Rail Journeys and Ticket Issues Data
May 2014 Release
Rail Journeys and Ticket Issues
Disclaimer
While all care is taken in producing this work, no responsibility is taken or warranty made with respect to the accuracy of any information, data or representation. The authors (including copyright owners) expressly disclaim all liability in respect of anything done or omitted to be done and the consequences upon reliance of the contents of this information.
Rail Journeys and Ticket Issues
Introduction
The Rail Journeys and Tickets Issues Dataset provides estimates of passenger
journeys and ticket issues by station and line, ticket and fare type across what was
previously referred to as the CityRail network, now Sydney Trains and the Intercity
Network component of NSW Trainlink. A full list of variables is on page 7.
This document describes the data contained in this dataset and how it was derived,
in particular the patronage estimation method, specific notes to aid understanding
and interpretation of the data and a list of the variables in the dataset.
The dataset contains estimates of passenger journeys and counts of tickets issued
by station, rail line, ticket type, fare type, month and year (calendar and financial
year). The data is updated quarterly on the BTS website.
‘Passenger Journeys’ is the official measure of patronage and the basis of patronage
trend reporting. Patronage change is generally reported for one calendar year or one
financial year over another, or as a 12 month rolling average.
This data is most useful for understanding monthly and annual trends by line. For a
number of reasons, explained in the following four pages, the data is less reliable as
an indicator of patronage at the individual station level.
A number of factors should be taken into consideration when interpreting patronage
change. These include external factors as well as changes to the rail system itself.
In general, travel patterns fluctuate across the year. They are influenced by the
weather, school and university vacation times and general holiday periods. Even the
timing of Easter and the number of weekends in a month, can have an impact on
patronage over the same month in the previous year.
Rail system factors can include changes to the ticketing system, the building of new
stations or lines or service operations.
Patronage Estimation Methodology
Rail patronage is an estimate of the number of trips or journeys taken on the rail
network in a given period. The smallest period calculated is a calendar month.
Rail patronage is made up of two components
1. Paid journeys
2. Unpaid journeys
Paid Journeys
Paid journeys are derived from ticket sales data from the following sources:
•
NSW and Sydney Trains
-
Train stations & on-line sales
•
STA Origin
-
STA buses & kiosks
-
newsagents & convenience stores
•
Sydney Ferries
-
Wharves & on board sales
•
Private Buses
-
Pensioner Excursion (PET) only
Each ticket type sold is assigned a journey multiplier which, when combined with the
number of ticket issues, produces an estimate of the number of rail journeys taken.
e.g.
a single rail ticket equals 1 rail journey
a return rail ticket equals 2 rail journeys
a weekly ticket equals 11 rail journeys
The journey multipliers are derived from travel surveys and are dependent on the
point of sale. For example a MyMulti ticket sold from a train station will have a
different journey multiplier to the same product sold at a convenience store or by
Sydney Ferries. An average multiplier is produced for each ticket type across the
entire network. There is no weighting for different types of journeys for example
longer trips.
Rail only products are surveyed on trains and platforms. Multi modal tickets such as
the MyMulti and PET are surveyed at the point of purchase. Because of the difficulty
arising from the high number of State Transit Authority outlets and private buses,
on-line or telephone surveys are used to sample the travel patterns of these ticket
purchases. For longer term tickets (monthly, quarterly, yearly) allowances are made
for annual leave and public holidays.
Unpaid Journeys
Unpaid journeys are based on the number of free travel passes on issue combined
with estimated usage rates. The usage rates of free travel passes are derived from
analysis of automatic gate data, surveys and manual barrier count information. The
fare evasion component of unpaid travel is derived from the annual fare evasion
survey typically conducted in October/November.
Examples of unpaid travel include:
•
Free school/TAFE
•
Fare evasion
•
Employees including Gold Passes
•
Ex servicemen
•
Blind and persons with disabilities
•
Police, judges and politicians
Unpaid journeys are calculated annually and amortised to the calendar month based
on the number of working days, the timing of school and public holidays as well as
general seasonality. To enable the timely reporting of monthly patronage estimates,
unpaid journey estimates are applied to the following calendar year in arrears.
The rail patronage calculation method differs from that of Sydney Buses, which relies
on ticket validations or “dips”, and Harbour City Ferries, which uses automatic gate
data and surveys to estimate patronage. Following the full roll out of the OPAL
electronic ticketing system, the current patronage calculation methods will be
replaced by a common “tag on/tag off” methodology.
