On the Ferries

[verbatim9]

Brisbane's new 'Kitty Cats' are almost complete and instead of four, the Lord Mayor has exclusively revealed to 7NEWS there are now five. The mini catamarans from Sydney will take to the river next month, once their makeover is complete. http://7news.com.au
@G_Chumbley
#7NEWS

https://twitter.com/7NewsBrisbane/status/1316669316935282688

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Council scuttles two Brisbane River ferry services permanently

Two of Brisbane's cross-river ferry terminals will be decommissioned permanently and the CityHopper and cross-river ferry timetables rewritten, as a result of Brisbane City Council's eight monohulled wooden ferries being pulled from service.

Cross-river and CityHopper services were disrupted in July when the council announced serious safety issues had been uncovered in the 30-year-old wooden vessels.

The council later announced it had agreed for new CityCat and ferry operator SeaLink to bring five ferries up from Sydney, nicknamed KittyCats, to fill in the gap from early November until the wooden ferries were ready to return to work.

CityHopper and cross-river services will return on November 15, with the council saying the KittyCats would provide faster services than their wooden counterparts.

But on Friday afternoon, council public and active transport committee chairman Ryan Murphy announced all ferry services to Norman Street and Thornton Street terminals would be scrapped permanently.

"Today we are announcing two terminal upgrades and an interim timetable for the KittyCats that will operate at least until the new Howard Smith Wharves terminal comes into service in 2021," Cr Murphy said.

"These changes mean we can recommence services as soon as possible using the modern KittyCats, until we have a better understanding of the repair time frames for the wooden ferry fleet."

Upgrades will be brought forward on the Mowbray Park and Dockside terminals to accommodate the KittyCat fleet, doubling the docking capacity at Mowbray Park and increasing access to Dockside for Kangaroo Point residents.

However the Dockside terminal will be closed for upgrading in the interim, with the free shuttle bus between Kangaroo Point and the city continuing.

The Kangaroo Point cross-river ferry will also return on November 15, between Holman Steet and Riverside.

CityCats will no longer stop at Holman Street once that service returns, and Riverside terminal will be used as the city terminal, instead of Eagle Street.

Thornton Street's terminal will be shut down, with the council citing the future Kangaroo Point Green Bridge construction and its incompatibility with KittyCats.

Norman Park's ferry terminal is "end-of-life" and will be shut down, with the council saying it had the lowest patronage by far of the ferry network.

The council said Norman Park to New Farm's cross-river service carried on average less than one passenger a trip pre-COVID, averaging 133 passengers across 136 daily services.

But the announcement prompted a furious reaction from Morningside councillor Kara Cook, who said Norman Park residents "will not forget this betrayal".

"Norman Park residents are outraged they have been treated so poorly by [lord mayor] Adrian Schrinner and the LNP through this whole process," Cr Cook said.

"Cutting services is in the LNP's DNA and here is another example of local needs being blatantly ignored.

"The Norman Park terminal and the wooden ferries have rotted on the lord mayor's watch and now residents suffer and are left high and dry."

Residents were directed onto existing bus services when ferry services were stopped in July.

Cr Schrinner in September said he wanted the wooden ferries, when fixed, to return to the Brisbane River, as an "icon of the city".

[achiruel]

I'm sure the 70 odd people who used the ferry on average every day will be terribly disappointed, but how uneconomical must it be to run a service with such incredibly low patronage? The average subsidy might be 80% but I reckon it would've been about 99.99% on this service

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> "Betrayal": Residents' fury ferries cancelled, terminal closed

A three-minute journey will become an hour-long commute and hundreds of cars will be funnelled onto one of Brisbane's busiest roads, as a "sorry saga" of ferry controversies continues.

Brisbane City Council today announced its decision to cancel the Norman Park to New Farm Park Cross River Ferry Service and close the Norman Park Ferry terminal.

Services from the terminal ceased in July when council pulled nine of its CityHopper and Cross River ferries from the water following safety concerns due to the integrity of their hulls.

Disappointed residents have since lodged appeals to have the ferries returned, with a petition calling for the Norman Park CrossRiver service to be reinstated attracting more than 300 signatures.

However, a letter, circulated to residents yesterday, announced council's decision to permanently retire the service due to a lack of patronage and the terminal's dated design.

"The Norman Park to New Farm Cross River service carries 133 passengers on 136 services per day ... by far the lowest patronage of any Council ferry service," Public and Active Transport Chair Ryan Murphy said.



"The Norman Park terminal is at end-of-life and is not compliant with modern disability access standards."

