Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian today announced the NSW Government had reached a major milestone, with the Opal electronic ticketing card now available at 120 train stations.
“From today, customers can use Opal at another 26 train stations, including Western Sydney stations to Richmond and Emu Plains,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“This marks a significant milestone for communities across Sydney, especially Western Sydney, as we provide cheaper fares for customers, modernise the way people use public transport and put an end to the Monday morning queue for a ticket.”

Opal now operates on train stations from the City Circle to Emu Plains, Richmond, Casula, Hornsby, Wyong and Bondi Junction, plus Carlingford and Olympic Park.

The Opal card is available on all Sydney Ferries services and on two bus routes, giving tens of thousands more customers a cheaper, faster and more convenient journey.

“100,000 Opal cards have now been registered by customers, with more than 30,000 cards registered in the last three weeks,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Customers have made nearly four million journeys using an Opal card so far. Last week more than 335,000 Opal journeys were made by customers.

“Opal will make a huge difference for customers by giving them lower fares, weekly travel rewards, daily caps and discounts for off-peak train travel,” Ms Berejiklian said.

For example, for an Opal card customer travelling from St Marys to Town Hall the single adult fare is now $6.30 and $4.41 off-peak, compared to $6.80 with a paper ticket.

For a regular Penrith to Town Hall train commuter a weekly paper ticket costs $52.00, and with Opal you only pay $50.40 plus you are rewarded with free travel on any mode for the rest of the week after eight paid journeys.

“The weekly travel reward is a huge bonus for regular commuters – it means that people travelling to work and home each weekday will be able to travel anywhere on the network for free on Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” Ms Berejiklian said.
The Opal card provides train customers with numerous benefits, such as:
· Cheaper fares with a discount of up to 13 per cent compared to single MyZone paper ticket fare.
Off-peak discount of 30 per cent on the Opal full fare for all journeys taken before or after the weekday morning and afternoon peaks, as well as all day on weekends.
$2.50 daily cap on Sundays for Opal card customers – travel all you want on Opal stations and it will cost no more than $2.50 per person.
Daily travel cap of $15.00 from Monday to Saturday – you can travel as much as you like anywhere in a day and know it will cost no more than $15.00.

By the end of 2014, 40 ferry wharves, more than 300 train stations and more than 5,000 buses will have Opal operating in Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Hunter, Illawarra, and Southern Highlands, with light rail coming on line in 2015.