THE number of Opal Card-enabled buses across Sydney will reach 1700 next week.
Since the launch of Transport for NSW’s Opal Card system last year, more than 400,000 cards have been issued and more than 25 million journeys taken.
Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian said the expansion of 580 Opal buses in the Eastern Suburbs, follows on from the 220 Transit Systems buses that went live with Opal yesterday across 80 suburbs, including Parramatta, Merrylands, Liverpool, Bonnyrigg, Fairfield, Wetherill Park and Greystanes.
“The number of customers tapping on with Opal is increasing as more buses go live and customers realise the benefit of not queuing for a ticket on Monday morning or turning up to the bus stop and realising their TravelTen has run out,’’ Ms Berejiklian said.
“Opal offers customers free travel on any mode after eight paid journeys – which means for people who travel to work and home every day – they’ll now be able to catch trains, buses and ferries for free on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.’’
Fourteen paper tickets will no longer be available from September 1. Some of these include: adult off-peak return, weekly, fortnightly and yearly, as well as monthly, quarterly and yearly concession.
Details: opal.com.au or call 13 67 25 (13 OPAL). The $2.50 daily capped Gold Senior/Pensioner Opal card will be released later this year.