But council data shows that in the week of July 22, 2019, almost 10,000 passengers used the three Cross River services.

Norman Park local Daniel Green said the decision was "devastating" – and questioned the reliability of the patronage figures.

"I'm just curious of how they derived their data as to the numbers," he said.

"The thing that probably annoys me the most is that there was no community consultation at all," Mr Green said.

Local councillor Kara Cook called the decision to cancel the services a "betrayal" and said her community's battle to have ferries reinstated had been a "sorry saga".

"Here is another example of locals' needs being blatantly ignored," she said.

Without the Cross River ferry service, Norman Park Residents travelling to New Farm would face an almost hour-long bus trip or would need to drive down notorious traffic on Wynnum Road, according to local Bob Rees.

"It's such a misguided decision ... for a council that's professing to have real concern for keeping traffic of the road and promoting public transport," he said.

Mr Murphy said Council would invest $48.7 million over the next three years to upgrade terminals including terminals to boost flood resilience and to ensure the terminals can cater for the KittyCat vessels and increased passenger demand.

Council also announced the closure of the Thornton St Ferry terminal in Kangaroo Point due to the construction of the nearby Green Bridge.

[achiruel]

Maybe the savings could be put into a decent bus service along Lytton Rd?

[BrizCommuter]

Ouch! Let's hope there is a decent bus alternative from Norman Park to the City.

[achiruel]

Ouch! Let's hope there is a decent bus alternative from Norman Park to the City.

The best alternative option currently is to take the 227, P228 or 232 bus from Norman Park to East Brisbane and get on the  CityCat from Mowbray Park to New Farm Park, or if you were crossing the river to connect with the inbound cat, just get on that one at Mowbray. It's a 450m walk from the bus stop to Mowbray Park CityCat stop, according to journey planner. It might be an issue for people with mobility issues, but they wouldn't have been catching a ferry from Norman Park anyway, so it's not a net loss for them.

The problem is that the combined frequency of these routes outside of peak time ranges for bad to atrocious. During weekday off-peak, both are hourly, the 227 passes at :30 and the 232 at :53, so they're not evenly spaced. Saturdays is much the same, and on Sundays the 232 doesn't run at all, so it's just the hourly 227.

Last I/B services 6:58pm weekdays, 6:41pm Sat, 5:51pm Sunday; Last O/B services: 6:44pm weekdays, 6:44pm Saturdays, 4:20(!)pm Sundays.

There's also the 230 and 235 that go into the city via East Brisbane/Woolloongabba, which isn't terrible if you're heading to the city or South Brisbane, but cross-river trips will definitely be longer, but around 25 minutes (bus+transfer to CityCat) rather than the 60 as claimed in the article.

[Andrew]

The cynic in me wonders if the figures are not accurate because of fare evasion or a lax operator on the ferry? The current ticket machines have a button to count fare evaders. If the ferry operator/captain has not been doing this, then the patronage may be higher. It could also be a case too of familiarity. Maybe the captain is a regular and doesn't bother enforcing touching on & off on the regular commuters.

The other alternative is that the patronage really is that low. The thought of losing something that in theory they "might" use could be what's causing the outrage. In the immortal words of Sir Humphrey Appleby (I think it was in regards to BBC radio 3): "Nobody listens to it but it's nice to know it's there"

[James]

At first I thought these were quite brutal cuts, but on reflection they could be not all that bad.

The New Farm - Norman Park Ferry ran every 15 minutes from 5am - 11pm 7 days a week. While not timed to necessarily connect, it could be viewed of an extension of the 196 BUZ. However, if you looked as the ferry as an individual "bus stop", 133 passengers is pretty poor for a high-frequency service, and it isn't like it was much faster than catching the bus to anywhere except New Farm and (maybe) the Valley.

It doesn't surprise me that it struggled with patronage. If you look at a map, the catchment area is partly cutoff by Norman Creek, it has poor pedestrian and vehicle accessibility (to drop off someone requires stopping in a side street a few hundred metres away) and poor stop visibility.

The final point to mention would be that along that section there, Wynnum Road service frequency actually isn't that bad. The 230 and 235 combine to give 4bph during the interpeak plus the 227 / 232, and even on Saturday the 230 and 235 maintain 3bph. It isn't BUZ, but close enough to it.

