Uber has released a statement explaining their price rises after yesterday’s Sydney Trains network issue resulting in a complete stop.

The statement reads that Transport for NSW did not inform Uber about the complete outage until well after it began.

After finding out, they immediately lowered and capped surge to still incentivise driver-partners who were helping Sydneysiders get home.

The full statement from Uber:

“In the past we have been alerted by Transport for NSW when there were Sydney-wide transport issues, however in this instance we were not informed of the complete outage on the NSW train network until well after it began. As soon as our team became aware of the train disruption, we immediately lowered and capped surge to still incentivise driver-partners who were helping Sydneysiders get home, while making rides more affordable for those stranded.

Surge pricing happens in real time when demand for rides exceeds the number of driver-partners online and works to attract more drivers to the area. In this case, we proactively reduced and capped that surge and communicated with driver-partners to let them know about the increased rider demand and encourage them to come online and help provide a ride to those who needed one. This approach was communicated to Transport for NSW and the Minister’s office.

Any rider that was charged an additional amount above that surge cap, for the full duration of the outage, will be auto refunded within the next 48 hours.”

See more highlights from Deborah Knight below:

Image: Mario Tama/Getty