

It’s mainly because there are 15 stops along the way a couple of kilometres apart through the CBD, plus a 7 minute wait in the middle to change trains to another line.
The trains are capable of 100 km/hr but basically through that area they get up to 40-60km/hr before having to slow for bends/switching tracks/the next stop.
The rest of the train and bus network for a hundred kilometre radius is 50 cents.
Previous state government in the late 90s “did a deal” with a private corporation to construct the line out the to airport and allow control for 35 years.
10 more years of this shit and then it gets handed over to state government.