If this country is serious about getting people out of cars, then it's going to have to be done sooner or later. Plenty of places / countries have proved it's possible...It would be a lot easier to come up eith a rail solution such as this, than to negotiate hundreds of agreements with bus providers.
Ultimately it could come down to "if you want to benefit from Public Service Operation tax / duty rates then you must accept interavailability of tickets / a standard fare structure" - though obviously a "carrot" approach is better than a "stick".