12 Sep 2008: SEQ: Fares on the Airtrain still don?t add up!

[ozbob]

Media Release 12 September 2008

SEQ:  Fares on the Airtrain still don?t add up!

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has discovered that single ticket and go card journeys to the Brisbane Airport from suburban stations cost more than the sum of the individual fares.  For example, the cost of a single ticket to the Brisbane Airport (Domestic or International) from Oxley is $18.10 according to the TransLink journey planner (1) for paper and the go card. This a farce, and makes a mockery of the integrated ticketing concept and seamless travel to the airport.  'Smart State' commuters now break their journey at the CBD stations to stop being ripped off.  Fares for the go card are equivalent to the paper ticketing for connecting services to Brisbane airport. This added fare impost is NOT mentioned in the go card advertising material that promotes the go card as having up front discounts.  Is this a breach of the advertising regulations?  People who do a continuous journey should actually receive a discount rather than an added fare cost.  This is a perverse practice the way commuters are slugged the extra fares.

The TransLink planner confirms that the cost of a single ticket from Oxley (zone 3) to Central is $3.40,  and the cost of a single ticket to the airport from Central is $13.50.  This is a total cost of $16.90.  Why the extra fare cost for a continuous ticket at $18.10?

Using the go card the cost of a fare from Oxley to Central is $2.72.  So the Airtrain fare is actually costing $15.38 on go card in this instance for a continuous journey.  The cost of go card journey to the airport from Central is $13.50 according to the TransLink journey planner.

From a zone 6 location the fare for a single is $4.80 to Central.  $13.50 for the Airtrain ticket gives a total cost $18.30.  Use your go card or buy a continuous ticket it costs $19.90; the higher the zone the greater the differential.

Travel costs from Robina (zone 15) to Central Station are Adult go card single  $7.48 and Adult  single  $11.50. Add the $13.50 to the airport gives a total cost of $20.98 for go card or $25 paper. If you touch on at Robina and travel to the Airport direct.  Cost for go card is Adult  go card single $26.80 Adult single $26.80!

It is very disappointing that Translink now the TTA and the Queensland Government apparently condone this profiteering at commuters? expense.  They apparently hope the masses might not notice!

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

?One of our members recently noted that there was an extra cost of $1.20 on their go card travel compared to the cost of the respective single fares from Oxley  to Brisbane Airport.?

?Checking the TransLink journey planner has indeed confirmed that there is discrepancy between the sum of the individual fares, and the combined fare for single paper tickets and go card.?

?Is there a proper explanation for this discrepancy??

?The go card has many issues; it is not surprising that go card fares don?t add up!?

?People using the Airtrain would be best advised to purchase a single ticket to Central, or use a go card to travel to Central. Touch off if using go card, and then buy another ticket from Central to the Airport. The savings can be substantial.?

?This ticket pricing circus is again a good example of what is wrong with public transport in south-east Queensland! It is a further disincentive for people not to use public transport.  It puts railway staff in a no-win situation when challenged by commuters as to the inequity of the fare structure.?

?The Minister for Transport's office was reported recently as stating that we need to encourage people to use public transport.  This fare structure for connecting travel to Brisbane airport is anti-public transport, another case of Government rhetoric not matching reality.  We call on the Minister to fix this fare anomaly as a matter of urgency.?

?The sooner the Airtrain line is brought back into public ownership and integrated properly as part of the normal TransLink network in terms of fares and timetables, the sooner the road congestion issues to the airport will be over (2).?

References:

1.   http://www.transinfo.qld.gov.au/   

2.   http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=720.0


Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

From Brisbane mX  15 September 2008 page 5



Thanks for highlighting these issues mX!

[Mozz]

The article sort of explains the background behind the situation however at the end of the day it is the poor Brisbane commuter including those poor visitors/tourists from outside of Brisbane, Queensland and Australia that get shafted. From memory last month travelling on the Oyster card from Southwark to Heathrow on the Tube costed around 5 pound and was a trip of around 65 minutes and quite a few kilometres more than from Oxley to the International airport.