Skip to main content

Milestone for Opal smart cards in Sydney

Public transport passengers in Sydney, Australia, have enthusiastically welcomed the city’s new Opal smart card, being progressively rolled out across ferries, trains, buses and light rail in the greater Sydney area, with 10,000 already issued since trials began in December 2012. By 2015 the Opal system, being installed by the Cubic-led Pearl Consortium for Transport New South Wales, will cover 42 ferry wharves, more than 300 train stations and more than 5,000 buses and light rail systems.
August 1, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Public transport passengers in Sydney, Australia, have enthusiastically welcomed the city’s new Opal smart card, being progressively rolled out across ferries, trains, buses and light rail in the greater Sydney area, with 10,000 already issued since trials began in December 2012.

By 2015 the Opal system, being installed by the 378 Cubic-led Pearl Consortium for Transport New South Wales, will cover 42 ferry wharves, more than 300 train stations and more than 5,000 buses and light rail systems.

Figures just released by the New South Wales transport minister, Gladys Berejiklian, show that commuters have made more than 100,000 trips using the new adult Opal card to date. The Opal website, which was launched at the beginning of June this year, has already recorded approximately 100,000 visits.  Minister Berejiklian said 90 percent of customers were registering for a card online instead of by phone, and more than 70 percent were opting for the auto top-up function.

Cubic Transportation Systems’ managing director for Australasia, Tom Walker, said it is gratifying to see how enthusiastically Sydneysiders have adopted the new Opal card.  “We are delighted with the uptake of the Opal card and the benefits it is already providing to Sydney commuters,” said Walker.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS Australia elects 2014 directors
    December 13, 2013
    ITS Australia has elected its board of directors for 2014, from a strong list of nominees. ITS Australia chief executive officer Susan Harris said the Australian ITS industry was stepping forward to help produce a rewarding and successful ITS World Congress in 2016. “We had more nominations than Board vacancies, which is a sign that the industry is healthy,” said Susan Harris. “A field of enthusiastic industry leaders were nominated and they contested the election in good spirit. We congratulate the s
  • Big wheels keep on turnin’
    August 21, 2018
    Many of the great and the good in the global mobility sector gathered at this year’s Movin’ On event in Montreal. Measured regulation of technologies and safety issues were major themes, reports David Arminas. *Bibendum is the original name for the Michelin Man, the symbol of the Michelin tyre company Autonomous vehicles, platooning, smart intersections and safety – these were the talking points over two-and-a-half days of the Movin’ On event in Montreal, Canada. Everyone in the mobility sector is at the
  • Denver International upgrades to LED lighting
    September 25, 2014
    Power management company Eaton’s Cooper Lighting division converting the parking garage lighting systems at Denver International Airport (DIA) with light-emitting diode (LED) luminaires. Replacing more than 5,400 parking garage fixtures, the DIA conversion will include almost 5,000 McGraw-Edison Valet LED luminaires, helping the airport to save approximately US$327,000 annually or US$6.5 million over 20 years. By making the parking garages brighter and more uniformly lit, the new luminaires will increase
  • Rail industry, regulators debate feasibility of PTC
    March 10, 2014
    US rail industry officials and federal accident regulators have disagreed about the viability of a looming mandate that most US railways be equipped with automated control systems by the end of next year. Congress is requiring that most major railroad companies install automated systems known as positive train control (PTC) by December 2015. Automated train systems have gained renewed attention after a spate of high-profile accidents on passenger and freight railways, including most recently a Decem