How Opal fares work

Learn how metro, train, bus, ferry and light rail fares are charged on the Opal network.

Overview

Fares are determined by where, when, and how you travel. Each mode of transport is divided into distance-based fare bands.

Your fare depends on:

Whether you're an adult, child, or eligible for concession fares, and
If you qualify for Daily, Weekly or Friday/Weekend caps, discounts or benefits.

For Adult, Concession and Senior/Pensioner fares*, you can use an Opal card or a contactless card or device.

*Concession entitlements must be linked to your contactless payment card before you tap on and tap off to receive your discounted fares. Link your concession.
*Some concession fares cannot use contactless payments, such as seniors residing outside NSW and ACT, or Free Travel Opal fares. These fare types must be paid with an Opal card

For Child/Youth and other fares, get an Opal card.

How your fare is calculated

When you tap off at the end of your journey, the system calculates your fare based on your travel distance and applies any discounts or caps. The fare is then automatically deducted from your Opal card or charged to your contactless payment card.

For train and Metro journeys, the travel distance is calculated based on the shortest track distance between the origin and destination stations. The distances between station pairs on the train and Metro network can be viewed on the Opal Distance Tables and Opal Fare Values page.

Payment details

Opal transactions, including top-ups or purchasing single trip tickets, show up on your bank statement as "TfNSW" and "Opal."
You will never pay more than the Daily, Weekly or Friday/Weekend travel cap. Always tap the same card or device when using contactless payments to ensure you are charged the correct fare.
Using an Opal card or Contactless card is always cheaper than buying an Opal single ticket.

Peak and off-peak times

Enjoy a 30% discount on metro, train, bus, and light rail services when you travel on Fridays, weekends, public holidays, and outside of peak times Monday to Thursday. See all peak times.

Fares, trips, journeys and transfers

Fares in the Opal network depend on how far you travel and the transfers you make.

Fares on all modes are charged based on the distance between where you tap on and tap off.
You can use the Trip Planner to check your fare.

A trip involves travel on one route and one service, while a journey includes multiple trips with transfers within 60 minutes.

Transfers happen when you switch transport modes or routes; if they're within 60 minutes, they count as one journey, except for the Sydney Ferries Manly ferry service, which has a 130-minute transfer time.

Sydney airport fares

When travelling to the airport train stations, the Sydney Airport station access fee is added on to the cost of your fare.

Start and end times for the Opal day and week

Fare calculations, including Daily, Weekly and Friday/Weekend travel caps, are based on the Opal day starting at 4am and ending at 3.59am the following day. The Opal week starts on a Monday at 4am and ends the following Monday at 3.59am.

Maximum journey time

Your Opal journey has a maximum allowed time, depending on the type of transport and location. Exceeding this time may result in additional charges.

Find out more about maximum journey times

Important notes

Goods and services tax (GST) is included in the fare for all journeys on the Opal network (GST in Australia is 10%).
Different terms and conditions apply to non-reloadable Opal cards including School Opal cards and free travel Opal cards which are for eligible customers only.