Skip to main content

New South Wales scraps paper tickets

New South Wales, Australia will move towards a modern integrated electronic ticketing system on public transport on 1 August, when the last of the old paper tickets will no longer be sold or accepted. Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said that customers have embraced Opal, with two million customers taking 13 million journeys a week. “Opal is being used for 95 per cent of all public transport trips,” Constance said. “Given the enormous success, it’s now time to stop running t
July 5, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
New South Wales, Australia will move towards a modern integrated electronic ticketing system on public transport on 1 August, when the last of the old paper tickets will no longer be sold or accepted.

Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said that customers have embraced Opal, with two million customers taking 13 million journeys a week. “Opal is being used for 95 per cent of all public transport trips,” Constance said.

“Given the enormous success, it’s now time to stop running two ticketing systems and move to one convenient system that enables future innovation.

“With the single electronic system we can move to the next stage in ticketing, with a customer trial in 2017 for tapping on with credit and debit cards.”

Since the roll-out of Opal began in December 2012 customers have taken 800 million trips and more than 7.5 million cards have been issued, including one million Gold Senior/Pensioner cards, 700,000 Child/Youth cards, and 350,000 School Opal cards.

A comprehensive information campaign will remind the remaining customers who don’t have Opal that it’s time to make the switch.

Related Content

  • August 12, 2016
    Sydney completes transition to ticketless public transport
    Sydney, Australia, has retired its last paper public transport tickets and completed the transition to the Cubic-designed Opal smart card ticketing system. Launched in December 2012, the Opal card system, which was designed, installed and operated by Cubic, is now used for 95 percent of all public transport trips. To date, customers have taken 800 million trips and more than 7.5 million cards have been issued. Starting this month, the old-style paper tickets will no longer be sold or accepted, markin
  • April 19, 2016
    Sydney to commence open payment trial for public transport
    Sydney, Australia, is to commence an open payments trial in 2017, enabling the city to have London-style open payments technology on its public transportation system. The trial is said to be a first for the southern hemisphere, providing a test case for other Australian cities which have been contemplating open payments. New South Wales (NSW) Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Andrew Constance, made the trial announcement at the opening session of the Future Technology Summit in Sydney. “For t
  • December 12, 2014
    Cubic completes Sydney Opal Card rollout early
    Cubic Transportation Systems has completed the roll out of Sydney’s Opal contactless smartcard ticketing system across all transport modes and connecting multiple operators and commenced operation and maintenance of the Opal system under the ten-year services agreement that is part of the original contract. The contract to build the new electronic ticketing system (ETS) – later branded as the Opal Card – was awarded to the Cubic-led Pearl consortium in 2010.
  • November 27, 2012
    Sydney to get transport electronic ticketing system
    After more than a decade of delays, the New South Wales (NSW) government in Australia is to begin trials of the Opal electronic ticketing system on select ferry routes, with a trial set to commence on Sydney ferries in December. NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said that commuters would be able to use a single card to pay for tickets on ferries, trains, buses, and light rail by 2015. The Opal card will be available on all Sydney ferries and some trains in 2013, with buses and light rail to come on