed by the floods, causing services to be cancelled indefinitely. Partial CityCat and CityFerry services recommenced on 14 February 2011, using fifteen repaired wharves. Six of the remaining wharves opened using rescued and repaired pontoons on 18 April 2011.
In 2010, Transfield sold its 50% share in TransdevTSL, and all TransdevTSL operations including Brisbane Ferries became 100% Transdev owned. In March 2011, Transdev merged with Veolia Transport (parent of Veolia Transport Queensland) to form Veolia Transdev.
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The upgraded West End was opened at the end of July 2011. A new terminal at Northshore Hamilton opened in October 2011.
In order to revitalise patronage on the inner city ferry route, the council converted it into a free service targeted at tourists in 2012. As part of this change, three of the existing fleet of ferries were painted red to be dedicated to the route, named CityHopper.
In July 2013, Veolia Transdev was renamed back to Transdev (with a different logo). As part of the rebranding, TransdevTSL Brisbane Ferries was rebranded as Transdev Brisbane Ferries, and became a subsidiary of Transdev Australasia.
All CityHopper and CityFerry services were suspended 25 July 2020, due to safety concerns over the ageing fleet. From 7 August CityCats started servicing Holman St.
Transdev Brisbane Ferries ceased operating on 3 November 2020, with the next contract awarded to RiverCity Ferries.
From Wikipedia’s article on Transdev Brisbane Ferries, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3