Two solutions in my mind would be:
1. Just give whoever used the service regularly free go card travel to use on BCC buses until they move away from the area. With 133 pax - assuming these are individual trips (meaning 66.5 passengers per day), at the cost of about $30/week/passenger, that would only be $2000/wk or $100,000 a year. The ferry probably cost this much to run anyway.
2. Put the savings from not running this service into upgrading the local bus service, particularly on weekends and at night, so now everybody gets a better bus service, not just the people near Norman Park terminal.

Thornton Street I see as much more of a sore point. For a place so close to the city, Kangaroo Point is a real pain to get to by public transport - those ferry terminals are the only saving grace. Thornton Street may only be an extra 500m walk from Holman Street, but that is an extra 6-7 minutes walk. Dockside isn't a great alternative as the in-vehicle time alone is an extra 10 minutes, ignoring whatever additional walking is required.

Yes, there is a bridge proposed there, but there is no bridge there now, so something needs to be provided until there is one, and the patronage is absolutely there to justify it.

[achiruel]

The cynic in me wonders if the figures are not accurate because of fare evasion or a lax operator on the ferry? The current ticket machines have a button to count fare evaders. If the ferry operator/captain has not been doing this, then the patronage may be higher. It could also be a case too of familiarity. Maybe the captain is a regular and doesn't bother enforcing touching on & off on the regular commuters.

I don't think is the case. Admittedly not for about 3 years, but I used to be a semi-regular user of this service. I typically caught it with a friend who lived in Norman Park at the time, and I don't ever recall there being anyone else on it. I guess we doubled the average occupancy for that trip, but while waiting at New Farm Park for CityCats in the past, I've often observed the cross-river ferry arriving and departing empty bar the captain.

The other alternative is that the patronage really is that low. The thought of losing something that in theory they "might" use could be what's causing the outrage. In the immortal words of Sir Humphrey Appleby (I think it was in regards to BBC radio 3): "Nobody listens to it but it's nice to know it's there"

Sounds realistic.

The final point to mention would be that along that section there, Wynnum Road service frequency actually isn't that bad. The 230 and 235 combine to give 4bph during the interpeak plus the 227 / 232, and even on Saturday the 230 and 235 maintain 3bph. It isn't BUZ, but close enough to it.

The bus frequency is actually pretty bad. The 230/235 combination actually run at really odd spacings, :53, :11, :13, :41, which is an average of 4bph, but not one every 15 minutes. Then you have huge gaps in the counter-peak direction, where from 3:53pm to 5:25pm there's only 4 services. Now if you want to go to the Valley or New Farm, it's much quicker to take the 227/232, which theoretically could give a 30-minute frequency on that journey, but again instead of being evenly spaced, there's 23/37 minute spacings.

What this does is actually demonstrate how bad the bus network in that area needs reviewing. I wonder if that's RBoT could get traction on, spending the $ saved on the ferry cuts toward improving the eastern bust networK?

I reckon a short working of the 227 to Morningside station might be the answer.

[red dragin]

1. Just give whoever used the service regularly free go card travel to use on BCC buses until they move away from the area. With 133 pax - assuming these are individual trips (meaning 66.5 passengers per day), at the cost of about $30/week/passenger, that would only be $2000/wk or $100,000 a year. The ferry probably cost this much to run anyway.

Just in wages, let alone fuel and maintenance.

[SurfRail]

I can live with these changes, honestly. 

The number of people put out by the Norman Park closure is trivial.  Far better to get a sensible network structure going - for instance, we have all these longer-distance expresses from east of Cannon Hill that fart about on suburban streets through Norman Park instead of taking the direct route into the city via Wynnum Road and the Story Bridge (which only the peak hour versions do).  Then, anybody who desperately needs to get to New Farm Park can get the Citycat from Mowbray Park.  Simple.

I'd look at moving the 230/235 terminus to Bulimba instead of Apollo Road.  BUZ the 230 and have the 235 cover the northern part of Bulimba.  Redesign the 232 to be less circuitous and to be complementary to those 2 routes - and scrap the peak hour versions to simplify the network (if you want Kangaroo Point or the Valley then change along Wynnum Rd and build a designated interchange point for that purpose).

[Andrew]

I'd look at moving the 230/235 terminus to Bulimba instead of Apollo Road.  BUZ the 230 and have the 235 cover the northern part of Bulimba.  Redesign the 232 to be less circuitous and to be complementary to those 2 routes - and scrap the peak hour versions to simplify the network (if you want Kangaroo Point or the Valley then change along Wynnum Rd and build a designated interchange point for that purpose).

