arrrghhh Sydney trains

Just sharing my adventure from this morning......

I got to the station earlier than usual this morning. Around 7.50am.
I realised I had to buy a ticket (my Opal card was at home). Anyway, I wanted to buy a new Opal card. Turns out, the station doesn't sell them! Ok, so I try to buy a single trip ticket. There's only 1 train ticket buying machine at the station (Epping). Humans no longer sell tickets.

There was a line at the machine. I patiently waited. I got to the front of the line. I put in the quantity, the destination, put in my $20 note... I expect my ticket and change to come out. But nothing happens! Instead the machine asks me if I need more time. Hmmm...
Ends up, the machine swallowed my $20. With no ticket booths open (human rail staff don't sell tickets anymore!) and no other machines that sell tickets I cannot buy a ticket. And now, since the machine is stuffed, neither can anybody else wanting to buy a ticket with cash. Can you believe there's only 1 machine to do this at the station. And this is a major station.....

Anyway, I ended up speaking with a lady working there. She checked the machine and called a support number. She after a minute or so she gave me a card and a reference number to go through gates with for my journey.

I will have to call a number to get my money back later though.

You would think the system could be better.... more machines and the ability to buy Opal cards at a station would be a complete no brainer....

But fail.... no brain is in the cityrail DNA. Anyway, the lady was helpful.

Also... train issues in general.... system could fall over any minute....

Ohhh... and then that afternoon I encountered another issue. Simple Town Hall --> Epping trip. I got charged $8.05 on the Opal card. It should only be some amount under $5. I'll have to ask Opal about that... I told a station staff member as soon as it happened and he said I'll have to call Opal. Grrr... #whycantitbeeasy

#rantsover

 

Well very soon you should be able to pay on your credit card or debit card or your phone:

You can now tap on with your credit card

 

Phone would have been perfect. (But people will have to give up their location info).... people better not hack the system.

But also the simple overcharging for the Town Hall to Epping trip.... WTF?

 

Did you buy a paper ticket? Could be that a paper ticket is more expensive. It certainly is in Brisbane.

 

You cannot buy an Opal card at the station.
I ended up buying an Opal card at lunchtime, used it for my first trip North Sydney to Town Hall at lunchtime (I have 2 workplaces). That charged me the correct amount. Then just after 5pm when I went Town Hall to Epping and tapped off, I saw that it charged me $8.05 for that particular journey.

 

The whole public transport system in Sydney is stuffed. We caught a ferry on Australia Day from Parramatta to some destination, I can't remember. It cost more than it does to go to Circular Quay......anyway, they took us to Circular Quay, and no further. The ferry's weren't going any further than there on that day, and I suppose in hind sight I should have known that, but that's not the point. I used a ticket machine because I don't have an Opal card. If the ferry wasn't going to the destination, then the damn machine shouldn't have been able to issue the ticket. It messed up our whole day AND we'd bought return tickets, but couldn't get back via ferry as they were too busy, so had to catch a train back. Of course, that was another ticket to do that.

If we'd have known that the ferry wasn't going there, we would have done something else that day. We certainly wouldn't have wanted to go to Circular Quay.

 

Possibly paid for access to Cockatoo Island - inclusive of national park entry fees.

Not all ferries stop at all stops & routes are subject to change (without notice). Ferries which are full will skip stops. This has happened on the way to the Opera House.

Oz day is one of the busiest days for ferries, so expect the unexpected.

Opal works right across the network (now), some ferries & buses run by private operators as well as the light rail weren't integrated into the Opal system for a few years.

PS: just taking the Mickey Oh, it's Myki.

 

Thursday evening, I decided to use train to go from Town hall to Epping, got on the train at 9pm, it terminated at wynnyard. The I heard the stuff announcement that due to early fatality at Burwood, train were on extensive delay. Then changed train, went back to Central, and then....

Arrived at eppEpp at about 11pm.

 

@Eric Wu - if you were already at Wynyard, why go back to central? All north shore trains stop at Wynyard but you could also have gone via central to Epping via Strathfield.

Alternative route would have been bus from Wynyard via freeway.

Public transport apologist.

 

Do you have the tripview app? Though... if the system is really screwed up (due to fatalities etc) I'm not sure how reliable tripview is either. Sometimes tripview says one thing but the reality is different.

 

The train I got on terminated at wynnyard I think (I think it was wynnyard station, or the next stop)

Haven't thought of the town hall - cenCent - strasthfield route, which I should have

 

I always check tripview before getting onto a train.... there can be other faster train options.

 

Agree, I should have

 

I just hop onto random platforms or Buses. Who knows where you end up.

 

Then why is there such a huge Sydney emphasis on only buying near rail lines?
Marg

 

Plenty of reasons.
How else are workers going to get around? Most well paid jobs are in the city but not everybody can live near the city, ferries only service some areas, some bus routes are good but plenty of others aren't, and planning for driving to work in peak hour... horrible idea.

People can ride a motorcycle or pushbike but doesn't suit the majority.
And it's extremely rare that people can work from home everyday or get a job that's a walk or short drive/ride from home.
Plus it's good for parents with teenage kids too.... kids are more independent. Some schools are most accessible by train.

 

Imagine what it's like for us from the country, that only catch the train only every 1-2 years ... completely horrifying experience.

The toll system is bad enough when you "have" to pass through Sydney to get from the north coast to the south coast - and have to spend half an hour registering beforehand to pay a $1.50 toll

 

Tolls are not $1.50 anymore. For us to drive (return) to the airport it costs almost $20.