Enhancement of rail patronage measurement
In December 2011, TfNSW and RailCorp undertook a major review of the
methodology for measuring rail patronage following the introduction of the new
MyZone ticket system in April 2010. The result is a new set of improved patronage
figures which maintain historical trends and are more consistent with other rail data
such as station barrier counts.
Online surveys were conducted to improve the precision of journey multipliers and
the estimation of PET usage. The measurement of individual components of unpaid
travel was also enhanced. Information about these improvements can be found at
the following link:
http://www.bts.nsw.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/136/is2011-10-patronage-info-sheet.pdf.aspx
Notes about the data
1. Negative/zero issues and journeys
There are instances where negative ticket issues are reported. This happens when
wholesale sellers of tickets return unsold stock and the returned stock exceeds the
number of sales. A prime example is in April 2010 which coincides with the
introduction of MyZone ticketing. Resellers returned unsold TravelPass Weekly
tickets over a number of months but all returned tickets were assigned to April 2010,
resulting in a negative number of journeys for that month.
For some longer term ticket types discontinued after the introduction of MyZone
ticketing (e.g. TravelPass Weekly, Quarterly and Yearly) there are instances of
monthly data where there are zero ticket issues that still have journeys attributed in
the same month. This is due to journeys being attributed to tickets of this type which
were sold in earlier months before being discontinued.
2. The Epping to Chatswood Rail Link
The Epping to Chatswood Rail Link (ECRL) commenced on 23 February 2009, with
the opening of 3 new stations; North Ryde, Macquarie University and Macquarie
Park. Patronage for these stations was first reported in June 2009.
This rail link made it possible for services from northern Sydney to the City to be
redirected via the Harbour Bridge. A new line ‘Northern via Macquarie Park’ was
created which now includes Beecroft, Cheltenham, Normanhurst, Pennant Hills and
Thornleigh, which previously allocated to the ‘Northern via Strathfield line’. For
consistency, the historical patronage data for these stations has also been allocated
to ‘Northern via Macquarie Park’.
3.
Station sorting
The STATION_SORT_ID can be used to sort stations by their geographic order
within the rail network. Patronage not assigned to a station has STATION_SORT_ID
= 9999 and sorts last on the list.
4.
MyZone tickets
As the MyMulti and MyTrain product range of tickets was introduced in 2010, counts
of issues/journeys prior to this date are zero, with the exception of:
-
MyMulti Day Pass which corresponds to the Day Tripper ticket
Before the introduction of MyMulti products in 2010, monthly, quarterly, yearly and
other types of periodical rail tickets were classified under rail periodicals.
Although travel passes were replaced by my MyMulti products in 2010, a small
number are still used in the Newcastle area.
5. Other ticket types
Tickets that permit variable days of travel and can combine other travel modes with a
rail fare are typically classified as ‘Other’. For example Link tickets, such as the
Showlink ticket specifically sold for the Sydney Royal Easter Show (at Olympic Park)
can allow for bus; rail, ferry and/or light rail travel.
Other such tickets include:
-
ATTR - Authority to Travel Receipt
-
CityHopper, BusPlus and SydneyPass
6. Patronage attributed to sales from bus and ferry operators
Tickets purchased from bus and ferry operators that permit travel on multiple modes
of transport have rail journeys attributed to them. These journeys appear in the data
as having Station values of ‘Private Bus’, ‘STA’ and ‘Sydney Ferries’ and a Line
value of ‘Other’.
7. Attribution of ticket to rail line
Tickets are attributed to the issuing station and the line that the station is allocated
to, regardless of the origin and destination station the ticket is valid for. This means
that if a person who lives in Campsie and works in the City buys their weekly ticket at
Town Hall one afternoon, the ticket issue and journey are attributed to the CBD line.
If the ticket had been bought at Campsie, it would have been allocated to the
Bankstown line.
For this reason, station level patronage cannot be considered a perfectly reliable
reflection of where the ticket was actually used.
APPENDIX I:
Rail Journeys and Ticket issues Dataset Description
Data set name
Rail Journeys and Ticket issues
Scope
The data relates to stations on the former CityRail Network which now covers
Sydney Trains and the Intercity Network component of NSW Trainlink.
