The Sydney RiverCats are a class of

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

s 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 unti ...

on the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, Ria, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average Altitude, height, and depth, depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour ...

History

In 1991 the

State Transit Authority The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...

ordered six Grahame Parker Design designed RiverCats from

NQEA NQEA Pty Ltd is an engineering and shipbuilding company based in Cairns, Australia. The company was founded in 1948 as an engineering supply company named North Queensland Engineers & Agents, then expanded in 1966 into shipbuilding and was rena ...

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

to operate Parramatta River services. Named after famous Australian female athletes, the first was delivered in early 1992. They replaced First Fleet class ferries on the

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping terminal, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern edge of the ...

to Meadowbank service on 7 May 1992. In December 1993 they began operating to

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

. In October 1995, a seventh vessel built by Wavemaster International in

Henderson, Western Australia Henderson is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. History The suburb of Henderson, along with the suburb of Naval Base to its south, comprises land resumed by the Commonwealth Government in 1915 for defence ...

was delivered, named ''Nicole Livingstone''. In 2000, ''Marlene Matthews'' participated in the

2000 Summer Olympics torch relay The 2000 Summer Olympics torch relay was the transferral of the Olympic Flame to Sydney, Australia, that built up to the 2000 Summer Olympics. The torch tavelled to various island nations as part of a tour of Oceania before beginning an exten ...

. Although primarily operating Parramatta River services, they also operate other

services.

Retirement

On 16 February 2023, ''Betty Cuthbert'' was the first vessel retired from service.Betty Cuthbert

16 February 2023 On 7 June 2024 ''Evonne Goolagong'' was withdrawn.Come for a last ride on our Evonne Goolagong vessel
Transdev Sydney Ferries

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

5 June 2024 In June 2024 ''Betty Cuthbert'' and ''Evonne Goolagong'' were moved to Yamba by

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

to be cut up for scrap by Polaris Marine Group.Polaris Marine Group at Sydney Harbour Heads
Polaris Marine Group

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

26 June 2024 On 28 October 2024, ''Nicole Livingstone'' was withdrawn from service and was used for parts at Balmain Shipyard before being moved to

Rozelle Bay Rozelle Bay is a bay located to the south of Glebe Island and the west of Blackwattle Bay, on Sydney Harbour. The naming of the bay is derived from either the Rosella, Rosella bird or the Roselle (plant), Rosella plant, with the latter being m ...

, followed by a final movement to Yamba under tow where she was broken up in early 2025. The rest of the RiverCats are to be replaced by Parramatta River class ferries from 2024.Australian-made ferries to take to Parramatta River

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 ...

26 June 2023 On 4 February 2025 ''Marlene Mathews'' was withdrawn from service and was used for parts at Balmain Shipyard, before being moved via

to Rozelle Bay where she currently awaits towing to be scrapped. She has since been joined at Rozelle by sister vessel ''Marjorie Jackson''. On 3 June 2025 ''Marjorie Jackson'' was withdrawn from service and was used for parts at Balmain Shipyard, before being moved via tugboat to Rozelle Bay where she currently awaits towing to be scrapped. She is currently moored alongside sister vessel ''Marlene Mathews''.

Vessels

References

External links

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