Plan your Mardi Gras Parade experience on public transport

The streets of Sydney’s CBD will be a sea of colour this Saturday 2 March as thousands celebrate the 2024 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.

With major road closures from 3pm to 3am and tens of thousands of people expected to line the streets for the parade, the best way to get to and from the celebrations is by public transport.

Transport for NSW Coordinator-General Howard Collins says hundreds of additional trains, buses and light rail services will run frequently to and from the city, with additional late-night services to help everyone get home.

“Light rail services will be extended until 2am on the L2 Randwick and L3 Kingsford lines, with a two-hour extension on the L1 Dulwich Hill line until 1am,” Mr Collins said.

“Buses will run every 3-5 minutes along King St and Enmore Road to get people to Mardi Gras, and extra late night buses will run between 10pm and 1am to bring revellers back to King St.”

“If you’re catching the bus, plan ahead as services to and from the city will be using different routes and stops while roads are closed, so you may need to walk further than usual for access to the parade viewing areas.”

Trains to the city will run frequently to bring crowds to the parade.

Spectators should use Town Hall, St James or Kings Cross stations for access to the northern side of the parade in Darlinghurst, or Central for access to the southern side in Surry Hills.

Keep in mind that pedestrian crossing of Oxford St and Flinders St will close from 7pm before the parade gets underway.

“Trackwork will not impact services through Central Station or the CBD this Saturday 2 March for Mardi Gras celebrations,” said Mr Collins.

“But as always, passengers are urged to plan ahead as essential Rail Repair Plan trackwork continues to build a more resilient and reliable network.”

On the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line, buses will replace trains between Cronulla and Sutherland on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, from 11.30pm to 2.20am, buses will also replace trains between Waterfall, Cronulla and Hurstville.

The T7 Olympic Park Line will see buses replace trains on Sunday between Olympic Park and Lidcombe.

On both Saturday and Sunday, buses will replace metro between Tallawong and Chatswood on the Metro North West Line.

More details on trackwork this weekend can be found here.

Major road closures and widespread parking restrictions will be in place in the city, Darlinghurst and Moore Park so revellers planning to catch taxis or rideshare should be aware that they will need to continue on foot to get to the parade viewing areas.

Regular public transport ticketing applies on Mardi Gras night, with participants and spectators reminded to tap on using an Opal card or contactless payment method.

For more information on public transport for the parade, including extra services and trip planning, visit the event page on transportnsw.info.

For more information on road closures and changed traffic conditions, visit livetraffic.com.