Opal card flaws and Risk of Fines when Top up Takes 2 Hours to Clear

drspy00 on 18/07/2017 - 17:28

Had a situation with an American visitor here with me at a rural station with the opal card over the weekend.

There is nowhere nearby to top up or buy opal cards and no top up machine at the station. Luckily I had a spare the visitor could use. We topped up online however it takes up to 2 hours before the card will tap successfully after topping up online.

We had plans so had to board the train anyway and ticket inspectors got on about 30 minutes later. They said the visitor was travelling without a valid ticket and really they should fine her but I explained we topped up and tried to confirm it on my phone but as its a rural line it travels through many black spots with 0 reception. The inspector believed the story and was very nice about it and I said if I could find them later on I would be happy to confirm it. It made the visitor feel very uncomfortable and stressed due to no fault of her own there was nowhere around to top up the card at the station!

In My Mind, if you have unmanned stations with nowhere nearby to top up open and it takes 2 hours to clear they should not be talking about fining people. Sometimes you only realise when you tap that the card is low and you top up whilst you are on the train. Tourists would be even more unfamiliar. Everywhere else in the world with a similar opal system they have top up facilities at every station.

If the transit officers were not so reasonable, I wonder if there would be a case if you can prove you topped up the card. I don't think legally they would be able to enforce a fine until this simple flaw is fixed which would obviously only affect unmanned rural stations. Also obviously having nowhere open to purchase the opal cards, even temporary ones is very hard for tourists in less busy areas.

Everything is instant these days and it seems weird they can top the machines can top up instantly but not when you purchase online. Seems it would be an easy flaw to fix.

Travel

Related Stores

Opal Card - NSW Government
Opal Card - NSW Government

Comments

  • retiredfeline on 18/07/2017 - 17:36

    I believe the balance does get updated at the server which has the definitive account information but due to communication problems it may not propagate to the card next tap. Still, it's uncomfortable.

  • KitchenSink on 18/07/2017 - 17:46

    Opal card can go into negative balance as long as you had the minimum balance to begin with. The next time you do top off it takes that into account and adjusts accordingly.

  • ramb9 on 18/07/2017 - 17:52

    The top-up online most the time is actually instant. Not sure why it says takes 1-2 hours though, probably just covering their own asses.

    • Abaddon on 18/07/2017 - 18:26
      +3

      It's taken up to an hour for me. I started just topping up at the machines since then after getting stuck.

  • drspy00 on 18/07/2017 - 18:33

    Yep its definately taken up to an hour for me too. But I did not have an entirely empty card so it was not such a problem.

  • altomic on 18/07/2017 - 18:53
    +5

    my own recent story of a decent ticket inspector. Last week I finished work and was catching the 4:48 from Roma Street station. It's pretty busy at that time of afternoon. I got in to one of the lines for the ticket gates. followed the person in front of me and touched my GO card to the machine and held it there for 2 or 3 seconds (what I always do) and the gates were open and I walked through. 10 minutes later I was on the train and ticket inspectors were checking Go cards. the inspector checked mine, the inspector asked where I got on. I explained that I always get the 4:48. the inspector checked my ticket/travel history and could see the tap on times in the afternoon were all around the 4:45 mark. the inspector explained that I should give a slightly larger gap between myself and the person in front at the ticket gates as the gates sometimes just stay open. the inspector then quietly said that I shouldn't tap off at the end and to enjoy my journey.

    It was sort of nice to be given a fair go and not be treated like a criminal.

  • ronnknee on 18/07/2017 - 19:26
    +1

    I wonder if there would be a case if you can prove you topped up the card.

    Probably not. Their argument would be that you didn't tap on, as simple as that.

    The system is stupid.

  • bloodymonday on 18/07/2017 - 21:50
    +1

    Totally agree with you. it should be instant. Or setup top up machine & gates in every station. You can't get through the gate without a valid card with enough balance, if people jump over the gate then fine those people. Then they don't have to hire inspectors to check the card on the train every day. Just like other train systems in other countries. however, I bet it's more profitable through the fines perhaps…

  • SydneySwan on 19/07/2017 - 08:23
    +1

    The credit card trial has started on the Manly ferry - soon Opal cards for full-fare paying customers will be obsolete. When this happens, the Op's visitor will simply be able to tap on using their credit card. This system works fantastically well in London.

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