(Sydney Transport) Now it's T-card take-two (11 April, 2010)

Now it's T-card take-two

From: AAP April 11, 2010 2:45PM

A NEW transport ticketing system that will bill travellers in a similar way to an eTag will be rolled out in NSW by the end of 2012, the government says.

Final details are being negotiated with a consortium of partners who will help deliver the $1.2 billion electronic ticketing system, Transport Minister David Campbell told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

One of those partners, Cubic Transportation Systems, was involved with delivering London's Oyster travel card.

The blue plastic card is merely waved at transport barriers to open them, and can be used on buses, trams, the Tube, London Overground services, and nearly all National Rail services.

A similar system is planned for NSW commuters.

"The new system will allow commuters to tap on and tap off from different modes of transport - trains, government and private buses, and government ferries, Mr Campbell said.

"It will operate in a similar way to an eTag - each card or tag can be linked to an account from which the price of the journey will be automatically deducted. If all goes to plan, the yet-unnamed system will start being used for public transport by the end of 2012.

"It will be rolled out across the greater Sydney public transport network, including Newcastle and the Hunter region, as well as Wollongong and the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains," Mr Campbell said.

A T-Card electronic ticketing system was supposed to have provided commuters with a cashless ticket in time for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, but failed to materialise.

The company responsible for rolling out the technology is now $74 million in debt, a NSW parliamentary budget estimates committee was told last year.

Given the technology is available worldwide, Mr Campbell conceded the technology should have been introduced to NSW commuters much earlier.

"I make the point, yes, we should have, but the private-sector contractor failed to deliver," he said of earlier attempts to have the technology.

"The government cancelled the contract, and we've gone through the tender process to get a electronic ticketing system for Sydney."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• sydney
• cityrail
• railcorp
• buses
• statetransit
• railways
• nsw

[mmmbilly]

Cubic For the Win in Syndey!

[clubpenguin777]

@neuralecho Or the Metro for that matter

[neuralecho]

@clubpenguin777

Or the Very Fast Train... oops, I forgot that was another failed government promise.

[Phil28168]

N.S.W. gov't: full of crap!

[clubpenguin777]

But it won't include the Light Rail and Monorail.

[Bails992]

cool.