Opal Discussion and Observations
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Ridiculously large numbers if Wikipedia figures that AirportLink only put in $200m (or was that equity only, not debt?)
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
That was the total contribution I'm pretty sure.moa999 wrote:Ridiculously large numbers if Wikipedia figures that AirportLink only put in $200m (or was that equity only, not debt?)
Lucky for the government that the agreement was restated or the consortium would be pocketing the whole amount and not 15% of it.
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
I noticed the Opal poles at Capital Square were showing Closed - due to the extended track work on the light rail in this section. At Convention where you can change from bus to the trams , you tap on as normal.
Is this kind of thing being done for train track work also, or are people still supposedly expected to tap on at their origin station even if no trains are running?
Is this kind of thing being done for train track work also, or are people still supposedly expected to tap on at their origin station even if no trains are running?
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
No one ever taps on for rail replacement. The readers on the buses at least are never on.
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
I don't understand the question. In both cases, you tap on and off for the train or tram trip, but don't tap on or off for the bustitution trip (because those Opal readers are switched off).jpp42 wrote:I noticed the Opal poles at Capital Square were showing Closed - due to the extended track work on the light rail in this section. At Convention where you can change from bus to the trams , you tap on as normal.
Is this kind of thing being done for train track work also, or are people still supposedly expected to tap on at their origin station even if no trains are running?
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Updated figures:andy_centralcoast wrote:From the 2018 Budget Estimates Hearings:jpp42 wrote:Are there any figures on what the final revenue for the government actually is, once the Mascot / Green Square offset and AirportLink 15% profit are taken into account ?In 2011 the New South Wales Parliamentary Budget Office did an analysis showing that the Government could buy out the rail line for $300 million.https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/Pages/budget-estimates.aspx wrote: Ms CATE FAEHRMANN: How much revenue has the government received over the past four years from the station access fee on the Airport Rail Link?
Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE: Over the past 4 years the Government received the total net revenue amount of $197.6 million (FY15-FY18).
Ms CATE FAEHRMANN: What is the projected revenue over the next 4 years?
Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE: The projected revenue would be Commercial in Confidence.
Ms CATE FAEHRMANN: Has the Government undertaken any modelling as to the cost of removing or reducing station access fees for both airport stations?
Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE: Paying the Access Fee at the airport stations would cost the NSW Government in the order of $1.5 billion over the next twelve years.
The government collected $100 million from the ‘station access fee’ last financial year. This 16 per cent surge in revenue takes the total amount reaped by the government over the past four years to $310 million.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sta ... 50ql1.html
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Do we know what they pay to subsidise Mascot/Green Sq
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Kristina Keneally was somehow able to pull the plug on those two stations (shrug)moa999 wrote:Do we know what they pay to subsidise Mascot/Green Sq
Anyways, the amount quoted above on how much revenue the government earns is a pretty big figure and Constance made it clear none of the ACCESS fee will be cut . I personally don’t mind as long that money is going to providing all these extra train and bus services (not coffers to be spent on future harbour dinner cruises and other pretentious things that come with the Libs)
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
$22 million apparently according to the article.moa999 wrote:Do we know what they pay to subsidise Mascot/Green Sq
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Ok so at $14.
Net revenue = $80m (100-20)
At $0
Net revenue = - $100m (-80-20)
(Assuming $80m as current value for 1.5bn over 12yrs assuming say 5% for price plus traffic inflation)
Breakeven is probably $8-9 with some demand generation.
So Labour proposal probably has about a $600-800m cost over the forward period
Net revenue = $80m (100-20)
At $0
Net revenue = - $100m (-80-20)
(Assuming $80m as current value for 1.5bn over 12yrs assuming say 5% for price plus traffic inflation)
Breakeven is probably $8-9 with some demand generation.
So Labour proposal probably has about a $600-800m cost over the forward period
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Millionth contactless bank card trip taken in Sydney
https://www.railexpress.com.au/milliont ... in-sydney/
https://www.railexpress.com.au/milliont ... in-sydney/
Preserving fire service history
@ The Museum of Fire.
@ The Museum of Fire.
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
In the past it was implied that you were supposed to tap on to Opal readers (the fixed ones at the rail station) when riding replacement buses. This is of course not really feasible where there are barriers, and it is not at all adhered to, but the Opal readers were previously left on so that you could do so if you wished. I was wondering if that was still the case or if Opal readers now show Closed at stations with no rail service during trackwork.gld59 wrote:I don't understand the question. In both cases, you tap on and off for the train or tram trip, but don't tap on or off for the bustitution trip (because those Opal readers are switched off).jpp42 wrote:I noticed the Opal poles at Capital Square were showing Closed - due to the extended track work on the light rail in this section. At Convention where you can change from bus to the trams , you tap on as normal.
Is this kind of thing being done for train track work also, or are people still supposedly expected to tap on at their origin station even if no trains are running?
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Bustitution time shouldn't mean freebie time. It should be enforced more than normal service time to get tithe message across that you don't bludge your way.
