The River Class is a ferry type operated by

Transdev Sydney Ferries Transdev Sydney Ferries, formerly Harbour City Ferries, is a subsidiary of Transdev Australasia, and is the operator of ferry services in the Sydney Ferries network since July 2012. It currently operates the ferry network under a contract until ...

on Sydney Harbour.

History

River Class ferry - Ruby Langford Ginibi

In September 2017,

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an List of New South Wales government agencies, agency of the Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government established on 1 Novem ...

called for expressions of interest for four new ferries for

Parramatta River ferry services Parramatta River ferry services connect suburbs along the Parramatta River in Sydney with Circular Quay by commuter ferry. The services are numbered F3 and form part of the Sydney Ferries network. History Regular ferry services between Sydney ...

. However, after the bids were higher than expected, the project was shelved. Upon being awarded the contract to operate the Sydney Ferries concession in 2019,

placed an order for 10 new ferries to be built in Indonesia. The first four arrived in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

in August 2020 for final works and trials. The ferries were purchased to replace the

SuperCat The SuperCat Fast Ferry Corporation, commonly known as SuperCat, is a shipping company that operates a fleet of high-speed catamarans (HSC) in the Philippines. It is now part of Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corporation. Supercat was previously th ...

and HarbourCat-class Ferries. All were named after artists, athletes and authors. The first entered service in October 2021, confined to daytime service until deemed suitable for night time operations. In late 2022 the government announced it was looking for tenders to build a new fleet of RiverClass to replace the RiverCat-class Ferries

Delays

Identified defects on the ferries include asbestos, sub-standard fit and finish, wheelhouse window angles making night operations dangerous, engine stalling, potential of fires or electrocution caused by sub standard electrical equipment/cabling and sub-standard steering components. Rectifying these issues have pushed the in service date out by over a year.

Vessels

References

External links

{{Australianferries, state=collapsed Catamarans Ferry classes Ferry transport in Sydney