Transport Update

Message from Newcastle Transport

Good afternoon,

School students returning to school full time from Monday 25 May is an important milestone for the whole community and we want to make sure students travel safely to and from school with Newcastle Transport.

With physical distancing measures put in place across public transport in NSW this week, we wanted to assure you no school student will be turned away from public transport.

Physical distancing measures will not apply on dedicated school services and school children will be given priority access on regular route services, even if this means a service goes over physical distancing capacity.

We will continue to monitor transport usage to make sure students travel safely to and from school.  

Here at Keolis Downer, we will be continuing the measures we have in place to limit the spread of coronavirus and ensure the safety of our customers, including:

• Each bus, ferry and tram undergo a daily deep clean and there is additional cleaning throughout the day, with special attention on high frequency touch surfaces
• Mid service cleaning of high touch areas on our bus services at Customs House and John Hunter Hospital.
• Cleaning products and hand sanitisation stations are available in all depots to support our staff in good hygiene practices
• Closing off front seats and Opal readers next to the driver
• Tram doors are now opening automatically at stops to minimise customer contact with trams on all light rail services.

We encourage students to:

• Follow NSW Health advice
• Practice good hand hygiene by washing your hands frequently
• Allow as much distance from others
• Cough or sneeze into your elbow
• Stay at home and avoid travelling altogether if unwell
• Avoid close contact with staff on board services
• It is more important than ever for students to use their Opal card so we can understand capacity on board our services.

If you have further questions, please get in touch with us at newcastlecommunications@keolisdowner.com.au.

Kind regards,
The Newcastle Transport team