IARO report 22.15 Fares on Airport Rail Links 1 IARO Report 22.15: Fares on Airport Rail Links Published by: International Air Rail Organisation Suite 3, Charter House, 26 Claremont Road, Surbiton KT6 4QZ UK Telephone +44 (0)20 8390 0000 Fax +44 (0) 870 762 0434 website www.iaro.com email [email protected] ISBN tba © International Air Rail Organisation 2015 £250 to non-members IARO's mission is to spread world class best practice and good practical ideas among airport rail links world-wide. 2 Contents Chapter Page 1 Introduction 4 2 Standard fares 5 3 Other Fares 10 4 Discussion 16 Appendix Fare data 19 IARO's Air/Rail conferences and workshops 45 3 1. Introduction This report looks at fares on airport rail links. In most cases, the link considered is between the airport and the city centre. It does not cover long distance rail services or links to areas close to the airport. Data on fares was obtained primarily from airport or railway websites in March 2015. In some cases, data is available on a wide range of fares, for others only the standard adult single (one-way) fare is known. Data from 115 rail links at 88 airports in 32 countries is noted. The fare data is noted in the local currency and converted to Euros for comparisons using the Google Currency Converter on 31 March 2015. The report begins with a review of the standard adult single (one-way) and return (two-way) fares. It groups these by type (airport express, inter city, metro and light rail and others), and then by continent. The following chapter then considers various discounts offered for off peak, children, persons with restricted mobility, groups and other categories. The final chapter is a discussion which seeks to draw some conclusions about fares. The author would be grateful to receive any corrections or information about omissions. 4 2. Standard Fares Single (one-way) fares The standard single (one-way) fare is the first fare noted by air passengers on airport rail links, particularly for those newly arrived at an airport. While there are many discounts available, discussed in the next chapter, most of these are for frequent travellers, or those in special categories. The fares quoted are from 115 air rail links and are for tickets bought at the station. Discounts are sometimes available for tickets bought online, and supplements may be payable for payment on board. The fares quoted are for the single journey between the airport and the city centre and take no account of distance, or speed, or quality factors. The range of standard single fares is from zero to over €50, in the following price bands: Fare band Number of air rail links Over €50 1 €40 -50 0 €30 -40 1 €20 -30 10 €10 -20 21 Under €10 77 Tab le 1: Range of standard single fares The vast majority are therefore in the under €10 band. The most expensive link is perhaps a special case as it is for using an Amtrak train from New York’s Newark Liberty International Airport to downtown. This is the fastest route but, as there are more frequent alternatives, it is unlikely to be chosen by many air passengers. The cheapest link is on Swiss Railways from Geneva Airport, where the Airport provides a free ticket to all inbound passengers (although outbound passengers do have to pay). 24 of the air rail links can be classified as Airport Expresses. The definition of an airport express is not precise, but the key features are that it is dedicated to airport journeys, usually has a special livery, has few or no stops between the airport and the city, and has special features such as space for baggage or multi lingual information, although not all of these features are present in the 24 Airport Expresses analysed here. They have standard single fares ranging from €1.50 (Delhi) to €36.57 (Heathrow Express) as shown in Figure 1. The four cheapest are in Asia, followed by the three Moscow Aeroexpresses. Three Japanese examples are in the top 10 and the top four are in Europe. 5 µ Figure 1: Standard single fares on airport expresses (€) There are only three links that are really long distance services that can be used for accessing the city centre. Two of these are in the US using Amtrak trains, and one in Germany on ICE trains. As noted above, these are special cases which would not normally be used by air passengers for travel between the airport and city centre. Figure 2 shows fares on air rail links that can be described as Metros. Again the definition is not precise, but these links tend to be part of a city network with multiple stops, generally using trains with fewer seats and, of course, the vast majority of their passengers are not travelling to and from the airport. The lowest metro fares to airports are in Asia, mostly in China. A significant number of airport metros in North America have fares of between €2 and €4 although some are in the €8-10 range. Most of the higher fares on airport metros are in Europe. 