contactless fare collection system used in New South Wales, Australia Opal is a contactless fare collection system for public transportation services in the higher Sydney location and most other metropolitan locations of New South Wales, Australia. Operation of the Opal system is managed by the New South Wales Federal government's transportation authority, Transport for NSW.
Opal equipment was designed from the start to support a variety of cards, but released with the captive Opal cards. Opal cards are the requirement technique of spending for fares on the Opal system. The card is a credit card-sized smartcard which includes a microchip and internal RFID aerial, permitting the card to interact with readers.
Travelers 'tap on' and 'tap off' any services whenever they take a trip through the general public transportation network. Opal cards can also be used to spend for fares on chosen 3rd party transport services through a facility referred to as Opal, Pay. History [edit] Sydney has used a variety of automated ticketing systems considering that the opening of the Eastern Suburbs Train in June 1979.
The system included loose combination between the various modes of transport, a complex fare structure and left out personal operators. By being limited to the services supplied by the federal government companies, the majority of bus services in the outer western, northern and southern parts of Sydney, plus all bus services of the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, and Illawarra regions were omitted from the system.
My, Zone was created to simplify the fare system and remove among the stumbling blocks to the intro of a clever card. Full Article was retained where it remained in usage, but tickets might likewise be used on personal buses - and subsequently on light rail - by providing a ticket to the bus driver or cable car conductor.
The contract was awarded to ERG Group, but was delayed until 2002 due to a claim from the losing bidder Cubic Transportation Systems, which was identified 'dishonest' by the administering Supreme Court of New South Wales judge. In 2001, Cubic launched a court action against the federal government but the case exposed an inappropriate relationship in between its then handling director and a Rail, Corp staff member alleged to have dripped tender tricks to Cubic.