NEWS RELEASE: CityRail Concealing Fare Rise Details
CityRail has failed to provide the public with details of the fare rises
proposed in its application to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory
Tribunal (IPART), according to the consumer group, Action for Public
Transport.
A spokesman for APT, Allan Miles, said that the submission lodged by
CityRail with IPART on 2nd March talked about the rise in vague
generalities, such as “a fare increase of 2.9%” (page 3 and page 36 of
CityRail submission).
“It is impossible to know,” Mr Miles said, “just what the 2.9% means. Does
it include the proposed rise in off-peak return tickets? Does it include
other tickets such as DayTrippers and TravelPasses?”
According to Mr Miles, the CityRail document says (page 43) “RailCorp has
proposed to IPART a detailed list of its first choice of fare rises for each
individual product it operates”.
“This detailed list has yet to see the light of day,” Mr Miles said. “IPART
hasn’t seen it, and the public certainly hasn’t seen it.”
Mr Miles said that stakeholder groups need to know the proposed rises for
each individual distance band, and for each product such as TravelPasses and
DayTrippers, to be able to make an informed response.
“Statements such as ‘the proposed 2.9% average across the fare structure’
(page 43) is meaningless to a user,” he said. “One is reminded of the man
with his head in the fridge and his feet in the oven who is, on average,
comfortable.”
“We are mystified as to what the Minister actually signed his name to on
24th February,” Mr Miles said, “as the submission wasn’t released until 2nd
March, and the fine print has still to emerge.”
Mr Miles said that unless CityRail released its detailed proposals for
individual tickets immediately, Action for Public Transport would ask IPART
to postpone the Review dates so that stakeholders have adequate time to
respond.
Contact: Allan Miles 9516-1906
See also IPART web site
http://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/.