NightRide is a network of bus routes in operation between midnight and 4.30am in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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. The sixteen routes allow for a nightly shutdown of the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...

suburban rail network and

Sydney Metro Sydney Metro is a fully automated rapid transit rail system in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It currently consists of the Metro North West & Bankstown Line, running between Tallawong and Sydenham and consisting of 21 stations on of t ...

. The NightRide network was established in mid-1989 as low-patronage late-night train services were progressively withdrawn.Late night travellers vote with their feet to dump NightRide
''

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'' 10 March 2014 Services follow major roads, and some stops are some distance from the railway stations they replace. In addition, some routes serve stations on multiple railway lines. In the city, most services depart from Park Street, above Town Hall station. Normal bus fares apply to NightRide journeys.

History

The first NightRide routes, to Riverwood, Campbelltown and

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, commenced in June 1989. Services to Penrith, Hornsby and

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is 26 kilometres south of the Sydney central ...

began two months later. New services were introduced to

Bondi Junction Bondi Junction is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local governm ...

in 2009; and Carlingford and

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in 2011. A city loop route, called N1, was established in 2000 and cancelled two years later. The suspension of train services overnight allows for maintenance to occur on tracks. Passengers reportedly feel safer on buses than mostly-empty trains late at night. However, in 2014, it was reported that patronage on most NightRide routes was falling. At the same time, the Tourism and Transport Forum called for 24-hour train operations to resume. New contracts for all routes commenced 1 March 2018 with a number of routes going to different operators. The routes then became normal commuter routes under the administration of

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

instead of

. Changes included N100 Railway Square to

which commenced in 2009 ceasing, replaced by route N91 in conjunction with frequency changes to some routes. From 23 August 2020, two additional routes, N31 and N92 were introduced, and all N71 services standardised to operate to Richmond.

Network

Sydney's light rail system is not served by NightRide, with the exception of the Carlingford line section of the Parramatta Light Rail, served by the old NightRide route. As of 2023, the NightRide network operations are as listed below: Note: Routes N61 and N81 operate early morning on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only.

References

{{Sydney public transport, state=collapsed Bus routes in Sydney Bus transport in Sydney 1989 establishments in Australia Night bus service