A planned two days of free travel on the state’s passenger train network will be extended into the early hours of Saturday morning, in recognition of the severe disruptions commuters endured repeatedly over months during an industrial dispute between rail unions and the NSW government.
While the fare-free period was to have run from 12.01am on Thursday to 11.59pm on Friday, the government has decided to keep Opal gates turned off until 6am on Saturday.
It means people will be able to travel for free into the early hours of Saturday, before the network shuts for about two hours, and again from about 4am until ticket gates are turned back on at 6am.
Train passengers will be able to travel for free on the rail network from Thursday until the early hours of Saturday morning.Credit: Louise Kennerley
It will apply to the station gates at Sydney Airport’s domestic and international terminals, which would otherwise slug passengers an access fee of up to $17.92 on top of their usual train fare for a one-way trip.
The fare-free days on Sydney Trains, Sydney Metro and NSW TrainLink passenger services are forecast to cost the government about $7 million in forgone ticket revenue. The free travel does not extend to buses, ferries and light rail, which will charge fares as normal.
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Ticket gates and Opal readers will be turned off at heavy rail and metro train stations during the fare-free period, which means passengers will not need to tap on and tap off using their cards or mobile phones. About a million people typically use Sydney’s rail network on weekdays.
Transport Minister John Graham said the fare-free period was an acknowledgement to the travelling public that months of disruption took a toll, while being an invitation to support businesses that endured some lean days.
“We are inviting people to get out and about on the rail system wherever they are, including a free trip home if they happen to get a train after midnight on Friday,” he said.