Brisbane Airtrain

Convert the current airport line for BRT metro and extend/electrify Doomben to Airport and Cruise terminal with some needs go undergriund to get around runway/taxiway. Potential extension to Port of Brisbane maybe but whole area is mangrove terrian

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Or convert the Airport line to LRT, along with the Doomben line too.

SEQ rail network could do with a diet, that being those two lines not requiring heavy rail given their patronage and frequencies they currently operate it.

Assuming the area isn’t flood prone either.

From the article:

“It looks like AirTrain’s owner has set up complex financial arrangements including taking out a loan from its own parent company to dodge tax,” Mr Berkman said.

The unpaid tax might be more than the cost of the value of AirTrain.

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Sorry, but I am dead against downgrading perfectly good infrastructure. The current Airport Line can support fifteen minute frequency heavy rail service all day. There is no need to change the infrastructure. Just sort out the frequency, span, and fares.

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Also I’d imagine the current low patronage on the airport line is mainly due to tickets costing too much, not due to low demand (the approach by car gets quite busy)

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Given the current supply chain issues for escalators and lifts I was going to joke about some E-bikes at the Domestic station lol.

Airtrain is suing the Queensland Government over reduced revenue brought about by the 50c fares.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/airtrain-sues-queensland-government-over-50-fares-20260731-p60kdw.html

For goodness sakes, the Government needs to buy back the Airtrain line and bring it back into public hands. It was a stupid mistake in the first place to get a private operator to build and own the line for 35 years!

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I’m confused - the government subsised it. The ticketing machines should have charged AirTrain rates if you tap on/tap off at an Airport Station?
What’s the sue about?

The dispute arose from the reduced fare revenue now generated from Airtrain passengers travelling between Brisbane Airport and the Gold Coast, along with other stations.

Airtrain is suing the Queensland government over reduced revenue due to its 50¢ fares.

While airport stations are exempt from 50¢ fares, the scheme slashed ticket prices on the connecting suburban and Gold Coast legs, drastically reducing the total fare collected on through-journeys.

It sounds a lot like charging people to travel over the public sections of the rail network. The charge should really be for the trip once the train enters the Airport Line.

It is like a car park or toll road differentially charging you depending on where you drove from over a public road.

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Hi to anyone visiting from socials who sees this :waving_hand:

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R700 Roma Street to Domestic Airport looks like such a good bus route. Translink should definitely keep it permanent :eye: :mouth: :eye:

It’s kinda giving the Brisbane Metro Airport route from RBWH, but yeah

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Question - when railbuses happen for the Airport Line, what’s the fare? As railbuses are typically free but airtrain is $23

Another question - how are they entitled to money from every stop outside their exclusivity zone?

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I guess they argued that the trip was only occuring because of the Airport stations, so they are entitled to the full (or partial) fare.

That’s what really got me! I would have always thought Airtrain only got the extra airport fee not the standard Translink fare

Interesting. I wouldn’t be surprised if Airtrain subsequently sued for loss of Gold Coast connection with new sectorisation post CRR.

A very bad contract (from the perspective of the people of Queensland).

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Depends on the wording of the Deed. Does it specifically mention Gold Coast, or perhaps was there more general language used such as ‘through trips’.

Our of curiosity, could a Commission of Inquiry into Airtrain could perhaps surface the deed?

Based on the news reports, it seems that Airtrain is contesting a loss of income from the 50c fares due to what seems to be what people are doing is say catching a train from the Gold Coast to the city for 50c, then completing the remainder of their trip under the Airtrain fares from the City to the Airport stations as a separate trip, while previously Airtrain got the full fare from say the Gold Coast to the Airport stations as someone would just simply touch on at a Gold Coast station and touch off at an Airport station, thereby getting a higher fare paid to Airtrain. At least that’s how I’m reading the reports.

They are also claiming that the new fare structure for the public side of services has costed them a loss of $6 million.

Personally, I think part of that loss is of their own accord of having such high fares for a small line, discouraging people from using the service or finding alternatives like Uber, Taxi or even catching the 590 to Skygate then transferring onto the Airport connection bus.

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I did this (but not from GC) recently. Buying 2x tickets online from Roma Street to BNE was substantially cheaper than uber from home for me and my partner. 50c fare into the city then prepaid online air train ticket is the way to go.

I really don’t think Air train has much of a leg to stand on for customers choosing to do this as it’s completely outside of their part of the network.

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I mean aren’t private businesses generally a proponent of the idea of a free market, where the market decides instead of Government input. To me, it sounds like the free market is doing exactly what private businesses often harp on about and vote accordingly, to allow them to set their own prices and business model. And in this case, it seems that Airtrain’s business model and fares have failed. The market has spoken!

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