Capital Connection fare increase

Media release

Capital Connection fare increase

Fares for the Capital Connection will increase for all travel from 1 May 2013. The last fare increase for the service was on 1 November 2011.

“KiwiRail has recently announced that it will continue to operate the Capital Connection service for another two years while working to minimise the losses the service is currently making. The fare increase is a step towards lifting the viability of the service,” says Kiwirail’s General Manager Passenger Deborah Hume.

The fare increases generally range between five percent (for passengers travelling between Otaki and Wellington) and ten percent (for passenger travelling from Palmerston North, Levin and Otaki) for quarterly, monthly and ten-trip passes. The price increase is effective for monthly and quarterly tickets sold from 15 April, valid for travel from 1 May 2013, and for single and ten trip tickets sold from 1 May 2013.

“Continued support and additional growth from passengers boarding the Capital Connection at Waikanae and Paraparaumu, in particular, is extremely important. We have had to ensure that Capital Connection monthly fares from Waikanae and Paraparaumu remain competitive with Metro fares from these stations,” says Ms Hume.

“In order for the Capital Connection to break even by 2015, daily patronage needs to have increased by 61 passengers in each direction and the average ticket prices need to be 40 percent higher. In practise that will see KiwiRail attempting to grow patronage while increasing fares about 10 percent year on year. We know this will be very challenging,” says Ms Hume.

In the intervening time KiwiRail will continue to undertake marketing activities to grow patronage and ensure service costs are optimised and tightly controlled.

“KiwiRail is committed to continuing the Capital Connection over the next two years, but we need it to at least break even, and that requires greater passenger numbers and fares that reflect the true cost of running the train and the level of service provided,” Ms Hume says.

For more information about the fare changes please go to KiwiRail’s Scenic website www.kiwirailscenic.co.nz

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