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With a Go Card or smart ticketing, an Airtrain journey between Brisbane Airport and the CBD would cost $20.90. If it were publicly owned, Airtrain would be in zone two of the Translink network, which would result in a regular Go Card fare of $4.34.
The private sector built the Airtrain infrastructure in the late 1990s and, under an agreement with the Borbidge Coalition government, was granted a 35-year monopoly on public transport at the airport that would run out in 2036.
However, the approaching completion of the Cross River Rail will deprive Airtrain of one of its main selling points: a direct connection to the Gold Coast.
That link was not only an important part of Airtrain’s business case, but was also, it is understood, part of the contract with the Queensland government.