this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2023
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Didn't they change the ticketing system when they moved to Opal? They got rid of the big ticket machines that you could buy individual tickets from, in favour of a Myki-like device. You just pay for the distance rather than set intervals like what we use.
The trains themselves are a lot better. Since they're multi-level, they don't seem to get quite as packed as our ones, even during rush hour.
This is great news. It's been about 10 years since my last stint in Sydney, and Opal was "coming" or "here", I forget. The ticteting systsem hadn't changed from my several previous trips though.
Still, a daily ticket is $17.80 - which is crazy expensive. And that wouldn't cover the airport. That's another ~$17 on top of that.
So, the ticketing system has improved, but it is still incredibly expensive (as in: more than twice the price of Melbourne).
In practice you rarely hit the daily cap. You can travel from the eastern suburbs to the west for less than the Myki $5 minimum. For example Kings Cross to Cabramatta is $4. Most trips that most people make are just home to some destination (work, shops, school, friend's house or whatever) and back. For that, you end up getting a discounted return price and paying less than the $10 Myki daily price. If you're doing it every day, you hit the weekly cap and it's cheaper again.
You keep talking about the maximum price, but that isn't what the vast majority of people will be paying every day.
As I said, it's been about 10 years since my last Sydney trip, though they were a few times per year from about 2003-2013. Usually flying in on Monday morning, out on Friday afternoon. My longest stay was three months.
Train fares were covered by work, so I didn't really care what it cost. But it was over $10 per day 20 years ago, which I found scandalous.