Western Port Ferries is a company providing passenger ferry services in

Western Port Western Port, (Boonwurrung: ''Warn Marin'') commonly but unofficially known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia, opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in the state. Geographically, it is do ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia.

History

Western Port Ferries were awarded the contract to operate ferry routes in Western Port in June 2017 on behalf of the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

through

Public Transport Victoria Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria, Australia, Victoria. It was the trading name of the Go Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authorit ...

, replacing the previous operator Inter Island Ferries. The parent company, Searoad Ferries, were existing operators of the private ferry services between Queenscliff on the

Bellarine Peninsula The Bellarine Peninsula (Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peni ...

and

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...

on the

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...

Port Phillip Bay Port Phillip (Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completel ...

Routes

The northern terminus of Stony Point connects to the

Stony Point railway line The Stony Point line is a greater-metropolitan railway line in Melbourne, Australia. The line extends from the Frankston line and is part of the city's suburban passenger railway network, and the Myki integrated ticketing system (Zone 2), but i ...

which operates services to

Frankston railway station Frankston railway station, in Victoria, Australia, is the terminus of the suburban electrified Frankston line and diesel-hauled services on the Stony Point line. It serves the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Frankston, and opened on 1 Augu ...

. As of 2017, patronage of the route is approximately 32,000 passengers per year.

Timetable

There are eight services on weekdays in each direction between Stony Point and Tankerton. On weekends and

public holidays A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history, ...

, there are seven services. Between Stony Point and Cowes, there are four services per day on weekdays, weekends and public holidays. During peak holiday season in parts of December and January, an extra fifth service also operates. Some services also operate between Tankerton and Cowes. Most ferry services are scheduled to connect to trains arriving or departing from

Stony Point railway station Stony Point railway station is the terminus of the diesel-hauled Stony Point line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Crib Point, and it opened on 17 December 1889. In 1910, a turntable was provided at the station. By November 1960, ...

Ticketing

Although ferries operate under a contract with Public Transport Victoria,

myki Myki ( ), stylised as myki, is a reloadable credit card-sized contactless smart card ticketing system used for electronic payment of fares on most public transport services in Melbourne and regional Victoria, Australia. Myki replaced the ...

tickets are not accepted. A separate fare must be paid when on board the ferry. Prior to the closure of the Stony Point Kiosk in 2022, tickets could also be purchased on land.

Fleet

The fleet consists of two boats, both introduced in 2017 when the company launched.

References