I've had ideas along similar lines to be honest.  I was thinking create a 230 BUZ, re-route the 235 via Storey Bridge and the Valley (similar to the P236 rocket) and a 30 min 235 would match in with a 30 min 227 or 30 min 227/232 combined frequency.  Thus you have two 15 min frequency service corridors with possibility of interchange. Definitely a whole review of that area as well as further out towards Wynnum needs to be done - ideally with public consultation. In a perfect world, this would happen in conjunction with a Cleveland line upgrade but I'm not holding my breath.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> City Beat Confidential: Double-decker CityCat in dry dock

Launched to much fanfare, Brisbane's next-generation double-decker CityCat is now languishing in dry dock due to a litany of problems, including two accidents.

CITYCAT DRAMAS
What a difference a year makes.

Back in November 2019, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner launched Yoogera, the city's first double-decker CityCat.

"Our new CityCat represents the evolution of river travel and provides a truly breathtaking way for both residents and visitors to get around Brisbane and explore all there is to see and do,'' he gushed.

Today, the 27m vessel rests in dry dock in the Murarrie shipyard of the manufacturer, Aus Ships.

It's been there for a few weeks as part of what a City Council spin doctor said was "scheduled annual maintenance''.

But it's unclear how long the catamaran will be out of action.

Our sources say that it may be idle for a while because of possible hull damage and an electrolysis problem tied to the rudder stock.

Council would not respond to questions about these matters.

The issue is particularly relevant since Yoogera was involved in two prangs last month.

It collided with Northshore Terminal on September 8 and then ran into the UQ terminal on September 28.

There were no injuries and the vessel, which cost nearly $4 million, continued operating in both cases. But the incidents were serious enough that the Australian Marine Safety Authority was notified and they told us unspecified "mechanical failure'' was to blame.

City Beat spies say the accidents are indicative of what we revealed earlier this year: the 43-tonne boat is too heavy and too wide for its assigned task, creating problems with berthing and wash.

That's not all.

We have obtained a handwritten logbook used by the Yoogera crew which reveals a litany of operational problems from the moment it started cruising.

The entries indicate numerous dramas with the electrical system, including those impacting the airconditioning and video cameras.

"Vessel is struggling to keep up batterywise,'' one note says.

Issues also flared with the steering, port starter motor, bilge pumps, alternator belts and flooding. At one point, an operator reported that he was forced to "use emergency steering sparingly''.

Despite these problems, council has already launched the second double-decker CityCat, Neville Bonner, and will wheel out five more in the years ahead.

But a marine industry source familiar with the boats says they need to be redesigned before ratepayers cough up more money for them.

"Why was the second one ordered before the first one fully trialled?'' he asked.

Aus Ships boss Tommy Ericson declined to comment.

[ozbob]

New timetable for CityHopper and Cross River services

From Sunday 15 November, Cross River and CityHopper services will resume on an interim timetable while Brisbane City Council continues assessments on the timber ferry fleet.

Some of the terminal stops have changed due to the new fleet of KittyCat vessels.

> https://translink.com.au/service-updates/297251

[AnonymouslyBad]

New CityHopper / cross river timetables are finally live.

Looks like good news for the most part. (Well, if 25min frequency is good news - it isn't, but it's better than before!  )

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Former ferry operator forfeits $4 million to fix wooden vessels


The new KittyCat (front) fleet began work on Sunday alongside council's own CityCats (rear).CREDIT:LUCY STONE

The former operator of Brisbane's wooden ferries, which were hauled off the river over serious safety concerns in June, has paid council $4 million towards their restoration.

On Sunday lord mayor Adrian Schrinner announced the launch of the new cross-river and CityHopper ferry timetables, as new operator SeaLink – trading as RiverCity Ferries – brought the five KittyCat ferries replacing the wooden ones into operation.

The new timetable will operate from today, November 15, at a higher frequency on most routes, but without stops at the Norman Park and Thornton Street terminals, which have been permanently closed.

Cr Schrinner said Transdev, which held the previous Brisbane City Council contract to operate the ferry network, paid council $4 million towards the repair and restoration of eight wooden-hulled vessels.

At a council chamber meeting in August, Cr Schrinner said Transdev's contract had a $4 million "security bond" that it had to forfeit if the vessels weren't handed back in good shape.

Under the contract, which ended this month, Transdev was responsible for maintenance.

The network's new operator, SeaLink, has brought over all of the fleet's employees, including ferry masters and deckhands.

The wooden ferries remain docked at Rivergate Marina, where council is reviewing assessment reports detailing serious timber rot and other issues on the 30-year-old vessels ahead of repairing them.