6 Figure 2: Standard single fares on airport metros 7 The remaining links which are not airport expresses, long distance or metros are shown in Figure 3. There is less of a pattern here, with lower and higher fares in all continents, although the highest fares are to the more distant London airports. Figure 3: Standard single fares on other airport rail links Finally in this section we look at airports with more than one rail link. Figure 4 shows fares on airports with two or three links. In the examples where there are high fares on one link, there are cheaper alternatives. Of the 20 links with the highest fares, only two examples are at airports where there is no choice of rail link (London Southend and Lyon). 8 Figure 4: Standard single fares at multi-link airports Return fares In many cases, return fares are simply twice the single (one-way) fare. However, discounts are offered on a number of air rail links. Additional discounts may be offered if the return is time limited, eg. to one day, or off peak, as described in the next chapter. Air rail links offering a discount on return fares are as follows. Brisbane Airtrain 6% discount on 2 x sing les Vienna City Air Train 21% discount on 2 x singles Toronto UP Express 4% discount on 2 x singles Shanghai Pudong Maglev 20% discount on 2 x singles Lyon RhônE xpress 10% discount on 2 x singles Athens Metro and Suburban 13% discount on 2 x singles Hong Kong Airport Express Line 10% discount on 2 x singles , free same day return Delhi Metro Express 5% discount on 2 x singles Tokyp Narita Express 34% discount on 2 x singles Valencia Metro 5% discount on 2 x singles Stockholm Arlanda Express 6% disc ount on 2 x singles Bangkok Airport Express 17% discount on 2 x singles London Gatwick Express 12% discount on 2 x singles London Heathrow Express 19% discount on 2 x singles London Luton Thameslink 13% discount on 2 x singles London Stansted Express 16% discount on 2 x singles Table 2: Discounts on return fares 9 3. Other Fares Information on other fares is more limited and it is possible that other fares are offered that are not recorded here. Nevertheless, the information below is generally available on the airport or rail operator website. First Class Only limited data on first class fares was available but the following examples were found. Airport rail link First class fare Standard fare Shanghai Pudong Maglev VIP class 100¥ 50¥ Brussels SN CB €10.30 €8.50 Nagoya Rapid Limited Express 1230¥ 870¥ Tokyo Narita Express 4560¥ 3020¥ Amsterdam Schiphol NS €7.00 €4.10 Moscow Aeroexpress Business class 1000R 450R Zurich SBB €10.80 €6.60 Dubai Metro Gold class 17.00D 8.50D London Gatwick Express £29.00 £19.90 London Gatwick Southern £22.90 £15.40 London Gatwick Thameslink £14.10 £9.40 London Heathrow Express £29.50 £21.50 London Luton Thameslink £24.00 £15.50 London Southend Greater Anglia £26.80 £16.70 London Stansted £30.50 £19.00 Manchest er Northern and TPE £7.10 £4.90 Table 3: First class fares The ratio of first to standard class ranges from 1.2 to 2.2, with most around the 1.5 mark. The service provided by first class varies although all provide a separate compartment. The Nagoya µSKY Express and the Rome Fiumicino Leonardo Express are sold as all first class, so there is no choice of fare. First class is available on many of the London links. On Gatwick Express a first class ticket includes access to a lounge at the airport, while on Stansted Express it includes use of the Fast Track airport security lane. Children Most air rail links provide a discount fare for children, although the conditions vary significantly. Many provide free travel for small children, although the age limit varies from 2 to 6 years. The upper age limit is also variable, from 11 to 16 years. The age limits tend to be consistent within countries. In some cases the upper limit is determined by the height of the child (eg. Singapore MRT 0.9 metres, Atlanta MARTA under 46 inches) The discount ranges from 13% to 88%, with many at 50%. Several air rail links provide free travel or very low fares for all children, usually when accompanied by an adult, or as part of a Family ticket, for example as shown in Table 4.