Frequency
Monthly
Reference period
July 2000 – most recent
Data producer
Transport for NSW
Unit(s) of measurement
Issues and Journeys (by ticket type aggregated to month)
Key Variables/Indicators
●
LINE_CODE
●
LINE
●
STATION_NO
●
STATION
●
TICKET_TYPE_CODE
●
TICKET_TYPE
●
FARE_TYPE_CODE
●
FARE_TYPE
●
MONTH_YEAR
●
MONTH
●
CALENDAR_YEAR
●
FINANCIAL_YEAR
●
ISSUES
●
JOURNEYS
●
STATION_SORT_ID
Data Item List
Variable
Description
Permitted Values
Type
LINE_CODE
Line code From 1 to 23 IntegerLINE
Major rail line name Airport Bankstown Blue Mountains Carlingford CBD Central Coast East Hills Eastern Suburbs Hunter Illawarra Inner West Newcastle North ShoreNorthern via Macquarie Park Northern via Strathfield Olympic Park Other South South Coast Southern Highlands Western Varchar
STATION_NO
Station number e.g. 17, 19, 20, etc IntegerSTATION
Station name AdamstownAlbion Park Allawah Arncliffe Artarmon Ashfield Asquith Auburn Austinmer Awaba Banksia Bankstown Bardwell Park Bargo Bathurst Beecroft Bell Bellambi Belmore Berala Beresfield Varchar
Variable
Description
Permitted Values
Type
Berowra Berry Beverly Hills Bexley North Birrong Blackheath Blacktown Blaxland Bomaderry (Nowra) Bombo Bondi Junction Booragul Bowral Broadmeadow Bullaburra Bulli Bundanoon Burwood Cabramatta Camellia Campbelltown Campsie Canley Vale Canterbury Cardiff Caringbah Carlingford Carlton Carramar Casula Central Chatswood Cheltenham Chester Hill Circular Quay Civic Clarendon Clyde Coalcliff Cockle Creek Coledale Como Concord West Coniston Corrimal CowanVariable
Description
Permitted Values
Type
Cringila Cronulla Croydon Dapto Denistone Domestic Airport Doonside Dora Creek Dulwich Hill Dundas Dungog Dunmore (Shellharbour) East Hills East Maitland East Richmond Eastwood Edgecliff Emu Plains Engadine Epping Erskineville Fairfield Fairy Meadow Fassifern Faulconbridge Flemington Gerringong Glenbrook Glenfield Gordon Gosford Goulburn Granville Green Square Guildford Gymea Hamilton Harris Park Hawkesbury River Hazelbrook Heathcote Helensburgh Hexham Holsworthy Homebush HornsbyVariable
Description
Permitted Values
Type
Hurlstone Park Hurstville Ingleburn International Airport Jannali Katoomba Kiama Killara Kings Cross Kingsgrove Kingswood Kirrawee Kogarah Koolewong Kotara Lakemba Lapstone Lawson Leightonfield Leumeah Leura Lewisham Lidcombe Linden Lindfield Lisarow Lithgow Liverpool Loftus Lysaghts Macarthur Macdonaldtown Macquarie Fields Macquarie Park Macquarie University Maitland Marayong Marrickville Martin Place Mascot Meadowbank Medlow Bath Merrylands Metford Milsons Point MinnamurraVariable
Description
Permitted Values
Type
Minto Miranda Mittagong Morisset Mortdale Moss Vale Mount Colah Mount Druitt Mount Kuring-gai Mount Victoria Mulgrave Museum Muswellbrook Narara Narwee Newcastle Newtown Niagara Park Normanhurst North Ryde North Strathfield North Sydney North Wollongong Oak Flats Oatley Olympic Park Otford Other Ourimbah Padstow Panania Parramatta Pendle Hill Pennant Hills Penrith Penshurst Petersham Picton Point Clare Port Kembla Port Kembla North Private BusPunchbowl Pymble Quakers Hill Redfern
Variable
Description
Permitted Values
Type
Regents Park Revesby Rhodes Richmond Riverstone Riverwood Rockdale Rooty Hill Rosehill Roseville Rydalmere Sandgate Scarborough Schofields Sefton Seven Hills Singleton Springwood St James St Leonards St Marys St Peters STA Stanmore Stanwell Park Strathfield Summer Hill Sutherland Sydenham Sydney Ferries Tahmoor Tarro Tascott Telarah Telopea Tempe Teralba Thirroul Thornleigh Thornton Toongabbie Town Hall Towradgi Tuggerah Turramurra TurrellaVariable
Description
Permitted Values
Type
Unanderra Valley Heights Victoria Street Villawood Wahroonga Waitara Warabrook (University) Waratah Warnervale Warrawee Warrimoo Warwick Farm Waterfall Waverton Wentworth Falls Wentworthville Werrington West Ryde Westmead Wickham Wiley Park Windsor Wolli Creek Wollongong Wollstonecraft Wombarra Woodford Woolooware Woonona Woy Woy Wyee Wynyard Wyong Yagoona Yennora YerrinboolTICKET_TYPE_CODE Ticket type code e.g. 1001, 1005, 1010 … etc Integer TICKET_TYPE Type of ticket Single
Return Off-Peak Return MyTrain Weekly MyTrain Monthly MyTrain Quarterly MyTrain Yearly MyMulti Weekly MyMulti Monthly Varchar
Variable
Description
Permitted Values
Type
MyMulti Quarterly MyMulti Yearly MyMulti Day Pass Rail Periodical TravelPass Weekly TravelPass Quarterly TravelPass Yearly Pensioner Excursion Other Unpaid FARE_TYPE_CODE Fare type code 5001
5005 5010 5015
Integer
FARE_TYPE Fare type Adult Concession Pensioner Unpaid
Varchar
MONTH_YEAR Month and Year Month-Year e.g. Oct-11 represents the October 2011.
