Cash was ‘temporarily’ banned on Brisbane buses and trains. It never came back

2 hours ago 4

Thousands of commuters are calling for cash to be reinstated at Queensland Rail ticket offices, and council parking meters.

With shops to be forced to accept cash for essential goods and services from next year, almost 3000 people have now signed a petition calling for cash to return for public transport tickets.

Cash was temporarily banned on south-east Queensland public transport during the pandemic, and then permanently banned.

“There are cash-accepting ticket machines at railway stations, however, these 17-years-old machines are often out of service, at times don’t give change and are difficult or impossible to use for anyone with a vision, mental or dexterity impairment,” the petition reads.

“Go Card retailers accept cash, however, many are not located in close proximity to transport hubs and have limited opening hours.”

In March 2020, then-transport minister Mark Bailey announced cash would be “temporarily” banned on public transport in south-east Queensland as a social distancing measure at the start of the COVID pandemic.

People had to use a Go Card or pay for tickets using station fare machines to ride a bus, train, tram or ferry – despite about one in 10 trips previously being made on paper tickets.

But the temporary cashless measure was never rescinded, and became permanent in July 2023.

Smart ticketing rolled out on trains in mid-2022, CityCats in April 2024, and finally on Brisbane buses in March 2025, meaning passengers can pay with a bank card or smartphone, in addition to Go Cards.

The new petition argues public transport is an essential service and should be included in the federal government’s planned mandate for businesses to accept cash when selling essential items from January 1, 2026.

Queensland Rail confirmed there were no plans to reintroduce cash payments at train station ticket offices at this time, but cash could be used to buy paper tickets or to top up Go Cards at fare machines at train and tram stations, busway stations and bus interchanges.

Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said he was waiting to see the outcome of the federal government’s consultation on mandating cash payments for essential services, which was due to come into effect on January 1, 2026.

“Once the Australian government finalises its policy position, my department will assess how that position affects public transport services and service delivery partners,” he said.

Mickelberg said ticket machines could have outages, but the machines were regularly monitored and fixed by technicians.

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