Article: Smart machines on way, but still no sign of tickets

[colinw]

The Sydney Morning Herald -> click here

COMMUTERS will see movement on the long-overdue smart card ticketing project within months as CityRail prepares to install electronic ticket readers at 260 ungated train stations across the rail network.

RailCorp has called for tenders for the next step in the project this week, which will include ripping out the electronic ticket machines installed at train stations under the former Labor government as part of its failed TCard project.

The Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, said yesterday that the tender was an important milestone for the project, which was initially due to be delivered in time for the Sydney Olympics more than 10 years ago.
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It is understood the tender is worth between $15 million and $20 million.

''We are working hard behind the scenes, and we are getting on with this project,'' Ms Berejiklian said.

''[The tender] is a pretty big deal in terms of the project and means that commuters will start seeing changes at their stations soon, including, ironically, the removal of some of the old machines from the failed TCard project.''

Under the contract, the ferries will be the first to receive the readers, followed by trains and then buses. But Ms Berejiklian said RailCorp was the biggest transport agency so needed to start on its preparatory works.

The Labor government signed a $1.2 billion smartcard contract with the Pearl Consortium, led by the US firm Cubic Transportation, last year to deliver an electronic ticketing system modelled on the Oyster Card in London.

At the time, the government said implementation of the chronically delayed project would begin by the end of next year. Ms Berejiklian would not be drawn on whether the time frame for implementation would remain the same.

''Part of the plan is to deliver what the previous government couldn't,'' Ms Berejiklian said.

A spokeswoman for Ms Berejiklian said the project ''is on time and within budget across all transport operators''.

One of the biggest problems with the TCard project was the complexity of the fare structures. Ms Berejiklian would not comment on the details in the contract but it is understood that there is more fare flexibility.

Passengers will top up their accounts online or at shops, or link their smartcards to bank accounts or credit cards.

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said it was envisaged that train passengers would tag on and tag off and would be penalised if they failed to do either at a station without gates. ''Under electronic ticketing systems in other capitals, passengers who fail to tag on or off can be charged the maximum possible amount for travel on the network that day. In Sydney a default fare will be charged, but the value of that fare is yet to be set by government.''

Three years ago a $350 million contract with ERG to develop the TCard was torn up after many delays. The government is suing ERG for $95 million; the company is countersuing the government for $200 million.

[SurfRail]

Maybe they can use the Tcard brackets already in place