Cr Schrinner said he was committed to seeing the wooden ferries return to active service, but council did not yet know the total expected cost of repairs.

"We have received a financial contribution from Transdev of $4 million. That is in our bank account as we speak, and that will be used to commence the repairs on the vessels in our fleet, and also terminals that need improvements," he said.

The lord mayor said the KittyCat ferries, brought up from Sydney and modified to suit Brisbane's needs, would ideally remain active in the city fleet once the wooden ferries were restored.

RiverCity Ferries chief operations officer Greg Balkin said the company brought the vessels up from Sydney to Tweed Heads, where they had a deep clean and were transferred to their new operators.

Public and active transport committee chairman Ryan Murphy said the new KittyCats operated 44 per cent faster than the wooden monohulled ferries.

"The old CityHopper timetable ran at a 36-minute frequency. The new CityHopper timetable with the addition of the KittyCats runs at a 25-minute frequency," he said.

Council's Opposition deputy leader Kara Cook said it wasn't acceptable that council still didn't have a clear estimate of the repairs, five months after the ferries were removed from the water.

"If the LNP maintained the ferries properly in the first place, we would still have all services and the boats would still be on the water," she said.

"My office has been overwhelmed with emails and petitions that have been sent on to the lord mayor. They demonstrate the direct and significant daily impacts the cancellation of services has had on locals."

Cr Cook said the Norman Park ferry in particular needed to be reinstated.

The remaining cross-river ferry operating the Bulimba to Teneriffe route has a steel hull rather than a wooden one.CREDIT:LUCY STONE

[BrizCommuter]

Disgraceful that the new CityHopper timetable was only made available on TransLink's website a day or so before it was implemented.

[ozbob]

Disgraceful that the new CityHopper timetable was only made available on TransLink's website a day or so before it was implemented.

A function of the ' silos ' that we face here in SEQ when it comes to public transport ..

[achiruel]

New CityHopper / cross river timetables are finally live.

Looks like good news for the most part. (Well, if 25min frequency is good news - it isn't, but it's better than before!  )

25 minute frequency seems bizzare. I would've preferred they left a bit of fat in the timetable and ran at 30 minute frequency - better interchange with the 15 minute frequency CityCats and many other bus/train routes that run at 15 or 30 minute frequencies. 25 minutes makes no sense at all!

[verbatim9]

^^The real time arrivals .seems to be offline for those new Kitty Cats at the moment.

[BrizCommuter]

New CityHopper / cross river timetables are finally live.

Looks like good news for the most part. (Well, if 25min frequency is good news - it isn't, but it's better than before!  )

25 minute frequency seems bizzare. I would've preferred they left a bit of fat in the timetable and ran at 30 minute frequency - better interchange with the 15 minute frequency CityCats and many other bus/train routes that run at 15 or 30 minute frequencies. 25 minutes makes no sense at all!

I'm assuming the 25 minute CityHopper timetable allows the cross river ferry to Kangaroo Point to maintain a 12-13 minute frequency in between each CityHopper, which was previously two cross river ferries at 12 minute frequency in between CityHoppers at 36 minute frequency. Whilst every 30 minutes would result in an easier to memorise timetable, it would have extended to the cross river ferry frequency to either 15 minutes, or have required an extra ferry for an every 10 minutes service.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/brisbanecityqld/status/1328956104706056198

[James]

I'm assuming the 25 minute CityHopper timetable allows the cross river ferry to Kangaroo Point to maintain a 12-13 minute frequency in between each CityHopper, which was previously two cross river ferries at 12 minute frequency in between CityHoppers at 36 minute frequency. Whilst every 30 minutes would result in an easier to memorise timetable, it would have extended to the cross river ferry frequency to either 15 minutes, or have required an extra ferry for an every 10 minutes service.

That's correct - there's now 12-13 minute frequency at Holman Street, with every second service being a CityHopper.

It is pretty lumpy though, not sure about you, but I'd rather 15 minute frequency on a timetable that makes sense, than 12-13 minute frequency on a dog's breakfast timetable. Oh well - the service was on a strange frequency before anyway.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Noise complaints slow down Brisbane's KittyCat ferries

... But in the two weeks since the KittyCats began operating on November 15, the council had received 70 complaints about excess ferry noise from the faster, more agile vessels.

"Council acknowledged these concerns were legitimate and began working with the operator to investigate what could be done to reduce the noise and, in the interim, applied a speed reduction to the vessels," Cr Murphy said.

