All aboard the 24-hour Mardi Gras Express

A bumper lineup of extended transport services has been scheduled to keep Sydney moving, including all-night Sydney Metro services for the first time outside of New Year’s Eve. 

Parade-goers can jump on a metro train every 5–10 minutes from 5pm to 2am, then every 20 minutes until regular daytime frequencies resume at 5am.  

With thousands of people anticipated to attend the parade and major road closures in place from 4pm to 2am on Sunday morning, the easiest, fastest and most efficient way to get around the Sydney CBD will be by foot or using public transport. 

Sydney Trains and light rail will operate limited 24-hour services, including on the L1 Dulwich Hill Line, L2 Randwick Line and L3 Kingsford Line, helping more people get in and out of the city to celebrate one of Australia’s most iconic events. 

Sydney Trains will operate continuous services across most of the network. Trains will run every hour from the last Mardi Gras train around midnight to the first regular Sunday service.  There will be extra services through the City Circle to cater for large crowds. Extra services will run on the T1 Western Line, T1 North Shore Line, T2 Inner West Line and T9 Northern Line.  In addition, there will be frequent services from Central to Bondi Junction on the T4 Eastern Suburb Line until 3am Sunday.  

Museum Station will close from 5pm. For the best views of the parade:  

• Northern side viewing in Darlinghurst: Use Town Hall, St James, Martin Place or Kings Cross train stations, or Gadigal Metro station. 
• Southern side viewing in Surry Hills: Use Central station. For Parade viewing along Flinders Street, use the Moore Park Light Rail stop. 

Trackwork is scheduled on T2 Leppington & Inner West Line, T5 Cumberland Line and T8 Airport & South Line on the Sydney Trains network. Passengers are advised to plan ahead and check apps before travelling. 

L1 Dulwich Hill, L2 Randwick and L3 Kingsford Light rail services will run until 5am Sunday. Services will run every 15 to 20 minutes. Providing a limited 24-hour timetable this year. 

Bus routes 370 and 343 will run 24 hours with added hourly services on Sunday. Around 300 extra bus services will run to the city from Inner West, Eastern Suburbs and North Shore throughout the afternoon, with additional late-night services including NightRide buses, helping parade-goers get home safely.  Buses will divert from Oxford St due to road closures.   

For more information on public transport for the parade, including extra services and trip planning, visit the event page at transportnsw.info or plan ahead using the Opal Travel app or other transport planning apps.  

Motorists and pedestrians can check  Live Traffic NSW for the latest information on road closures and major event clearways.