ORANGE residents travelling to Sydney by train can not obtain an Opal Card in town despite the NSW government’s widespread push to roll-out the travel card service.
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That means when passengers disembark from a coach in Lithgow to catch a train to the city they must think ahead and order a card online or travel about 120 metres to the nearest newsagency in Lithgow to access a card.
On New Year’s Day most paper tickets were phased out of the NSW railway system so using an Opal Card is the only way to travel from Lithgow to Sydney by train.
There is no place in Orange to top up the cards with cash, nor can people pay cash at the Lithgow train station to complete the journey to Sydney.
This can only be done online or via a phone using a debit or credit card or at a business that offers the cards outside of Orange.
Orange resident Denis Gregory recently purchased a card online for a trip to Sydney and said it took about a week to arrive in the mail.
“Yes I knew about it, which was lucky so I went online and saw that you can’t buy them in Orange,” he said.
“It’s no good if you don’t have a computer or a credit card, it’s a bit of a shemozzle.
“Once I got it though and used it, it was really good.”
A Transport NSW spokesman said in Lithgow customers can access five retailers to top up their cards including the newsagency only a minute’s walk from the Lithgow train station.
He said ‘top up machines’ were being rolled out and Lithgow train station would receive one in the future.
He said there were many ways commuters could top up their Opal Card with funds to allow train travel.
“The range of ways a customer can top up their card is one of the many benefits of using Opal,” he said.
“More than 35 per cent of Opal customers use auto top up so they never have to manually top up their card by connecting it directly to either a debit or credit card.”
Member for Orange Andrew Gee confirmed an Orange resident had contacted his office regarding the availability of Opal cards this week.
“I have since raised the matter with the minister [Minister for Transport Andrew Constance] and suggested that the top up service for Opal cards be made available at Service NSW Centres in the Central West, including Orange,” he said.
The Opal website, www.opal.com.au and the phone number 13 67 25 are the 24 hour options for obtaining an Opal card.
Opal cards can be accessed at Service NSW in Bathurst, Coles in Bathurst and 7-Eleven in Kelso.
nicole.kuter@fairfaxmedia.com.au
