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Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc.

NEWS RELEASE: Double Standards for Rail Users and Motorists

posted Friday 16 June 2006
A transit consumer group has criticised the government for increasing rail fares at the same time as seeking relief for motorists from higher petrol prices, credit card charges and road tolls.

Allan Miles, spokesman for Action for Public Transport, said that the new higher fares allowed by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) are not justified by CityRail's recent performance.

Mr Miles was commenting on IPART's decision to allow fare rises in both peak hour fares and in off-peak return tickets.

"CityRail was denied fare rises over the past two years because of a failure to meet reasonable service standards" Mr Miles said. "While the service has improved a little recently" he said, "it is still not good enough, and CityRail has yet to show that the improvements are permanent. Sydney's slow trains compare very poorly with the fast, easy to use services in sophisticated, civilised cities like Singapore, Hong Kong and London."

Mr Miles said that the on-time running figures used by CityRail to justify its claim were selective. "Only peak-hour arrival times are measured", he said. "Many off-peak travellers, or people travelling the opposite direction in peak hour, would doubt CityRail's claims of improved reliability and punctuality."

"IPART does not set the rail fares," Mr Miles said. "It only sets an upper limit on what can be charged. It is the government's decision to increase, maintain, or even lower the current rail fares."

"CityRail does need more money," Mr Miles said, "but it should come from general funds, and not from suffering passengers - at least not until the service gets better." "Everybody benefits, even motorists, from getting more people onto public transport", Mr Miles said. "Raising fares is not the way to do it".

Mr Miles urged the government to consider reducing the price of the DayTripper ticket. "The current price of $15.00 is too high for general use," he said, "because it factors in the cost of a return ferry trip for tourists. "A Ten Dollar DayTripper would encourage more use," he said, "and reduce delays caused by people buying tickets from bus drivers." Mr Miles said that this action would not need IPART's approval.

"Changes to ticket types should not be put on hold waiting for the smart card," Mr Miles said. "Tcard's arrival continually recedes into the distance like the end of the rainbow," he said, "and if it ever comes, it won't be the promised pot of gold."

Contact: Allan Miles: 9516-1906 or Jim Donovan: xxxx-xxxx (w)   9416-8459 (h)   Mob 0428-609-208





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