Fair’s fare: Train travel free across Opal network on Monday

The fare-free day for rail passengers is acknowledgment by the Minns Labor Government that the disruption and inconvenience to the commuting public from the overhead wire failure at Homebush on Tuesday afternoon last week was not good enough.

The difficulties faced by thousands in getting home on Tuesday and to work on Wednesday came on the back of a period in which reliability of Sydney Trains has not been up to the mark.

Fare-free rail travel with begin at 12:01am Monday and end at 11:59pm.

Monday was the first opportunity to give passengers free travel due to preparations that must be made by Transport for NSW.

Rail patronage on Mondays is only marginally below the middle of the week. For example, patronage on trains and Metro on Monday 12 May was 1.034 million, compared to 1.145 million on Tuesday 13 May, and 1.151 million on Wednesday 14 May. 

On Monday, travel will be free on all Sydney Trains, Airport Link, and Sydney Metro services on the Opal network but will not extend to buses, ferries and light rail which will charge fares as normal.

Opal gates and readers at train stations will be turned off during this fare-free period and passengers will not need to tap on and tap off.

Free travel will not apply to regional train services and coach ticketing, including TrainLink services.

Opal benefits will still apply to all paid journeys where customers tap on and tap off.

Transport for NSW will automatically refund any passengers using the Sydney Trains or Sydney Metro network, that are charged a fare during the fare-free day back to the Opal card or credit/debit card that was used to tap.

Passengers who use Park&Ride commuter car parks will still be able to access free parking to travel on the Opal network.

For the latest public transport information on the fare free period visit transportnsw.info

Minister for Transport John Graham said:

“We don’t expect a fare-free day to make up for last week’s inconvenience and we acknowledge that it strained the patience of an entire city.

“More than a million people will benefit from free travel on the trains and metro on Monday.  We want them to know the NSW Government also expects better of the system, and we are working to improve reliability and maintenance.

“We have heard loud and clear the frustration of the commuting public.

“A short and sharp independent review into maintenance, punctuality and customer communications will assist in understanding how we can do better as we continue to invest record amounts in maintenance and reliability.”