Directing commuters: Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian trials the Opal Card. Credit:Kate Geraghty The cost of an off-peak return trip from Parramatta to Central is $7. The cost of a regular return, which people travelling without an Opal will have to pay from September, is $10.40. There were 16.6 million off-peak return tickets sold last year, compared with 6.9 million adult peak-hour return tickets. Off-peak return tickets, which can be bought only after 9am on Monday to Friday and on weekends, are the third most common tickets sold on the railways, after single tickets and pensioner excursion passes. The Opal card offers cheaper off-peak single fares, which is likely to benefit large numbers of people buying single tickets. But there is no off-peak single paper ticket.

And under the Opal system, anyone travelling in the afternoon peak hour – from 4pm to 6.30pm on weekdays – will need to pay peak prices. This was the reason Transport for NSW said it was getting rid of the off-peak return. “The adult train Off-Peak Return ticket is being retired because it only provides an incentive to travel outside the morning peak, while in the afternoon more than 60 per cent of customers use the Off-Peak Return to travel in the peak,” a spokesman said. “This isn’t fair to other customers. Opal offers generous off-peak discounts when a customer actually travels in off-peak times.” Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said retiring paper tickets allowed the opportunity to modernise the system. “This is not a question of revenue - around 90 per cent of customers will be financially the same or better off with Opal,” Ms Berejiklian said.

At Redfern Station mid-morning on Friday, commuters had mixed views about the retirement of paper tickets. “If they are not going to sell the off-peak return, I won't be too happy because that was a good option for me,” said Barbara Maciejewski. “It did save a bit of money actually, over the week.” The chief executive of the Council of Social Services of NSW, Tracy Howe, said: “Many low-income earners – such as people with caring responsibilities or in insecure employment – take advantage of travelling in the off-peak. “For these people, any price increase is a blow. “In transitioning to the Opal we’d hope the impact on low-income customers would be carefully considered, but these changes are being made while there are still major gaps in eligibility for transport concessions," Ms Howe said.

A co-convenor of advocacy group Ecotransit, Mathew Hounsell, said: “Perhaps the minister is naively hoping that no one will notice when she raises Sydney’s weekend and off-peak train fares and that passenger numbers and revenue will remain unchanged." More than 400,000 Opal cards have now been issued, and Transport for NSW said it was happy with the roll-out so far. The cards can be used on all trains and ferries, but not yet on all buses or Sydney’s light rail. Among other tickets that will no longer be sold from September are monthly train and MyMulti tickets, as well as quarterly and yearly tickets and FerryTen tickets. Labor’s Transport spokeswoman, Penny Sharpe, said: “The changes to off-peak fares are another fare rise for commuters. Off-peak fares encourage people to travel outside the peak. You will have to watch closely to see whether it has an impact on when people choose to travel.” Tourism & Transport Forum acting chief executive Trent Zimmerman said he was calling on the government to release a tourism version of the Opal as soon as possible.

“In a fare structure as ridiculously complicated as Sydney’s, it is virtually impossible to roll out smartcard ticketing and keep absolutely everybody happy,” Mr Zimmerman said. “From a tourism point of view, we need a visitor card with the same amenity as the regular Opal card, with daily and weekly caps.” The government has not yet released Opal cards for uni students or pensioners. Family Funday Sunday tickets remain available for families of four or more for $2.50 a person. Child non-peak return tickets will be retained.

Clarification: This report was changed to indicate the impact on adult tickets.