Sydney commuters will be given 12 days of free travel across public transport as a way of apologising for last month’s 24 hour shut down.
The free fare travel will take effect from 4am 14 April until 3.59am 26 April, including the Easter public holidays and ANZAC Day, on trains, buses, light rail, metro and ferries.
Commuters across Greater Sydney, Central Coast, the Hunter Valley region, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains can take advantage of the free travel.
NSW Transport Minister David Elliott explained the initiative was to help bring more people into the city.
“We need to stimulate economic activity and Business Sydney were advocating in favour of these fare free days as a means to get people into the city, into Parramatta,” he said on Sunday.
“The shutdown of the network last month was something that needed to be compensated,” he said.
“To commuters affected by recent rail disruptions, I want to say a heartfelt thank you for your patience.”
Following last month’s industrial strike which saw thousands of commuters stranded, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) threatened to take weekly industrial action to force the government to offer free travel on Fridays through to June.
Mr Elliot hoped the free fare period will allow the RTBU to “set aside” further industrial action.
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This article first appeared on OverSixty.