NightRide

NightRide
Mode	Commuter bus Rail replacement service
Owner	Transport for NSW
Operator(s)	Punchbowl Bus Company Veolia Shorelink Westbus
Connects	Town Hall Strathfield Sutherland Cronulla Rockdale Riverwood Macarthur East Hills Liverpool Fairfield Penrith Hornsby
Stations	120
Key dates
1989	Service established
2002	N1 service discontinued
2009	N100 service introduced
2011	N61 service introduced
2011	N71 service reintroduced

NightRide is a network of bus routes in operation between midnight and 5.00 am in Sydney, Australia. The eleven routes are run by private bus operators and allow for a nightly shutdown of the CityRail commuter rail network. Established by the New South Wales Ministry of Transport and monitored by Transport for NSW, NightRide has been in operation since 1989. It is designed to provide for track maintenance, lower running costs and improved customer safety.

Most services run from George Street outside Town Hall railway station. The NightRide network closely mirrors the CityRail network, with allowances made for the fact that major roads and railway lines often follow quite different alignments.

CityRail tickets are valid on NightRide services, provided they are a Return ticket or higher (Single journey tickets are not valid). Single (one-way) tickets may also be purchased from the driver. Bus drivers may set-down passengers at local bus stops on route between designated NightRide stops.

Nightride buses operate between midnight and 4.30am on a 30-minute basis on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and hourly on other nights. CityRail trains operate all other times.

NightRide network

The following routes that run on the Nightride network include:

• N10: Town Hall to Sutherland, via Rockdale and Hurstville
• N11: Town Hall to Cronulla, via Rockdale and Hurstville
• N20: Rockdale to Riverwood
• N30: Town Hall to Macarthur, via Canterbury and Liverpool
• N40: Town Hall to East Hills, via Bankstown and Padstow
• N50: Town Hall to Liverpool, via Regents Park and Fairfield
• N60: Town Hall to Fairfield, via Granville and Parramatta
• N61: Town Hall to Carlingford, via Clyde (Friday, Saturday and Sunday Night Service)
• N70: Town Hall to Penrith, via Parramatta and Blacktown
• N71: Town Hall to Richmond, via Parramatta and Blacktown (Friday, Saturday and Sunday Night Service). This service was first trialled in the early 2000 but was discontinued in 2002
• N80: Town Hall to Hornsby, via Epping
• N90: Town Hall to Hornsby, via North Sydney and Chatswood
• N100: Railway Square to Bondi Junction, via Martin Place (Friday, Saturday and Sunday Night Service)

NightRide services N61 and N71 began on the 23rd October 2011.

Discontinued routes

• N1 City Circle Loop Service that ran between 2000 until it was discontinued on 1st November 2002.^[1].

Wolli Creek and St Peters were also previously serviced by NightRide services N10 and N11.

Criticism

Despite the State Government's assertion in the late 1980s, when NightRide was introduced, that the move was to improve passenger safety when travelling at night, NightRide often proves a more dangerous prospect than the train. With only one bus per route per hour, a train's worth of people are funnelled through a single door onto a single bus. This is especially prevalent at the City's two major pick-up spots at Town Hall and Railway Square. Buses are always crowded with passengers forced to stand, shoulder to shoulder, for up to 2 hours. Fights frequently break out.^{[citation needed]}

Due to the un-integrated timetables, it can take someone up to 3 hours to get from one part of Sydney to another. Although most NightRide stops are train stations, the routes do not cover the entire CityRail network, nor do they serve suburbs that are not on the City Rail Network. This can leave people stranded.

The difficulty of movement that occurs after midnight, when the trains stop and NightRide starts, sometimes means that people will simply stay in the City, until train services resume 5 hours later. This can lead to a higher rate of alcohol fuelled crime and injury occurring in the City, if those people continue drinking instead of attempting to return home.

Despite calls^[who?] over the last 20 years to re-introduce 24 hour train services, with improved security now available, the State government has shown no interest in revisiting Sydney's night transport issues.^{[citation needed]}

References

Listen to this article (info/dl)

This audio file was created from a revision of NightRide dated 2007-09-19, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)

More spoken articles

1. ^ "Changes to NightRide Buses: 1 November 2002", Action for Public Transport (NSW), retrieved 28 March 2006

External links

• [1] - NightRide Routes
• [2] - NightRide Network Map (October 2011)
• Transport Infoline - Timetable and fare information