30 Jul 2008: SEQ: Make travel seamless for all from Brisbane CBD to 2008 Ekka!

[ozbob]

Media Release 30 July 2008

SEQ:  Make travel seamless for all from Brisbane CBD to 2008 Ekka!

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport users highlighted in 2007 the fare cost discrimination against rail travel to the Ekka (1).  Travel by bus was free effectively but rail passengers were required to pay an additional fare.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

?Why was it that for the 2007 Ekka QR Citytrain Translink passengers who held regular tickets had to pay for an additional ticket cost, an add on fare, to travel to the Ekka; and bus passengers who held regular tickets did not? This was clearly indicated on the Translink web site at the time.?

?The apparent justification for this discrimination against rail passengers was that the Exhibition station is a special stand alone zone. We said then that was ?spin? and nonsense and it still is.  It complicated the travel of regular ticket holders who had to fuss around and buy an additional ticket.?

?A further complication for travel to the Ekka this year will be the procedure for go card users. Will they be able to travel seamlessly to the Ekka using their go card?  Will they be debited with an extra fare on bus and rail whilst other ticket holders on bus travel free??

"Can the TransLink Transit Authority please make a timely statement as to what the public transport ticketing arrangements will be for the 2008 Ekka??

?RAIL Back on track calls for travel to the Ekka on bus and rail to be free from additional ticketing costs from the CBD to the Ekka bus stops and Exhibition station for anyone who has a ticket that covers zone 1!  This would encourage maximum use of public transport and help avoid road congestion and gridlock.?

"Further more, the Exhibition loop line should be operated 52 weeks of the year, with an additional rail station at Normanby!" (2).

Reference:

1.  http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=179.0

2.  http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=990.0

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Rail passengers will again have to buy an additional ticket to travel from CBD to Exhibition.

Again a failure to really address the needs of commuters in a positive way.

Opposition Statement:

-------------

Tim Nicholls MP
Shadow Minister for Transport, Traffic Management,
Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations       
Member for Clayfield                           

31 July 2008

Ekka commuters to be charged more for train

Commuters travelling to the Ekka by train will be slugged more than
commuters who catch a bus to this year's show.

A leaked document has revealed that while commuters will be allowed to
use their normal TransLink tickets to transfer onto a bus to the Ekka,
commuters travelling by train will have to pay extra for a special
Exhibition rail ticket on top of their normal TransLink ticket.

Shadow Minister for Transport Tim Nicholls said the decision to charge
commuters twice to catch the train defeated the purpose of integrated
ticketing.

"To tell commuters they have to pay more to travel the same distance to
the same location is ludicrous," he said.

"Integrated ticketing was meant to eliminate the need to buy additional
tickets. But the State Government has been caught out slugging commuters
more to travel just one station outside the normal Translink network."

Mr Nicholls said the State Government should be encouraging commuters to
catch public transport to the Ekka.

"TransLink should be offering free travel with any ticket purchase - the
same as a ticket to a major sporting event provides a ticket to ride on
public transport," he said.

[ozbob]

From Courier Mail click here!

Train passengers to pay twice for journey to Ekka

Train passengers to pay twice for journey to Ekka
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Patrick Lion

August 01, 2008 12:00am

TRAIN commuters travelling to Brisbane's Ekka will be penalised, following another bungle involving TransLink's integrated ticketing system.

A leaked TransLink memo, obtained by the State Opposition, reveals the zonal system will not recognise the Ekka station as one of 23 ticketing zones across the network.

Commuters will instead have to buy a second ticket for as much as $1.30 to cover the journey from city stations to the Exhibition Grounds station. Go Card users will not be affected.

TransLink yesterday defended the measures, saying the train station would cost almost 10 times as much as running shuttle buses to the Ekka between August 7 and 16.

However, Opposition transport spokesman Tim Nicholls said the decision to charge commuters twice to catch the train defeated the purpose of integrated ticketing.

TransLink spokesman Adam Nicholson said the Ekka train station required  more staff to run the extra services.

[ozbob]

Sent to Government, TTA and Media.

1 August 2008

Greetings,

RAIL Back On Track highlighted the farcical situation with the Ekka rail loop services in 2007 with additional ticketing costs for rail passengers.  History repeats, again we will see this farce again in 2008. At a time when the TTA and Government should be encouraging maximum use of public transport and consolidating the benefits of integrating ticketing, including the go card, we find yet again bumbling ticketing practices based on flawed economic models that lose sight of the social and overall community benefits of good public transport policy.

We will now have the bizarre situation where commuters who travel to the CBD on their rail ticket, can now transfer to bus and travel to the Ekka for free (continuation of travel).  Should they stay on rail they will have to pay an additional fare.

Go card users will also be debited a fare and the 20% flat discount is not to be applied to go card travel from the CBD to the Ekka by rail.

