Gladys Berejiklian Med Rel – Opal starts on 100 more buses today as 300,000 cards registered

Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian said from today customers can use their Opal card to tap on and tap off around 100 more buses in Sydney’s north and northern beaches, as the number of Opal cards registered hits more than 300,000.

“From today thousands more customers are able to access cheaper, faster and more convenient travel on even more bus routes – as well as across the entire suburban and intercity train network and Sydney Ferries,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“Opal provides cheaper bus fares and by setting your card to auto-top-up, customers never have to worry about queuing for a ticket again.”
Today’s rollout covers Forest Coach Lines’ buses, which operate 17 bus routes across about 30 suburbs in northern Sydney.

Opal is now available on 47 bus routes in Sydney’s north, northern beaches and eastern suburbs, including the popular 333 Bondi route.

Ms Berejiklian said the extended rollout of Opal comes as more than 300,000 cards have been issued and nearly 16 million journeys taken by customers using Opal.

“Opal customers are taking advantage of the card’s frequent travel rewards and daily fare caps, taking more than three million free trips on trains, buses and ferries,” she said.

“The NSW Government has announced the retirement of 14 paper tickets from 1 September 2014. Tickets being retired can be purchased up until this date and can continue to be used by customers until they expire.

“The increase in the number of customers using the Opal system shows that Opal is being embraced across the public transport network and now is the right time to start retiring some old paper tickets.”