Steam punts on chains carried traffic across this reach of the Yarra for a hundred years, and a motor boat from Spotswood to Fishermans Bend kept going until 1979. Today's Westgate Punt, running since 1993, is the small pedestrian-and-bike ferry that fills the same gap, taking walkers and cyclists over the river without the West Gate Bridge.
Weekday timetable as published by Transport Victoria and by the operator (headed 'New weekday timetable', no validity date given), both read on 25 September 2026; the operator's site showed 'Mon-Fri & weekends running as normal' that day Transport Victoria – Ferries: Westgate Punt weekday timetable · 2026-09-25
People have been ferried across this stretch of the lower Yarra for well over a century. According to the University of Melbourne's Encyclopedia of Melbourne, three steam punts, each bigger than the last and guided across on a chain, ran from Williamstown Road in Port Melbourne to a point by the Newport power station between 1873 and 1974; the final one, built in 1931, carried 32 vehicles. Smaller motor boats worked the river too, and the last of them, from Spotswood to Fishermans Bend, stopped in 1979.
The present service began in 1993. The Victorian Government has described it as an idea that started as a way to give unemployed young people a first job in the maritime industry and grew into a link in the city's cycling network. By 2022 the same family had owned and run it for more than 25 years, and in June 2022 the state put in $200,000 to keep it afloat. Transport Victoria now counts it as one of the three ferry services it oversees.
What you get today is a small passenger punt with a weekday timetable of 26 crossings each way, every 20 minutes in a morning block from 05:35 and an afternoon block from 14:20, plus an on-demand service from 9am to 5pm at weekends. Unlike the steam punts it carries no vehicles; it exists for the walkers and cyclists.
The punt is subsidised by Transport Victoria but sits outside myki, like the other two ferry services the state oversees, including the Port Phillip Ferries boat between Geelong and Docklands. You pay the skipper by card: Visa or Mastercard debit, or any credit card including Amex. There is no cash option.
| Monday to Friday | $ 3 |
| Saturday and Sunday | $ 5 |
Fares as published by Transport Victoria and by the operator, both read on 25 September 2026 Westgate Punt – fares and payment · 2026-09-25
The punt crosses the lower Yarra between Spotswood on the west bank and Fishermans Bend on the east, roughly 500 metres from jetty to landing. The alternative for a cyclist or walker is the long way round: the state government put the detour at an extra 13 kilometres when it funded the service in 2022. From Westgate Landing, Transport Victoria points cyclists to the paths that run from Port Melbourne into the city. Victoria's other ferries on this site are on the Victoria page.
On Douglas Parade near the corner of Craig Street, a short walk from Spotswood station. Neither Transport Victoria nor the operator publishes a map position for the jetty itself, so the marker on our map comes from OpenStreetMap and may be a few metres out.
On Lorimer Street near Sardine Street, on the Fishermans Bend side. Transport Victoria's bus stop Westgate Landing/Lorimer St, about 70 metres away, is served by route 237 into Southern Cross; the operator adds that route 235 runs every day. The timetables call this end Lorimer or Port Melbourne (Fishermans Bend): all three names mean this landing.
Bicycles travel on the punt, and so do wheelchairs, prams and dogs on leads. The whole point of the service, in Transport Victoria's words, is to get pedestrians and cyclists across the Yarra without the West Gate Bridge.
Payment is EFTPOS only: Visa or Mastercard debit, or a credit card including Amex. No cash, and myki is not accepted.
On weekdays the last morning crossing leaves Spotswood at 09:30 and the first afternoon one leaves Westgate Landing at 14:20. Plan a weekday lunch on the far bank around that.
Weekends and public holidays are different: from 9am to 5pm the punt runs on demand. If it is on the other side, wait: the operator says it will come back for you.
The operator gives a skipper's number, 0419 999 458, for questions during operating hours.
The timetable is shaped entirely around the commute, split into a morning and an afternoon block much as the River Derwent ferry in Hobart is. The morning block runs from 05:35 to 09:30 from Spotswood; the afternoon block from 14:20 to 18:40 from Westgate Landing. The operator's latest table added the earliest sailings and a chunk of the early afternoon, and dropped the old 18:50 and 19:00 departures. In 2022 the government counted 18 weekday trips between 6:30am and 6:50pm and about 100 passengers a day.
Weekends are a different service with a different price. There is no timetable: from 9am to 5pm the skipper crosses whenever someone is waiting, and the fare goes up from $3 to $5. For a Saturday ride out west along the Hobsons Bay side, that makes the punt a flexible way over the river; for a weekday trip it rewards anyone who checks the clock first.
Yes, on demand from 9am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday alike, and on public holidays too. There is no timetable: turn up at either jetty and the punt will take you across, though you may wait while it completes another crossing.
The first leaves Spotswood at 05:35 and the first from Westgate Landing is 05:40. The last of the day leaves Spotswood at 18:30 and Westgate Landing at 18:40.
No. The morning block ends with the 09:30 from Spotswood and the 09:20 from Westgate Landing, and the afternoon block starts with the 14:20 from Westgate Landing and the 14:30 from Spotswood.
It will not: Transport Victoria lists the punt as a service without myki ticketing. You pay the operator by card: $3 one way on weekdays, $5 at weekends, Visa or Mastercard debit or any credit card, no cash.
Yes to all three. The operator lists bicycles, wheelchairs, prams and dogs on leads among what the punt carries.
Three to five minutes across roughly half a kilometre of the Yarra, according to the operator. The state government has put the road detour for a cyclist at about 13 extra kilometres.
Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Good Friday. Both Transport Victoria and the operator list those three closures.