Getting on with modernising public transport as 11 paper tickets in Newcastle retired

Minister for Transport and Minister for the Hunter Gladys Berejiklian today announced a number of paper public transport tickets will be retired in Newcastle next month as part of the transition to Opal electronic ticketing.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government is getting on with the job of modernising public transport, and 1.1 million customers are now using Opal to catch suburban and intercity trains, Sydney Ferries and more than 4,300 buses.

Ms Berejiklian said with local buses and ferries on track to have electronic ticketing by the end of the year, 11 Newcastle bus and Stockton Ferry paper tickets that are rarely used will be retired on 20 November 2014.

“Labor promised electronic ticketing before the Sydney 2000 Olympics and failed to deliver. They wasted 16 years and New South Wales is now well behind the rest of the world when it comes to modern ticketing,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“The Opal rollout is almost complete and as we prepare for all buses in Newcastle and the Hunter to go live with Opal technology by the end of the year, the NSW Government needs to retire a small number of paper tickets.

“The tickets being retired account for less than one per cent of all public transport tickets sold in Newcastle each year. It is not possible to both update the technology on buses to cater for Opal and keep selling these tickets.

“If customers are not ready to switch to Opal, around 99 per cent of public transport customers in Newcastle will be able to keep using the tickets they buy today, including the TimeTen, single ferry tickets, one hour tickets and Pensioner Excursion Tickets.

“Under the previous Labor Government there were more than 100 different ticket types, making public transport extremely confusing for customers.

“Opal puts an end to queuing for tickets, fumbling for coins, and having to work out which ticket you need depending on which mode of transport you’re catching. With Opal you only need to get your card once, and then you can either set your card to auto top up, like an e-tag, or you can manually top up.

“As well as the added convenience, Opal is cheaper for the overwhelming majority of customers, with daily fare caps, $2.50 Sunday travel and free travel after eight journeys in a week.

“Opal is now live on 4,300 buses, including services across the Hunter and Lake Macquarie regions. STA buses in the CBD and the Stockton Ferry will have Opal before Boxing Day and I look forward to announcing more details about dates soon.”

Customers who purchase any of these 11 tickets before 20 November will be able to use them until they expire. The Fare Free Zone in central Newcastle will not be affected by this change.

Ms Berejiklian said she was pleased this week to announce the Gold Senior/Pensioner Opal card will be available to customers from Monday 3 November.

“The release of the Gold Senior/Pensioner Opal card capped at $2.50 a day is great news for customers and an important milestone in the progressive rollout,” she said.

“It is important to remember pensioners and seniors can choose to switch to Opal or keep buying their paper $2.50 Pensioner Excursion Tickets.”

Customers can get an Adult or Child/Youth Opal card or top-up at any time online, over the phone by calling 13OPAL (13 67 25) or from more than 1,400 Opal retail stores. Many customers are choosing to set their Opal card to auto top up, like an e-tag, so they never have to worry about manually loading money to travel.

Seniors and pensioners can have their Gold Opal card sent to their home by calling 13 Opal or visiting opal.com.au. Opal machines at train stations will be available later in the rollout.

Old paper tickets being retired from Thursday 20 November 2014

Getting on with modernising public transport as 11 paper tickets in Newcastle retired.pdf (pdf 87KB)