NSW Government forced to cut spending

Although station access fees for adults are capped at $35.16 per week, the fees charged on top of the train fare hit the pockets of low-paid temporary workers who work only two days the hardest.

The private company has the right to operate the airport’s two terminal stations, as well as the Mascot and Green Square stations, until May 2030, when ownership will be transferred to the state.

Under the line’s revised contract, the government is entitled to 85 percent of Airport Link sales revenues since 2014, almost all of which comes from station access fees. The money is paid to the state holding of transport assets.

Sydney Airport said more of the 30,000 people who work at the site every day would take the train if access charges were increased..

“We are in ongoing and constructive discussions with the NSW Government about how we can make public transport more accessible to airport workers,” the spokesman said. “We both agree that there is a potential path to reducing daily travel costs for airport workers.”

Loading

A spokeswoman for Transport Minister Jo Heylen said the government was committed to continuing talks with the airport, but that “long-term solutions” were being made difficult by the fact that a private company had been granted a concession to operate the line and stations until May 2030.

“Any change to these arrangements will require the consent of Airport Link. However, the government is developing options to assist airport workers,” he said.

In 2019, NSW Labor promised at the election to reduce station access fees to $5 and scrap them entirely for workers. However, he did not commit to contesting last year’s state elections.

Transport for NSW said the money the government collects through the Airport Link agreement goes towards improving transport.

“There is a weekly cap on station fees, meaning regular airport commuters are waived on their third train journey each week,” it said. “Sydney Airport is also served by buses 350 and 420.”

Qantas told a parliamentary hearing earlier this year that feedback from staff showed the cost of station access fees was deterring the use of public transport.

The airline cited an estimate that fewer than one in ten of Kingsford Smith Airport’s more than 30,000 workers commuted by train and other public transport.

The increase in government coffers from airport station access fees is offset by the government compensating the private operator for passengers using Green Square and Mascot stations. That compensation totaled $43 million in the year to June and $35 million in the previous fiscal year.

In 2011, the then Keneally Labor government decided to subsidize access fees to Mascot and Green Square, leading to a surge in patronage.

Start your day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.