Auckland rail users have been hit by an average fare rise of 10 per cent, but transport officials are confident services have improved enough to keep patronage rising.
It remains markedly cheaper to catch trains than buses, on which fares went up an average of 10 per cent in October,after an 8 per cent rise in 2004.
This week's rail fare rise was the first in five years despite inflation increases over that period of 13.1 per cent, said Auckland Regional Transport Authority chief executive Alan Thompson.
Campaign for Better Transport convenor Cameron Pitches acknowledged the increase as "reasonable", but said a continuing gap between train and bus fares highlighted an urgency to produce a transferable ticket allowing seamless travel between road, rail and ferries.
He said the fare hike was mitigated by an improvement in punctuality after a 25 per cent rise in services in October.
Although figures issued yesterday showed a fall of about 24 per cent in rail tickets in December from November, totals were still about 32 per cent higher than for the same month of 2004.
