Prior to the construction of various road projects connecting the outer western suburbs of
Newcastle and crossing the
Hunter River, including the
Stockton Bridge, numerous ferry services, both privately run and publicly operated, shuttled across the Hunter River to link the locality of
Stockton with the rest of Newcastle during the 19th and 20th centuries, including a car ferry service from the former Market Street Wharf and Stockton. This relatively vast network of wharves and services on the river included many wharves on the Newcastle foreshore,
Bullock Island, the Stockton foreshore, and
Port Waratah. The passenger ferry service that operated between
Queens Wharf and Stockton, which runs in an area further downstream of the river from the bridge, is the only ferry service in Newcastle that still operates, surviving a wave of service decommissions prompted by the opening of the Stockton Bridge in 1971. It was revived in February 1983 by the
Government of New South Wales owned
Newcastle Buses & Ferries. Initially the
Edith Walter and
West Head, two ferries previously used by the former operator, were chartered to operate the service until two new vessels were delivered in 1986. In July 2017, it was included in the transfer of Newcastle Buses & Ferries' operations to
Newcastle Transport. ==Services==