PUBLIC transport users will be able to start-up, and top-up, an Opal card with cash, transport officials say.
This follows concerns temporary, ‘‘pop-up’’ Opal card kiosks are only accepting eftpos payment from customers wishing to buy a card.
The kiosks are operating on some stations, including Hurstville and Rockdale, at limited times.
Comments on the Leader website said anonymity for Opal card users, promised by Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian, was not possible if eftpos had to be used.
A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said customers would be able to pay cash initially, and thereafter, by making their Opal card purchases at retail stores.
‘‘Soon, customers will be able to get an Opal card from more than 1000 retail stores using cash,’’ she said.
‘‘A number of these retailers are located within the station concourse.
‘‘More details will be released soon.’’
The spokeswoman also replied to criticism that Opal cards were not being sold from station ticket offices and there were relatively few temporary kiosks where they could be obtained.
‘‘Transport for NSW is working on a number of ways to help customers obtain and top-up their Opal cards as the roll-out progresses, and machines at stations will be included,’’ she said.
‘‘The kiosk locations were chosen because they are the busiest stations across the network.’’
Travellers have less than a month to obtain an Opal card before many paper tickets, including weeklies, are ‘‘retired’’ on September 1.
Opposition transport spokeswoman Penny Sharpe said it was a waste of existing taxpayer resources not to sell Opal cards from ticket offices.
Ms Sharpe added that staff at counters were often asked about Opal cards but were forbidden to help, leaving customers unhappy.
NSW branch secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, Alex Claassens told Fairfax Media he understood contract staff were selling tickets at the kiosks.
‘‘Almost 100 ticket-seller jobs have been slashed and yet the government is spending money on contractors to do the same job,’’ he said.
‘‘This government will go to any length to contract out or privatise., - this is just the latest example.’’
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SYSTEM ERRORS ANGER STAFF
By Jacob Saulwick, Ben Grubb
Sydney Trains staff are being told to close down ticket gates for about four minutes when Opal card readers do not work, prompting alarm among some about overcrowding in peak periods.
Documents obtained by Fairfax Media show how staff are being asked to handle malfunctions in the Opal system.
The government says technical problems have been rare for the Opal public transport smartcard, as it has been progressively extended to ferries, trains, and some buses.
But a directive sent to station duty managers at Sydney Trains in July shows the organisation is having to grapple with how to handle problems with the card during busy periods.
‘‘Some Opal customers are experiencing errors when they use their card to tap on or tap off at gates,’’ the directive says.
The email says that when one of three errors happen, staff are to manually reset the ticket gates that passengers walk through. This process takes about four minutes, the documents said.
In response, one station manager replied this would not work at busy times.
‘‘As you know, yesterday all the gates on the main barrier where [sic] in yellow and if we close gates for 4mins it creates chaos,’’ the manager wrote.
‘‘The other issue is the gate is working for paper tickets why would we create delays for them and complaints for us ?? when this is OPAL [is the] problem.
‘‘We either need more staff or a method to help Pax’s [passengers] with opal or opal will have to resolve the issue.’’
Anecdotally, there appear to be a growing number of glitches in the Opal system, with bus passengers reporting multiple readers in error.
But a Transport for NSW spokesman said the introduction was progressing well and passengers had made more than 25 million journeys using Opal cards.
