Opal Card Available for Students

 

New South Wales tertiary students are starting to take advantage of the new Concession Opal card providing discounted fares on public transport. The release of the card was timed to coincide with the start of the first semester in 2015.

The Concession Opal card is a NSW Government initiative that promises big savings on all forms of public transport from Newcastle to Illawarra and everywhere in-between.

• Sydney Trains
• NSW TrainLink Intercity services
• Buses in Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Newcastle, Central Coast, Illawarra and Hunter
• Sydney Ferries and the Stockton Ferry
• Light rail

Who is eligible?
Although there was some initial reluctance due to privacy concerns, tertiary institutions are getting onboard the Concession Opal program. The rollout commenced in early February and since many prestigious universities and institutions are participating. Some of these include:

• The University of Sydney
• UNSW Australia
• The University of Notre Dame Australia
• Australian Catholic University
• Macquarie University
• University of Wollongong
• Navitas English

Benefits of the Concession Opal card
Half price adult Opal fares and off-peak savings on trains are around 30%. With Opal, you will only pay for your first 8 journeys for the week. After that – its free! Some students travel long distances to get to university, but with Opal their fare will be capped at $7.50 for the entire day of public transport travel. There is also a weekly travel cap of $30 making it a lot easier to stick within tight student budgets.

**Stay tuned to see the Concession Opal cards in action on our upcoming Vlog post!
 
Source: https://www.opal.com.au

- Tim

Underground Railway's in Sydney Post 2000

The most recent underground section of rail infrastructure that was built in Sydney is the Epping to Chatswood Rail Link, opened in 2009. This consists of 13km twin tunnels running with Stations at North Ryde, Macquarie Park and Macquarie University. The original plan was for a Chatswood to Parramatta link, however the NSW Government ran out of money to complete the project.

Finally, the North West Rail link, currently under construction, will eventually link up with the Epping to Chatswood rail link, creating the first major section of the Sydney Rapid Transit System. The Sydney Rapid Transit System will eventually link the North west, North Shore, CBD, Inner West and Bankstown Areas with Single deck metro style trains.

~ Cameron

History of Trains In Sydney Bradfield Era

In 1912, the NSW Public Works Department appointed John Bradfield as Chief Engineer for Metropolitan Railway construction. In 1915 he designed a plan to electrify the all Railway Lines and to Build the City Circle Loop as we know today. This didn't take off until after World War 1, once the government had some money to build these large scale capital work projects. The Tunnels were built from central to Museum & St James first, opening in 1926, with the western portal from Central to Wynyard via Town Hall completed by 1932. The Western portal then continued and connected Wynyard with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the same year. Bradfield's original plans to connect the 2 lines and create a city circle Loop wasnt completed until 1956, as the government had run low on cash during the great depression and the outbreak of Word War 2, meaning Bradfield died before seeing his work completed.

~ Cameron

John Bradfield's Original Railway Plans

History of Trains In Sydney Pre 1900

The first railway in Sydney was opened in 1855 between Sydney and Granville, when NSW had a population of less than 350 000. At the time Granville was a major Agricultural center in Sydney, because of this it was serviced by Commuter and Freight Services. In 1884 the network extended from Strathfield to Hornsby. Progress continued on a swing and by 1894 the network as we see today was starting to take shape. The North Shore line was built from North Sydney to Hornsby and the main Western Line was extended from Granville to Richmond and the Blue Mountains in the west and the Illawarra Line was built down to Waterfall and Nowra

Sydney's Railway Network 1900

~ Cameron