Train fares can vary by up to $12 a trip between Orange and Sydney depending on how you travel, the Orange Rail Action Group has claimed.
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It said Orange train passengers should being paying less to make them equitable with fares paid in Sydney.
It joined other rail groups this week to call for action for regional passengers in the lead up to the March state election.
That includes “fairer fares” based on the Sydney trains system of cost per kilometres travelled and the introduction of Opal cards to regional areas.
ORAG spokesman Neil Jones said the cheapest way for passengers to travel between Orange and Sydney was by using the Bathurst Bullet train.
There should be a simplified, more equitable fare structure.
- Neil Jones, ORAG
He said on Friday this week the trip cost $14.65 for an adult by coach from Orange-Bathurst and the Bullet to Sydney.
That compared to paying more for a longer coach ride to Lithgow and then catching an Intercity train to Sydney for a total cost of $22.10.
He said the most expensive way is to catch the XPT the whole distance which cost $26.55.
Mr Jones said the Sydney Trains and Opal card boundary extended to Bathurst but beyond there passengers were having to pay more to travel.
“We think there should be a simplified, more equitable fare structure based on sectors,” he said.
Mr Jones said the Opal card system should extend to regional centres and include a way to book seats online.
“Surely there is a way to do it,” he said.
Mr Jones said the group’s call was in line with a 2014 parliamentary inquiry which recommended the fare structure be investigated.
Dennis Toohey, spokesman for Regional Rail Action NSW, said it was one of three resolutions the joint meeting had approved.
The others call for the manufacture, fit out and maintenance of the new regional train fleet in regional NSW and for the upgrade of regional rail tracks.
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