Any party interested in fixing the Airtrain connecting rail fare rip-off?

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Fare rip-off for rail travellers to Brisbane Airport

Fare rip-off for rail travellers to Brisbane Airport
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Ursula Heger

February 23, 2009 11:00pm

TRAVELLERS are being ripped off up to $7.50 when they travel to the airport because Airtrain and TransLink cannot agree on a fare structure.
The Courier-Mail can reveal commuters are being forced to pay more for travelling directly from suburban stations to the airport, but both TransLink and Airtrain say they are powerless to fix the problem.

A difference in the way fares are calculated means it would be cheaper to travel from some rail stations to Central station and then buy a second ticket to the airport, than to buy a ticket directly to the domestic or international terminal.

The problem is caused by a difference in fare structure.

TransLink calculates fares depending on which zone a commuter travels from, but Airtrain uses a "point-to-point structure".

For example, a commuter travelling from Gympie North will pay $33.70 to travel direct to the airport, or $26.22 for two tickets if they stop at Central station.

Airtrain general manager Chris Basche said Airtrain was aware of the problem.

"It is just the way it is and it is something that we are trying to work out," Mr Basche said.

But, he said, both providers were focused on rolling out the Go Card ticketing equipment, rather than fixing the discrepancy.

"At the moment both Airtrain and TransLink are working on the Go Card implementation," Mr Basche said. "They are rolling out the new ticket operator console machines which is taking a considerable amount of time.

"We are waiting for those resources to be put in place."

But TransLink yesterday denied the problem was due to Go Card rollout, and said they could not force Airtrain to change its pricing structure.

"Airtrain is a privately owned company that independently sets their own fares above the TransLink fare," he said.

"TransLink is a third party which collects only the standard TransLink fare for those using Airtrain."

Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said the two-step process of getting a cheaper fare made a mockery of seamless travel on the network.

"It is not good enough that they are promoting a seamless ticketing system, and if you travel on it you are paying more," Mr Dow said.

[ozbob]

See here for the full story --> http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=1304.0

[ozbob]

The comments as quoted in the Courier Mail article put TransLink and Airtrain at some odds.   Suffice to say the only way is this mess is going to be sorted once and for all is via a political process.  The fact the present Government has known about it for a long time, and has still not responded in any meaningful manner to the issue is testament itself.  The apparent reluctance of the opposition to run with it as well, may well be related to the fact they were in Government when the 'mate rates deals' were set up.

In any case we will continue to press for this fare rip-off to be ceased.  It will be via the political process that it will be addressed I suspect.

Clearly TransLink and Airtrain are unable apparently to do anything much, which again sends a strong signal to all interested observers.

Cheers
Bob

[mufreight]

The only realistic and practical option is that the government of whatever persuasion buys out Airtrain and QR citytrain takes over its operation as a fully intergrated section of the citytrain network.
A surcharge could in effect be achieved in terms of ticketing and the Go card both by simply adding one zone on to the ticket so instead of the airport being regarded as being in say zone 3 it would become zone 4 with the revenue from the additional fare going to ofset the cost of the buy out.