Sorry, folks in New South Wales. The change has been long-augured, but now it’s here. Your free Opal journeys, hard-earned after eight gruelling trips, are no more. As of today, that privilege has been taken from you.
From today, punters in NSW will instead be given half-price Opal journeys after the eighth trip in one week, with the consolation prize of a $2 rebate granted when they switch their mode of transport in a single journey. So if you get off a bus and hop straight on a train – boom! You got $2. Don’t spend it all in one place.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance told a budget estimates committee last week that the free trips had to be nixed, because “in order to deliver more services they have to be paid for”.
This will be a very dark day for those people who ‘hacked’ the system by doing numerous quick sprint trips on the light rail, nailing their allotment of free rides very early in the week. It doesn’t seem like such a positive value proposition now, but I’m sure there are people who will still do it.
It’s not all sad news. There’s a freeze on fare increases until at least next July, so we got that going for us. Farewell, free trips. We hardy knew ye.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: Getty Images.