"Since this has been done, complaints drastically dropped with just 16 complaints received between November 30 and December 27, with no complaints received in 2021."

Cr Murphy said of the complaints received, eight were residents who complained multiple times and one resident contacted the council five times.

"Council is continuing to work with the operator to develop a technical solution using fibreglass inline mufflers, which have been used on similar vessels successfully, and hopes to trial this solution in the coming weeks," he said. ...

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Ferry service linking Brisbane's CBD with Straddie hits approval snag

A ferry service linking Brisbane's CBD with North Stradbroke Island, which the Palaszczuk government promised would open by Christmas, is yet to take a single passenger because it has not been certified by council.

In September, then-tourism minister Kate Jones announced three new pontoons would be built at Howard Smith Wharves. ...

... Construction of one of the pontoons has finished but is "waiting on Brisbane City Council certification before it can be used as a passenger terminal", a Tourism Department spokesman said. ...

[tazzer9]

Rant time about ferries.  For now the second time in three weeks I've been denied entry to a ferry because I have been carrying a completely sealed and covered drink (bubble tea).  I don't think they are denying people from teneriffe, bulimba and hamilton entry on their morning ferry carrying coffees. 

IMHO, completely unacceptable and complete lack of common sense from the ferry deckhands.  In todays case, he also got angry at another passenger carrying what looked to a sandwhich/roll completely covered in a paper bag and had no intention of eating it on the ferry. 

For clarification, no bus driver, nor police, SNO's, QR authorised officers, Glink ticket inspectors or security have ever had a problem with these drinks on pulic transport in Brisbane. 

[verbatim9]

It seems they are more lenient on trains and trams. Buses and ferries seem to be a bit stricter. I was denied boarding a bus on a Saturday morning from Chermside to Toombul with a sealed coffee in hand. I had to throw it, as I didn't have the time to wait another 30 mins for a bus.

[achiruel]

I can kind of understand this, a cup with a push-on lid can have the lid easily dislodged especially in the case of hard or emergency braking or needing to swerve. This is quite different to a drink sealed in say a screw-top bottle. It's also less likely to happen in a train.

[#Metro]

Can't take food and drink but dog that poop, per and shed dander everywhere is ok... 

[ozbob]

 Brisbanetimes --> Brisbane commuters fight to have cross-river ferry returned

Brisbane commuters living in the inner-eastern suburb of Norman Park are continuing their debate to have their axed cross-river ferry to New Farm returned.

However, Brisbane City Council said the average cross-river trip from Norman Park to New Farm attracted only 139 passengers a day, fewer than one person per five-minute river trip. ...

[achiruel]

Heard a Kitty Cat pilot and a union representative being interviewed by Steve Austin on ABC Brisbane this afternoon. Gist of it was that Kitty Cats aren't safe to operate with one-person crews, and apparently when used in Sydney they also had a pilot and a deckhand.

I can't comment on the veracity of their claims, but if 2-person crews are required, could that spell the end of the ferry services or perhaps a big reduction in frequency?

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ryansrumblings/status/1391984301638516743

[Matt]

Bob,
         Any idea what the deal is with the noisy Kittycats, were they put in service without mufflers or just inadequate ones and why is it necessary to import new ones from the Netherlands, surely there are marine engineers in Brisbane who can fabricate adequate stainless ones, just boggles the mind.   

[verbatim9]

Bob,
         Any idea what the deal is with the noisy Kittycats, were they put in service without mufflers or just inadequate ones and why is it necessary to import new ones from the Netherlands, surely there are marine engineers in Brisbane who can fabricate adequate stainless ones, just boggles the mind.

^^There is a free trade agreement with the EU so no big deal.

[ozbob]

Bob,
         Any idea what the deal is with the noisy Kittycats, were they put in service without mufflers or just inadequate ones and why is it necessary to import new ones from the Netherlands, surely there are marine engineers in Brisbane who can fabricate adequate stainless ones, just boggles the mind.

Hi Matt.  I don't know much about it other than what has been published.

" On Tuesday, active transport committee chairman Ryan Murphy said a new "wet muffler" imported from the Netherlands had been successfully trialled and would be installed on all five ferries by the end of June. "

Yes, not sure why they need to be overseas mufflers.  Might be some sort of patent involved? 

Someone else might know more.

Cheers
Bob

[#Metro]

kitty cat purr was too loud 😅

[Matt]

Thanks Bob.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/TransLinkSEQ/status/1392721270463074304

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/redlandbulletin/status/1395606455630315520