‘We need a solution’: Renewed calls for Airtrain shake-up

Detailed summary

The lord mayor has renewed calls for a new train station at Skygate and metro services to Brisbane Airport terminals – but that means ending Airtrain’s monopoly.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has pushed for a new train station at the gateway to Brisbane Airport, arguing for improved public transport links to a precinct currently locked out of Brisbane Metro services by longstanding contractual restrictions.

Speaking at a BNE Enterprise business breakfast on Thursday, Schrinner and Brisbane Airport chief executive Gert-Jan de Graaff both lamented Airtrain’s 35-year exclusive contract, which monopolised public transport to the airport terminals.

While it has long been a bugbear for travellers – particularly since the previous Labor state government introduced 50¢ fares everywhere else on the network – it has also meant airport precinct workers had to pay more to get to and from work than their neighbours.

Under the terms of the contract, the UK-based Universities Superannuation Scheme-owned Airtrain charges an inflated price – currently $23.30 from Central Station – to travellers using the service.

Airtrain offered a discounted fare for airport precinct workers through a $48 weekly ticket. Assuming a five-day working week, those workers would only pay $5 a week if Airtrain was part of the Translink 50¢ fare scheme.

USS Axle, a subsidiary of USS, acquired Airtrain and its concession in 2013. That concession, now in its final decade, will expire on May 5, 2036, at which point the Airport line will be subject to the same fares as the rest of south-east Queensland’s train network.

“The problem is, fundamentally, that the Airtrain primarily serves visitors, but it’s a growing area that needs transport services for the people that work here, and so that’s the problem that we need to solve,” Schrinner said.

“And so, what is the solution? Metro could well be the solution, and we’re doing the business case on that right now. But there could be other solutions to that problem as well.

“One thing that comes to mind is well, what if additional stations were added into Airtrain that accommodate workers as well?

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