Free ride ends for train commuters caught rorting Airport Line

Transport Minister Andrew Constance calls it “straight out theft”. And now the free ride for train commuters rorting the Airport Line is over, with the state government introducing new measures to catch those passengers. READ WHAT’S PLANNED

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TRAIN passengers using a loophole to escape paying full fares to Sydney Airport will be stopped at the turnstiles in a state government crackdown on Opal fraud.

From January 7, gates at the domestic and international stations will not open for cardholders who don’t have enough credit for the trip, ending a practice Transport Minister Andrew Constance called “straight out theft”.

New “gate readers” will be installed inside the stations to show how much passengers owe on their Opal cards.

If they are the short, they will be forced to use new top-up machines near the exits.

Mr Constance said the Airport Line was “one of our greatest areas of exposure in terms of fraud”.

“If you know you’re going to go to the airport and you know you’ve only got five bucks on your Opal card and you think you can get away with it, that’s just theft,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance. Picture: Paul Braven

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“It’s not an invitation to go out there and try and beat the system.”

Trips to and from the privately-operated airport stations incur a $14.30 access fee plus the trip cost but a loophole currently allows commuters to board the train with only the minimum fare — $3.46 during peak and $2.42 in off-peak.

When they tap off with a negative balance, the gates still open under the expectation the passenger will top up their card — but the cards are often discarded by fare dodgers in bins.

The airport Opal upgrades are one of a number measures to be rolled out across the train network to stop rorters.

“The aim is stop fare evading across the board and the more we can use this technology to do it, the better because we need the monies to grow the services which everyone wants,” Mr Constance said.

From January 7 gates at the domestic and international stations will not open for cardholders who don’t have enough credit for the trip.

The Airport Line accounts for 90 per cent of “negative balance infringements” with $4 million lost in the last financial year — double the previous year.

A new $35 minimum top up amount for people buying Opal cards at the domestic and international terminals was recently enforced.

“The other thing we’ve done is introduce the contactless payment so you can also use your credit card,” Mr Constance said.

Patronage has soared on the Airport Line with 200 extra services a week added during last year’s timetable overhaul to meet increasing demand.

“Anyone who is committing fraud is only cutting their nose to spite their face because its affects government’s ability to deliver more services,” Mr Constance said.

A report last month by the NSW Audit Office revealed the number of Opal cards with negative balances was 1.1 million with $7.8 million in lost revenue records since 2014.

“Unlike other jurisdictions we don’t charge for the card,” Mr Constance said.

“People are able to get these cards throw them away — there’s no penalty.”

Originally published as Free ride ends for train commuters caught rorting Airport Line