NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam and Shadow Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian announced today a fare freeze for all public transport services for the entire first term of a Debnam-led NSW Liberal/Nationals Government in a bid to give commuters a fair go and restore faith in our public transport system. 

"For twelve years, commuters have been forced to endure Labor’s public transport failures," Mr Debnam said.

"Labor’s public transport legacy is hot and overcrowded trains and buses; fewer, later and slower services; and ferries that lurch from one crisis to the next," he said.

"At the same time Labor has forced commuters to pay more through regular increases in public transport fares while services have continued to get worse.

"To deliver a better deal for the long-suffering commuters of NSW I will:

• Immediately freeze all public transport fares on day one of a NSW Liberal/Nationals Government. This will include all public buses, trains and ferries, and all CountryLink services;

• Guarantee there will be no increase in public transport fares for the first term of a NSW Liberal/Nationals Government; and,

• Guarantee there will be no fare increases in our second term unless justified by an improvement in service as measured by our recently announced ‘If It's Late, It's Late’ performance measures as well as other relevant performance criteria such as safety, and cleanliness.

"In short, under Labor, public transport commuters in NSW have been paying more and getting less. Average bus, train and ferry fares have increased at least 50% after 12 years of Labor (see table attached).

"A NSW Liberal/Nationals Government will end this and give commuters a fair go by freezing all public transport fares for our first term, while we get to work on fixing and improving the public transport system on day one.

"Rather than try and fix the problems they have created in our public transport system, Labor has continually tried to fudge the figures and deny that a problem even exists. Only Labor would believe that a train running up to five minutes late is on-time.

"It shouldn’t be this way. I believe we need to be straight with the community about the standard of service in our public transport system.

"That why last week I announced our ‘If It’s Late, It’s Late’ policy to restore truth to on-time running figures. It’s also why I believe it’s only fair that you shouldn’t have to pay more for services, when the standard of those services has failed to improve and has gotten worse.

Ms Berejiklian said we need to make public transport a viable option for travellers – to make it a system that commuters want to use and where they receive value for money.

"The travelling public should not be forced to pay more and more for services yet continue to receive less and less, as they have for 12 years under Labor," Ms Berejiklian said.

"The NSW Liberal/Nationals believe that there should be greater accountability by Government for the delivery of basic services like transport. That’s why we will freeze fares for all public transport services for four years.

"After twelve years of Labor’s failures, our public transport system will not be fixed overnight. However a NSW Liberal/Nationals Government will get on with the job from day one to deliver real improvements in transport services in our first term.

"Only then, after we have improved services do we believe it’s fair to go to IPART to seek any fare increase," Ms Berejiklian said.

Mr Debnam said only a change of government will deliver a public transport system people want to use.