Travelled from Town Hall to St Leonards on Opal today. Worked fine, deducted correct fare.

I was thinking, wouldn't it be more sensible to put Opal readers on trains in remote locations such as those on the hunter line, to save on construction costs. It's not like anyone would tap on anyway.

For example, you catch a train to the city from Bondi Junction and leave the station to meet someone and then within 60 minutes re-enter the station and catch a train back to Bondi Junction – that is two trips, one journey and one fare. This will count as one journey toward your Weekly Travel Reward.

Travelled from Town Hall to St Leonards on Opal today. Worked fine, deducted correct fare.

I was thinking, wouldn't it be more sensible to put Opal readers on trains in remote locations such as those on the hunter line, to save on construction costs. It's not like anyone would tap on anyway.

Um, so if Bondi Junction to Bondi Junction is one journey, what exactly is the fare?

Um, so if Bondi Junction to Bondi Junction is one journey, what exactly is the fare?

$3.30 peak according to the example on the Opal page. Or $2.31 off peak assuming you tap back on Bondi Jn within 60mins.

AFAIK, trip time is not a issue the 60 mins is calculated on the time you tap off at your destination, to your tap on.

One thing I haven't found on the Opal website is how the system will handle a fare which will place the Opal card into a negative balance, e.g. If I tag on at Central (i) with a balance of $4.00 and travel to Katoomba (when the system is fully enabled), which has a fare of $8.10 - placing my Opal balance at ($4.10).

myki and Go get around this by having a purchase price and refundable deposit respectively to get the card, Opal doesn't.

Any ideas on what they will be doing?

Dave

The low balance warning examples (on the Opal website and in the welcome pack) imply that you can enter the paid area as long as you have a balance equal to the minimum fare for your mode of travel.  That is, a minimum balance of $2.31 for an off-peak train (website example is $2.60) and $3.30 for a peak train (welcome pack example is $3.70).

Given that the default fares are maximum fares for your mode of travel, there appears to be ample scope for negative balances.

Correct, if you have a negative balance at the tap off you will be allowed to exit however before your next tap on you will need to top up the card (the minimum being $10).
Also in Opal related news, the Opal symbol is now showing on the SydneyTrains timetable for all stations Milsons Pt to Chatswood.

Correct, if you have a negative balance at the tap off you will be allowed to exit however before your next tap on you will need to top up the card (the minimum being $10).
Also in Opal related news, the Opal symbol is now showing on the SydneyTrains timetable for all stations Milsons Pt to Chatswood.

And still no details about how they will stop people from going into a negative balance, throwing the card away and then obtaining a new one.

Myki achieves this with a $6 purchase price, Go achives it with a refundable deposit on the card.

Dave

And still no details about how they will stop people from going into a negative balance, throwing the card away and then obtaining a new one.

Myki achieves this with a $6 purchase price, Go achives it with a refundable deposit on the card.

Dave

Given that $40 is the minimum required on a new card (Adult), I would say that is sufficient deterent to getting a new one every time your balance goes negative.

I would disagree. Even if they retain the $40 minimum, if I let my current card go into negative (for the sake of example, $8.00), throw it away and get a new one (for $40, with $40 credit), I would still be able to undettake $48 worth of travel for $40, throw the card away and get another $48 worth of travel for $40.

There is no disincentive to pay back the amount that the card is overdrawn by if all you have to do is get another card and load some credit on it, when all of the credit is available for travel.

FWIW, I got both myki and Opal at the earliest opportunity, and I do not intend to defraud the system, but I can see how it can be done.

Dave

And still no details about how they will stop people from going into a negative balance, throwing the card away and then obtaining a new one.

there are details - As you have to give your details in order to get an opal card they know where to go to get any negative balance.

it's the last question in the FAQ.

"At this stage in the rollout, all Opal cards are registered. If you prefer to travel anonymously then please continue to purchase paper tickets."

As far as the balances go, I think they should just look at what is used on a system like Hong Kong's Octopus, probably the most successful smart card system in the world.

Over there, there is a refundable deposit of HK$50 to use the card and you can have a negative balance of up to HK$35. Therefore, there is no incentive to get new cards and dispose of them afterwards when they enter into the negative balance.

Meanwhile, I can use my Octopus to do such crazy things as buy cider at a Circle K.