NSW TRANSPORT Minister Gladys Berejiklian has given a cool response to a recommended cut in train ticket fares for Sydney Airport workers.
Workers were hardest hit by the extra fee paid to the private owner of the Airport Link line, a parliamentary committee found in a report released on Friday.
About 34 per cent of airport workers commuted from Sutherland Shire and St George, the report said.
The $12.60 charge for a single ticket, or $21 for a weekly ticket, on top of the Sydney Trains fare was a major disincentive to rail travel.
The report recommended the fee, charged to use the domestic and international airport stations, should be removed or further discounted for employees, volunteers and contractors at the airport, groups of travellers and families.
It noted casual, part-time and aircrew workers were particularly disadvantaged by having to buy single tickets and suggested discounts could be provided if they showed their ID.
Significantly, the upper house committee was weighted in favour of the government, with three Coalition members, two from the Labor Party and one each from the Greens and the Christian Democratic Party.
Ms Berejiklian said she would look at the report.
"It will take a lot of convincing for me to cut hundreds of millions in funding from other transport services to pay for the access fee," she said.
"Discounted weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly and yearly tickets are already available for airport workers and customers travelling to the airport daily.
"These tickets offer savings of around 80 per cent on single ticket prices for adults and concession holders."
The report said the government received about half of the revenue generated by the fee and this would rise to about 85 per cent late this year.
A complete removal of the station usage fee would cost the government $600 million over 30 years.
The report said the government argued the revenue would fund other infrastructure projects, while advocates of the removal or further discounting of the fee said it would greatly reduce road traffic.
Transport for NSW claimed this would result in about 3000 fewer vehicles a day, which was "not enough to make a significant difference to road congestion".
COSTLY COMMUTE
Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Ken Morrison said the extra fee was ‘‘equivalent to the government saying it is going to charge workers at Barangaroo an extra $1000 a year to use the Wynyard Walk’’.
Tourism Accommodation Australia NSW director Carol Guiseppi said since the opening of Rydges Sydney Airport hotel, 58 staff had resigned, mostly due to transport costs. Staff earned an average $105 a day before tax for a five-hour shift, of which more than $30 went on a return Airport Line ticket, she said.
A former casual worker at an airport duty free store said that because of modest pay, workers went to extreme measures, such as walking to and from Wolli Creek railway station, to avoid losing a large slice of their night’s wages.
Airport shuttle plan to boost bus travel
BUSES would run from Miranda to Sydney Airport at a minimum of 15-minute intervals all day under the state government’s long-term transport plan.
Sydney’s Bus Future said there was ‘‘strong demand’’ for the ‘‘suburban’’ service to the domestic and international terminals, Eastgardens and Bondi Junction.
No indication of when it might be introduced was given in the report, which received little coverage when it was unveiled late last year.
The upper house committee investigating Airport Link rail fares supported the plan while calling for another direct service from Bankstown to the airport.
At present, buses were used by only 2 percent of travellers and workers at the airport, which was ‘‘very low’’ by international standards, the report said.
Sutherland Shire Council decided in December last year to ask the state government to provide a direct bus link from the shire to the airport.
Councillor Kevin Schreiber, who initiated the move, said the bus service was ‘‘high priority’’.
SERVICES EVERY 15 MINUTES
The long-term bus plan includes:
More than 20 extra-rapid services between Hurstville and Bankstown and about 30 more services between Hurstville and Burwood.
Significant improved integration with the rail network, with high-frequency connections to Hurstville, Miranda and Sutherland.
Fifteen-minute daytime frequency for services connecting suburbs such as Sylvania, Menai and Sans Souci to major centres and rail stations.
Enhanced service frequencies in the evening, at night and weekends.
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