THE cost of train travel for many Sydney Airport workers will be cut if they use an Opal card.
Savings announced by Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian will go some way towards meeting a parliamentary inquiry's call for the access fee to airport railway stations to be removed or discounted for workers in the precinct.
About 34 per cent of airport workers commuted from Sutherland Shire and St George, said the committee's report, which was released early this year.
People using the privately-owned airport line are now charged an access fee, additional to the normal distance-based fare, of $12.60 for a single ticket or $21 for a weekly ticket.
From September 1, there will be a $21 cap on the access fee for Opal card users who travel more than once in a week to airport stations.
Further savings can be made through the Opal card's discounted fares for off-peak travel.
Ms Berejiklian said the deal with the private rail line operator would involve a "one-off" cost to the government of $10 million.
Sydney Business Chamber executive director Patricia Forsythe said the chamber was a vocal advocate for the removal of the station access fee as a means of increasing public transport to the airport and reducing traffic congestion.
Gladys Berejiklian said a full-time worker who travelled from Sutherland to the domestic airport more than once a week now paid $62 for a weekly paper ticket.
"From September 1, an Opal card user will pay $58.60 if they travel in the peak and just $47.30 in the off-peak," she said.
Is this a good outcome for people who catch public transport to work at Sydney Airport?
