Fare Go At Last In Cityrail Free-for-all
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday May 31, 2000
Today's fare-free day on the city's rail system turned into a farce yesterday when hundreds of commuters rushed ticket offices to cash in on a computer glitch that gave a 20 per cent discount for monthly, quarterly and annual tickets.
At least 850 commuters, some from as far north as Newcastle, managed to take advantage of the problem, created so that weekly ticket holders could get a discount, and buy tickets before frustrated CityRail officials banned the sale of ``long-life" tickets for the rest of the week.
The discounts were as high as $500 for commuters travelling from the Central Coast, where an annual ticket costs up to $2,588.
It follows revelations on Monday that commuters who use a combined ferry/train or bus/train tickets will not get the promised discount, announced by the Minister for Transport, Mr Scully, as an apology for the network's recent problems.
The Premier, Mr Carr, acknowledged the mix-up during Question Time in Parliament, describing it as a minor problem which would not happen again. But he again rejected Opposition taunts about the performance of Mr Scully, who was not commenting last night on the latest debacle.
The leader of the Opposition, Mrs Chikarovski, seized on the mistake, revealing that some commuters had saved up to $300 on a yearly ticket from Hornsby to the city.
She claimed the fare-free day had caused havoc among State Rail senior executives and had ``blown the cost to taxpayers out of the water".
A spokesman for CityRail said commuters quick enough to take advantage of the glitch would not be asked to return the tickets. The income shortfall would have to be made up in other areas.
Sales of long-life tickets had more than doubled yesterday morning.
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald
Share This