Domestic

Today I've flown north of Sydney to Coffs harbour, for work. I caught the train to the airport. It's a sparkling new station, completely under-utilised. The reason? It was built as a public-private partnership and costs an exorbitant amount to get off at the station. While the railway line and trains are just a part of the public transport system, the "station access fee" provides a premium payment for the private station owners. If there are more than one of you travelling, it is cheaper to take a taxi. Rather than encouraging people to take the train, it's a real disincentive.

Sydney has several highly unpopular pieces of public-private partnership infrastructure, includign many toll roads and tunnels. All because governments refuse to invest directly for the future, and the obsession with a "private is better" ideology. They have been shown over and over again to be very unpopular and inefficient when they collapse and the government has to buy them out anyway.

I live only two stations from the airport, and when I travel alone for work it is about the same price as a taxi to catch the train. I actually prefer it.

Do you have PPPs in your part of the world? What is public reaction?