Date MONTH Month From Jan to Dec Varchar CALENDAR_YEAR Year YYYY e.g. 2000 Integer FINANCIAL_YEAR Financial year YYYY-YY e.g. 2000-01 Varchar ISSUES Number of ticket
sales
Numeric value. Integer JOURNEYS No. of journeys
attributed to the issues
Numeric value. See Appendix II below regarding calculations.
Integer
STATION_SORT_ID A network order code for both LINE and STATION 101 CBD Line (1) Central Station (01) to 2027 Hunter Line (20) Muswellbrook Station (27) 9999 Other Integer
Appendix II: Stations sorted by Line
Station
Line Attributed To
Domestic Airport Airport Green Square Airport International Airport Airport
Mascot Airport Bankstown Bankstown Belmore Bankstown Berala Bankstown Birrong Bankstown Campsie Bankstown Canterbury Bankstown Carramar Bankstown Chester Hill Bankstown Dulwich Hill Bankstown Erskineville Bankstown Hurlstone Park Bankstown Lakemba Bankstown Leightonfield Bankstown Marrickville Bankstown Punchbowl Bankstown Regents Park Bankstown Sefton Bankstown St Peters Bankstown Villawood Bankstown Wiley Park Bankstown Yagoona Bankstown Bathurst Blue Mountains Bell Blue Mountains Blackheath Blue Mountains Blaxland Blue Mountains Bullaburra Blue Mountains Faulconbridge Blue Mountains Glenbrook Blue Mountains Hazelbrook Blue Mountains Katoomba Blue Mountains Lapstone Blue Mountains Lawson Blue Mountains Leura Blue Mountains Linden Blue Mountains Lithgow Blue Mountains Medlow Bath Blue Mountains Mount Victoria Blue Mountains
Station
Line Attributed To
Springwood Blue Mountains Valley Heights Blue Mountains Warrimoo Blue Mountains Wentworth Falls Blue Mountains Woodford Blue Mountains Camellia Carlingford Carlingford Carlingford Dundas Carlingford Rosehill Carlingford Rydalmere Carlingford Telopea Carlingford Central CBD Circular Quay CBD Martin Place CBD Museum CBD Redfern CBD St James CBD Town Hall CBD Wynyard CBD
Cowan Central Coast Gosford Central Coast Hawkesbury River Central Coast Koolewong Central Coast Lisarow Central Coast Narara Central Coast Niagara Park Central Coast Ourimbah Central Coast Point Clare Central Coast Tascott Central Coast Tuggerah Central Coast Woy Woy Central Coast Wyong Central Coast Bardwell Park East Hills Beverly Hills East Hills Bexley North East Hills Campbelltown East Hills East Hills East Hills Glenfield East Hills Holsworthy East Hills Ingleburn East Hills Kingsgrove East Hills Leumeah East Hills Macarthur East Hills
Station
Line Attributed To
Macquarie Fields East Hills Minto East Hills Narwee East Hills Padstow East Hills Panania East Hills Revesby East Hills Riverwood East Hills Turrella East Hills
Bondi Junction Eastern Suburbs Edgecliff Eastern Suburbs Kings Cross Eastern Suburbs Beresfield Hunter
Dungog Hunter
East Maitland Hunter
Hexham Hunter Maitland Hunter Metford Hunter Muswellbrook Hunter Sandgate Hunter Singleton Hunter Tarro Hunter Telarah Hunter Thornton Hunter Victoria Street Hunter Warabrook (University) Hunter
Waratah Hunter Allawah Illawarra Arncliffe Illawarra Banksia Illawarra Caringbah Illawarra Carlton Illawarra Como Illawarra Cronulla Illawarra Engadine Illawarra Gymea Illawarra Heathcote Illawarra Hurstville Illawarra Jannali Illawarra Kirrawee Illawarra Kogarah Illawarra Loftus Illawarra Miranda Illawarra Mortdale Illawarra
Station
Line Attributed To
