AUSTRALIA: Transport for New South Wales has awarded two contracts for the Opal 2.0 programme to undertake the biggest overhaul of Sydney’s public transport ticketing since the roll out of the smart card based Opal payment system 13 years ago.
INIT will deliver an account-based ticketing system, with the card or device used to touch in and out serving solely as a means of identification while tickets and funds are processed in the background. This will include installing 25 000 new Opal readers to replace life-expired equipment.
Development will progress throughout 2026, with the first hardware installations starting in 2027 and completion expected in 2028. There is a 10-year operations period.
In parallel, Trapeze Group will upgrade information systems on 5 000 buses to provide better real-time bus tracking and patronage accuracy and display upcoming stops.
Opal 2.0 passenger benefits
Benefits of the Opal 2.0 ticketing programe for rail, metro, bus, light rail and ferry passengers will include:
- payment by contactless bank card or smart phone;
- digital Opal cards that can be added to mobile devices to act like a bank card, removing the need for a smart card;
- passengers will be able to use any of their registered media for the check-out, not just the one used to check-in and out, which INIT said ‘is a big plus in usability of the system’;
- ‘world-leading and Australian-first’ contactless concessionary fares, starting from April with some students, apprentices and trainees and to be followed by university students, job seekers and then pensioners;
- fare capping and automatic adjustment if an incorrect fare is charged, without needing to contact customer service;
- a new Opal travel app;
- personalised notifications sent after a passenger taps with advice on the trip and fare;
- faster and more accurate patronage data to warn how busy onboard an upcoming service will be;
- the ability for event-goers to scan a QR code on their ticket at an Opal reader to access free transport;
the system’s high flexibility will allow TfNSW to easily handle tariff management.
INIT will draw on its experience with delivering ticketing systems in more than 140 cities worldwide to undertake the Opal upgrade. Executive Vice-President MENA-ANZ Eyad Tayeb said ‘INIT has pioneered account-based ticketing in North America, Europe and beyond, helping cities build public transport systems that are more flexible, passenger-centric and ready for the future. We are pleased to be bringing this modern technology to NSW and set a new benchmark globally’.
‘Time for an overhaul’
The original Opal was supplied by Cubic Transportation Systems using technology from London’s pioneering Oyster. NSW Transport Secretary Josh Murray said ‘like corresponding technology from the start of the century such as the Blu-Ray Player and the first BlackBerry – it’s time for an overhaul.’
The Opal 2.0 programme has a budget of A$738m, with funding for the bus upgrades taking the overall investment to A$820m.
Opal is used for more than 600 million trips per year, and TfNSW the investment is part of a broader shift to focus on buses and heavy rail, alongside new metro lines. It said ‘for too long, investment has been concentrated in major metro projects, while reliability and customer experience on existing services has lagged. That is changing’.
Announcing the contracts on April 28, NSW Premier Chris Minns said ‘at a time when families are under pressure, we are focused on making public transport a more reliable and affordable option for millions of people’. The upgrade ‘is about improving the everyday experience, making it easier to get around, to save money and easier to rely on public transport.’