Balmain East ferry wharf (also known as Darling Street ferry wharf) is located on

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

serving the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

suburb of Balmain East.

History

The Balmain East ferry wharf has been operating since the 1840s as Balmain's main wharf. Originally, watermen offered the first services on demand in small rowing skiffs or sailing dinghies. In February 1844 the steamer ''Waterman'' commenced the first public ferry service between Balmain and the

Australian Gas Light Company The Australian Gas Light Company (AGL) was an Australian gas and electricity retailer, operated entirely by McCarthy Hanlin. It was formed in Sydney in 1837 and supplied town gas for the first public lighting of a street lamp in Sydney in 1841. AG ...

wharf at

Millers Point Millers Point is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district, adjacent to The Rocks and is part of the local government area of the C ...

. The service was established by Henry Perdriau, the owner of ''Perdriau Ferries'', later ''Balmain Steam Ferries''.Spindler, Graham,
"Harbour Circle Walk: Notes on Loop & Alternative walks"
',

New South Wales Department of Planning The New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) is a department of the New South Wales Government, responsible for effective and sustainable planning to support the growth in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It makes pl ...

, 2006. Accessed 20 August 2006. From the beginning of the 20th century, Sydney's electric tram system down

Darling Street Darling Street is a 3.1 kilometre street in Sydney, Australia running from Victoria Road, Sydney, Victoria Road to Balmain East ferry wharf. It is the main thoroughfare and high street of the suburbs of Rozelle and Balmain, New South Wales, Bal ...

to the wharf and connected with the ferries. The tramway operated until 1954. As the road next to the wharf had a grade of 1 in 8, a unique counterweight dummy system was installed under the road surface to help push trams up the hill. An underground counterweight system was connected by cable to a cable tram grip dummy on the track on the surface. A tram descending would push the grip dummy ahead of it (which raised the counterweight). On the return journey, the grip dummy would give the tram a helpful push. The mechanism was preserved at the

Sydney Tramway Museum The Sydney Tramway Museum (operated by the South Pacific Electric Railway) is Australia's oldest tramway museum and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is located at Loftus, New South Wales, Loftus in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Hist ...

when the tramway was removed. On 14 January 2015, the wharf closed for a rebuild with the existing structure demolished and a new one opened on 18 June 2015.

Services

Balmain East wharf is served by

Sydney Ferries Sydney Ferries is the public transport ferry network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales. Services operate on Sydney Harbour and the connecting Parramatta River. The network is controlled by the New South Wales Government's transport a ...

Pyrmont Bay services operating between and via . Services are operated by First Fleet class ferries. Balmain East wharf is also served by weekday and Saturday evening Parramatta River services from

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially na ...

Interchanges

Transit Systems Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group. History ...

operate one route to and from Balmain East wharf: *442: to

Queen Victoria Building The Queen Victoria Building (abbreviated as the QVB) is a heritage-listed late-nineteenth-century building designed by the architect George McRae located at 429–481 George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian stat ...

References

External links

Balmain East Wharf
at Transport for New South Wales (Archive
11 June 2019

Balmain East Locality Map
Transport for NSW {{Transport for New South Wales ferry wharves, Parramatta River=y, Cross Harbour=y, state=collapsed Ferry wharves in Sydney Balmain East, New South Wales