Public transport was the way to go to ring in 2024 in Sydney, with data from Transport for NSW revealing more than 700,000 journeys were made to and from the CBD on train, bus, ferry and light rail services for New Year’s Eve.
With most harbour vantage points not ticketed this year, Sydneysiders and travellers flocked into the city to watch the world-class fireworks.
The vast majority of revellers caught public transport to and from the CBD, as passengers took the operational advice to leave the car at home, leave plenty of travel time, and hop on services to get where they needed to go.
Transport for NSW had an extra 1000 trains running day and night on New Year’s Eve, plus an extra 1200 buses, and light rail services were running every 10 minutes until 4am.
Metro services doubled in frequency with services running until 4am.
From 4am on December 31, 2023 to 4am on January 1, 2024, there were 416,049 trips into Sydney’s CBD and surrounding precincts, based on Opal data:
- Bus – 59,873
- Ferry – 22,158
- Light Rail – 44,794
- Train – 289, 224
- Total – 416,049
Over that same period, there were 325,613 trips out of Sydney’s CBD and surrounding precincts, based on Opal data:
- Bus – 46,510
- Ferry – 22,279
- Light Rail – 45,443
- Train – 211,381
- Total – 325,613
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said New Year’s Eve was by far the biggest day on the transport calendar.
“This year, we saw a 20 per cent increase in the number of people arriving into our city by train, compared to last year’s celebrations,” she said.
“Moving hundreds of thousands of people in and out of the city over a small period of time isn’t easy, but everyone was patient, in good spirits and listened carefully to our staff on the ground.
“New Year’s Eve was a big test for Sydney’s public transport and follows months of important work our Government has been doing to improve reliability and performance. I’m thrilled to say our New Year’s Eve public transport network, like the incredible fireworks display, was a roaring success.”
NSW Secretary of Transport Josh Murray said the big crowds that built up over more than 12 hours on Sunday were safely dispatched home in around an hour and a half from city stations, with 1000 extra trains and 1200 extra buses.
“Revellers overwhelmingly caught public transport and we want to thank our passengers for leaving the car at home, for treating our transport workers with patience and respect as they worked through the night to get everyone to their parties or vantage points and back again,” he said.
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