The Booz & Company report finds that the impact would be an immediate increase of 1.5 million journeys per year which would make a significant contribution to easing traffic congestion. Sydney Airport has released the report as part of its response to the NSW Government’s M5 Corridor consultation. According to Sydney Airport a problem has been identified which, even today, is actively discouraging the use of train services. The problem is that passengers wanting to travel by train to or from the airport are charged a fare well above the standard CityRail fare. This is because a station access fee is charged on top of the standard CityRail fare.

“People wanting to travel by train to or from Sydney Airport now face a price differential in excess of 400%. It is currently cheaper to travel from Central Station to distant regional destinations that are up to 119 km away such as Kiama (single adult fare $13.60 ) than it is to travel the mere 8km to Sydney Airport (single adult fare $15.40)” states the report by Sydney Airport.

Booz & Company estimated the market impact of aligning Airport Link fares with standard CityRail fares, and the net economic benefit of such fare reform.

According to the report, the immediate annual uplift in rail patronage in 2010/11 is estimated at 1.1 million additional journeys for the two airport stations equivalent to an increase of approximately 26% and 0.4 million additional journeys for non-airport stations equivalent to an estimated increase of about 17%.

This represents an expected uplift in rail modal share across the four key market segments in 2010/11 of:

• 4% for airline passengers;
• 3% for airport employees;
• 1% for non-airport station travel; and
• 2% for ‘meeters and greeters’.

The report shows that following fare reform over the long-term (2010/11 to 2029/30) rail patronage would be 34% higher by 2029/30 which represents an additional 59 million journeys made by rail rather than road over the next 20 years.

Booz & Company also indicate that fare reform would permit the capture of significant economic benefits. It is estimated that every $1 of foregone Airport Link farebox revenue would generate an economic return of $1.24.

Both Sydney Airport and Booz & Company reports can be found here >>>

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