NSW, the state that embraces mediocrity.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card
If gated stations have no rail services running then the gates are normally closed and blocked to prevent access to the platforms. If there’s a partial service the gates are normally left open.
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
And there would be a lot more if they followed the London example and made contactless fares the same as the 'operator card' fares. Sydney is charging contactless users the single cash fare premium without actually incurring the cost of issuing a single trip NFC ticket.boronia wrote:Millionth contactless bank card trip taken in Sydney
https://www.railexpress.com.au/milliont ... in-sydney/
'contactless' transactions now make up a significant portion of London's Oyster transactions, apparently 50% of 'pay as you go' is now contactless (that is people who don't have periodical passes)
Sydney will lag while TfNSW chooses to fleece contactless card users.
- Swift
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card
So basically TNSW ate doing a taxi industry of slugging card users way more than actual processing cost and profiteering.
NSW, the state that embraces mediocrity.
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Incorrect.matthewg wrote:Sydney is charging contactless users the single cash fare premium without actually incurring the cost of issuing a single trip NFC ticket.
That changed in late November when trains were activated. It's now the same as a regular adult Opal fare on trains, light rail and ferries.
Still has a few differences such as no transfers or 8 then 50%, and the biggest - no off-peak rail fares, but I suspect that will change when they add buses mid-2019
Try it out (on a Sunday)
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Using contactless cards for anything other than adult fares would be complicated. London has had contactless for a lot longer than us & they haven't done it yet.boronia wrote:And no concessions
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
So it has all the hard dollar caps (daily, weekly and Sunday), but none of the discounts along the way.moa999 wrote:Still has a few differences such as no transfers or 8 then 50%, and the biggest - no off-peak rail fares, but I suspect that will change when they add buses mid-2019
Try it out (on a Sunday)
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card
I don't think that is a comparison.Swift wrote:So basically TNSW ate doing a taxi industry of slugging card users way more than actual processing cost and profiteering.
Taxis take the final cost and add a surcharge for the card
This contactless is using the same fare as charged for a single Opal ticket from a machine. Maybe there is a margin built into the fare to cover merchant card costs, but so is everything you buy at most shops.
Preserving fire service history
@ The Museum of Fire.
@ The Museum of Fire.
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
All this bleating about no concessions on the contactless is only because NSW don't charge for the Opal card itself. It be like one of the pros and cons of getting an Opal, pay for the card but get the discounts or use your contactless for "free" with no discounts.boronia wrote:I don't think that is a comparison.Swift wrote:So basically TNSW ate doing a taxi industry of slugging card users way more than actual processing cost and profiteering.
Taxis take the final cost and add a surcharge for the card
This contactless is using the same fare as charged for a single Opal ticket from a machine. Maybe there is a margin built into the fare to cover merchant card costs, but so is everything you buy at most shops.
Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Think concessions is simply an RPO issue.
You can't program a credit card to identify itself as a concession card, so you are left to a massive lookup table which undoubtedly would add to transactions times.
Or otherwise have to check the concession status of every contactless card manually, which would be unviable at peak hour at a rail station.
Everyone would just borrow 'grannies credit card'
You can't program a credit card to identify itself as a concession card, so you are left to a massive lookup table which undoubtedly would add to transactions times.
Or otherwise have to check the concession status of every contactless card manually, which would be unviable at peak hour at a rail station.
Everyone would just borrow 'grannies credit card'
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card
Meh. Lately my travel patterns have changed quite a bit so I'm travelling a lot more. Even with the travel reward, I still get gouged all the way down to the weekly cap of $62, yep pretty much every week, so it really does feel like I still don't even get a discount, because I still pay the same weekly max.
Looking forward to when buses are finally added/completing the rollout, then I'll just move on to contactless and tap away without thinking about how much to topup or remaining balance (I will reach the cap any how). Once buses are added, I can see that spelling the permanent end of Opal Single Bus tickets - tourists can just tap their (foreign) cards on the Opal reader then.
The sounds and text feels a bit botched though and still in beta mode - why do trains and then Ferry/lightrail have different sounds for contactless when tapping, is this deliberate? Plus, should've left the text at "Payment card *tick*", which clearly denotes contactless. Its since recently been changed to "Tap Success" - surely you can tap your Opal Card and that's also a success?
Looking forward to when buses are finally added/completing the rollout, then I'll just move on to contactless and tap away without thinking about how much to topup or remaining balance (I will reach the cap any how). Once buses are added, I can see that spelling the permanent end of Opal Single Bus tickets - tourists can just tap their (foreign) cards on the Opal reader then.
The sounds and text feels a bit botched though and still in beta mode - why do trains and then Ferry/lightrail have different sounds for contactless when tapping, is this deliberate? Plus, should've left the text at "Payment card *tick*", which clearly denotes contactless. Its since recently been changed to "Tap Success" - surely you can tap your Opal Card and that's also a success?
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card
NSW grub-ment bureaucracy have a tradition steeped in making things more complicated to justify their existence, don't you realise?
NSW, the state that embraces mediocrity.