Oatley Illawarra Penshurst Illawarra Rockdale Illawarra Sutherland Illawarra Sydenham Illawarra Tempe Illawarra Waterfall Illawarra Wolli Creek Illawarra Woolooware Illawarra Ashfield Inner West Burwood Inner West Croydon Inner West Homebush Inner West Lewisham Inner West Macdonaldtown Inner West Newtown Inner West Petersham Inner West Stanmore Inner West Strathfield Inner West Summer Hill Inner West Adamstown Newcastle Awaba Newcastle Booragul Newcastle Broadmeadow Newcastle Cardiff Newcastle Civic NewcastleCockle Creek Newcastle Dora Creek Newcastle Fassifern Newcastle Hamilton Newcastle Kotara Newcastle Morisset Newcastle Newcastle Newcastle Teralba Newcastle Warnervale Newcastle Wickham Newcastle Wyee Newcastle
Artarmon North Shore Asquith North Shore Berowra North Shore Chatswood North Shore Gordon North Shore Hornsby North Shore
Station
Line Attributed To
Killara North Shore Lindfield North Shore Milsons Point North Shore Mount Colah North Shore Mount Kuring-gai North Shore North Sydney North Shore Pymble North Shore Roseville North Shore St Leonards North Shore Turramurra North Shore Wahroonga North Shore Waitara North Shore Warrawee North Shore Waverton North Shore Wollstonecraft North Shore
Beecroft Northern via Macquarie Park Cheltenham Northern via Macquarie Park Macquarie Park Northern via Macquarie Park Macquarie University Northern via Macquarie Park Normanhurst Northern via Macquarie Park North Ryde Northern via Macquarie Park Pennant Hills Northern via Macquarie Park Thornleigh Northern via Macquarie Park Concord West Northern via Strathfield Denistone Northern via Strathfield Eastwood Northern via Strathfield Epping Northern via Strathfield Meadowbank Northern via Strathfield North Strathfield Northern via Strathfield Rhodes Northern via Strathfield West Ryde Northern via Strathfield Olympic Park Olympic Park
Other Other
Private Bus Other
STA Other
Sydney Ferries Other Cabramatta South Canley Vale South
Casula South
Fairfield South Flemington South Guildford South Lidcombe South
Station
Line Attributed To
Liverpool South Merrylands South Warwick Farm South
Yennora South
Albion Park South Coast Austinmer South Coast Bellambi South Coast Berry South Coast Bomaderry (Nowra) South Coast Bombo South Coast Bulli South Coast Coalcliff South Coast Coledale South Coast Coniston South Coast Corrimal South Coast Cringila South Coast Dapto South Coast Dunmore (Shellharbour) South Coast Fairy Meadow South Coast Gerringong South Coast Helensburgh South Coast Kiama South Coast Lysaghts South Coast Minnamurra South Coast North Wollongong South Coast Oak Flats South Coast Otford South Coast Port Kembla South Coast Port Kembla North South Coast Scarborough South Coast Stanwell Park South Coast Thirroul South Coast Towradgi South Coast Unanderra South Coast Wollongong South Coast Wombarra South Coast Woonona South Coast
Bargo Southern Highlands Bowral Southern Highlands Bundanoon Southern Highlands Goulburn Southern Highlands Mittagong Southern Highlands Moss Vale Southern Highlands
Station
Line Attributed To
Picton Southern Highlands Tahmoor Southern Highlands Yerrinbool Southern Highlands
Auburn Western
Blacktown Western Clarendon Western
Clyde Western
Doonside Western East Richmond Western Emu Plains Western Granville Western Harris Park Western Kingswood Western Marayong Western Mount Druitt Western Mulgrave Western Parramatta Western Pendle Hill Western Penrith Western Quakers Hill Western Richmond Western Riverstone Western Rooty Hill Western Schofields Western Seven Hills Western St Marys Western Toongabbie Western Wentworthville Western Werrington Western Westmead Western Windsor Western
