Sydney Travel Forum

Hello Everyone

We are staying 7 nights in Sydney in October,will base ourselves in a hotel near the Domestic Terminal. While my husband will be mainly at the Airport Aircraft spotting, I am wishing to travel into the CBD of Sydney.

This will be my first time to Sydney,( husband has been before)and I have looked into using the train from the Domestic Terminal into Circular Quay which seems the closes station for the main tourist places of interest ie: Opera House, The Rocks, Museums and the ferries.

The 7 day rail pass allows you to travel for seven consecutive days and at au$ 43.60 ( station access fee for airport inclusive in the price) looks the best and cheapest way to travel from the Airport/city return. Domestic terminal-circular Quay return one day pass is au$22.20. So the 7 day pass seems a great price.

Does anyone know of a cheaper way into the CBD ie: BUS ?

Would this be the best stop to have indicated on the ticket ? Circular Quay as you can make as many trips as you like between the dates and stations indicated on the ticket.

Also understand there is a free shuttle bus : Route 555 that travels around the CBD , I could always hop on this to see more.Does it run everyday? and does it pick up near Circular Quay?

Would be grateful for any feed back and Thank you for your help with Hotels near the Airport.

kiwispotter
New Zealand.

You can get a 7 day Travel Pass which is valid for trains, buses and ferries (out to Parramatta, and you can cruise the harbour by combining several ferry trips, excluding the Manly Cat - but there are regular ferries to Manly).

However, if you want to enter the transportation system at an Airport Line station, you have to pay an additional Station Access Fee (GatePass).

Have you read the info on this page:

http://www.cityrail.info/fares/travelpass.jsp

I do not see the 7 day railpass price which would include the GatePass fee. Do you have a link for that? (I always see a note under the price list which excludes this fee.)

Circular Quay absolutely is the station from where you have only some steps to Opera House, Harbour Bridge, The Rocks, Botanical Garden, etc.

If you do not stay right at the airport and need to access the train at this station, you should be fine with the 7 day travel pass.

I can't remember what the GatePass fee was, I think it was AU$ 11 return...??

Circular Quay is the farthest stop of that ticket. So the best way is to stop earlier= Central and Town Hall are the best stops dear so you can see the city centre more.Look for George St.(lots happening here) There are heaps to see in all of the stops so you are in good hands, just prepare to do a lot of walking!Of course, by all means take the free shuttle bus, it runs daily. Just DON'T FORGET- when you arrive at the airport in Sydney, make sure you get the handy travel guide, it has all the info plus maps, and discount vouchers including tips on transport ok?

I am sure you will enjoy Sydney!Cheers!

The shuttle bus is free and operates every 10 minutes in both directions between 9.30 am and 3.30pm and to 9pm on Thursdays for late night shopping On weekends it operates from 9.30- 6.00pm .
The shuttle bus connects with rail ,bus ,metrobus,ferry ,lightrail and monorail at certain stops eg lightrail at the Chinatown stop .It stops at Circular Quay ,Martin Place,St james.Museum Station hyde Park,liverpool street Hay Street ,Central station, Barlow street ,Chinatown / Campbell Street ,Town Hall QVB Building ,Market Street and Wynyard .Basically a big loop of city and is great we use it all the time saves a lot of walking more info is available on www.131500.info .
Also Airport Link is a fast and convenient way to reach the centre of Sydney. Trains run approximately every 10 minutes and the journey into the city takes only 13 minutes. The international and domestic rail stations link directly to the City Circle which means most city destinations are within a short walk of stations.The ticketing seems confusing to me as it talks about a station access fee and I can't find out how mush that is apart from the section on site where you can book the ticket online and it quotes the prices as - City transfer ticket packages
Trips in book Domestic Airport Cost of book* Quantity
10 5 x Domestic to City + 5 City to Domestic $130.00
10 10 x Domestic to City $130.00
10 10 x City to Domestic $130.00
20 10 x Domestic to City + 10 City to Domestic $260.00
40 20 x Domestic to City + 20 City to Domestic $520.00
100 50 x Domestic to City + 50 City to Domestic $1300.00

Maybe someone else knows if the 7 day pass you mentioned is right or do you have to add on the $13 per ticket each way station access fee .
When I looked up - http://www.airportlink.com.au/ticketing.html
It says Ticket fares to and from Airport Link Stations are a combination of two charges, one part being the rail component based on the current CityRail fare structure and a second component known as the ‘Station Access Fee’ or ‘Gate Pass’. This fee is to help recover the cost of building, running and maintaining the four stations. As a privately owned and operated business fares must be set in order to ensure the business remains commercially viable.
When using the fare calculator link and choosing an Airport Link Station as your origin or destination, the Gate Pass component is built in to the fare indicated.
Hope this helps and that the 7 day pass if you state Domeatic terminal and Circular Quay as destination stations that you get it for that price of $43.60 I have never used it so I am not sure . Goodluck

When I had the 7 day pass on one of my Sydney visits I got a second ticket (and had to pay extra for it) for accessing the railway at the airport. I think the extra return ticket then cost $ 11, so the $ 13 is very probable now.

Now I just found an info (City Rail) and ticket from a shorter stopover. I had a DayTripper which allows travel on trains, buses and ferries. This cost $ 13 then. But if you accessed the train at the airport, it cost $ 20.80 one way and $ 23.60 return to the Airport.

This means if you really get on the train at an airport station, you have to pay an extra fee every day.

I also see that the station access fee also applies to the stations Green Square and Mascot