Smart state or dumb state?

The new TransLink Transit Authority has already distinguished itself as just continuing the abysmal communication practices of the former Translink.  It is little wonder that there is raging anger amongst public transport commuters as a consequence of the chronic peak congestion, go card meltdown and the general  lack of empathy for commuters.

Best wishes.

Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org


------------------------------------------

Media Release 30 July 2008

SEQ:  Make travel seamless for all from Brisbane CBD to 2008 Ekka!

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport users highlighted in 2007 the fare cost discrimination against rail travel to the Ekka (1).  Travel by bus was free effectively but rail passengers were required to pay an additional fare.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

?Why was it that for the 2007 Ekka QR Citytrain Translink passengers who held regular tickets had to pay for an additional ticket cost, an add on fare, to travel to the Ekka; and bus passengers who held regular tickets did not? This was clearly indicated on the Translink web site at the time.?

?The apparent justification for this discrimination against rail passengers was that the Exhibition station is a special stand alone zone. We said then that was ?spin? and nonsense and it still is.  It complicated the travel of regular ticket holders who had to fuss around and buy an additional ticket.?

?A further complication for travel to the Ekka this year will be the procedure for go card users. Will they be able to travel seamlessly to the Ekka using their go card?  Will they be debited with an extra fare on bus and rail whilst other ticket holders on bus travel free??

"Can the TransLink Transit Authority please make a timely statement as to what the public transport ticketing arrangements will be for the 2008 Ekka??

?RAIL Back on track calls for travel to the Ekka on bus and rail to be free from additional ticketing costs from the CBD to the Ekka bus stops and Exhibition station for anyone who has a ticket that covers zone 1!  This would encourage maximum use of public transport and help avoid road congestion and gridlock.?

"Further more, the Exhibition loop line should be operated 52 weeks of the year, with an additional rail station at Normanby!" (2).

Reference:

1.  http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=179.0

2.  http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=990.0

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

From Brisbanetimes click here!

Train travellers taken for Ekka ride

Train travellers taken for Ekka ride
Georgina Robinson | August 1, 2008 - 5:00AM

The Queensland Opposition and public transport lobbyists have blasted a Translink decision to slug Ekka-bound train travellers with higher ticketing costs than bus users.

A leaked briefing document sent to Brisbane bus and train operators has revealed Translink will for the second year in a row make train users pay extra to travel from CBD stations to the Exhibition, while bus passengers will pay no more than their original ticket.

The policy means that while a bus traveller will be able to use their normal zone one weekly or daily ticket to travel to the Ekka, train users will have to pay an extra $4.80 (daily) or $2.40 (single) to reach Exhibition station.

Go card users will also pay the extra amount if they take the train, while using a go card on the bus will incur no extra charge.

RAIL Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said the move was "blatant revenue raising".

"They claim that the Exhibition is in a special zone and it costs to put the additional service on but that's a shallow excuse when you see it also costs extra to put extra buses on," Mr Dow said.

Translink spokesman Adam Nicholson said the fare structure was designed to ensure "adequate cost recovery".

"It should be noted that the cost of operating the Ekka rail loop is almost 10 times as much as the cost of running the Ekka shuttle buses," Mr Nicholson said.

"This is due to the significant extra staff required to open the Exhibition station as well as the cost of running the extra services themselves."

Translink did not provide an exact dollar amount on how much it costs to open and operate the station.

Shadow Transport Minister Tim Nicholls said the decision to charge train commuters twice defeated the purpose of integrated ticketing.

"To tell commuters they have to pay more to travel the same distance to the same location is ludicrous," Mr Nicholls said.

"Integrated ticketing was meant to eliminate the need to buy additional tickets.

"But the State Government has been caught out slugging commuters more to travel just one station outside the normal Translink network."

The leaked document also advises that popular off-peak daily tickets will not be available for purchase on Ekka bus or train services.

However, bus travellers will be able to use an off-peak daily ticket if they purchased it prior to boarding an Ekka-bound bus.

Train travellers will again have to pay an Ekka station surcharge on top of their off-peak daily ticket.

Ekka ticket prices in a nutshell

Train:

- Central, Roma Street, Brunswick Street station to the Ekka $4.80 (daily adult), $2.40 (single adult)

- All other stations to the Ekka (zones 1-23) single ticket add $1.30 (adult), off-peak or daily ticket add $2.60 (adult)

- Off-peak daily, daily, weekly, monthly tickets all attract the extra charge, the price of which depends on whether you travel from a CBD or other station.

Bus:

- Shuttle service from city, Fortitude Valley or Northey Street park and ride single ticket add $4.80 (daily adult), $2.40 (single adult)

- All other bus stations to the Ekka (zones 1-23) no extra charge

- Off-peak daily, daily, weekly, monthly tickets all valid, no extra charge incurred