A regular ferry between Melbourne and Geelong could be running in time for the holiday season, according to its operators.
“We’d like to see, certainly by Christmas, to have some sort of a service up and running,” said Port Phillip Ferries chief Murracy Rance after a trial run on Tuesday.
“There (are) thousands of people that commute from Geelong to Melbourne, Melbourne to Geelong.
“We don’t want all of them, we just want 400 a day.”
But the service attracted below Mr Rance’s target during the free trial in windy, wintery conditions this week.
More than 150 people embarked on the Bellarine Express’s maiden voyage to Docklands at 6.15am, which arrived in Melbourne five minutes early at 7.55am.
Almost 200 travelled to Geelong at 8.30am on the vessel, with about 300 seats available for each service during the free trial.
About the same number of passengers travelled back to Melbourne and Geelong on respective return services that afternoon.
Reducing the time of the 100-minute commute would be important for the service’s viability, Mr Rance said.
“There is a number of things that we can do that we can pinch six or seven or eight minutes.
“If we can get it down to below 100 minutes we think it’s a real competitive alternate transport source.”
The vessel has a capacity of 400 passengers, with about 320 seats indoors and the rest on the boat’s outdoor decks.
Port Phillip Ferries will run a second free trial next Tueday.
Passengers can book a free ticket for the trial at Port Phillip Ferries’ website, with the company to collect a gold coin donation from passengers for a local charity.
In June Portarlington Ferry and Safe Harbour Group advised a service between Geelong and Docklands would need “at least 130 passengers” daily to be viable.
