Travelling is not always about the flying.....

[serfty]

Metro in Melbourne is a joint venture led by the Hong Kong MTR corp. And while that has nothing to do with how well Myki works, it does show that bringing in a foreign operator doesn't spell success in Australia

Actually, being a regular Melbourne urban commuter using public transport since 1977 I have absolutely no issue in stating that the trains have not run more reliably, consistently or better at any time over that almost four decades sine the current MTR mob took over ..

 

[JessicaTam]

Actually, being a regular Melbourne urban commuter using public transport since 1977 I have absolutely no issue in stating that the trains have not run more reliably, consistently or better at any time over that almost four decades sine the current MTR mob took over ..

I agree (from my limited 7 years experience).

I know our summer hasn't had as many hot days as others, but I don't think there have been any track-buckling delays this year.

 

[Austman]

I quite like myki (and I've used dozens of other systems around the world).

 

[TomVexille]

Actually, being a regular Melbourne urban commuter using public transport since 1977 I have absolutely no issue in stating that the trains have not run more reliably, consistently or better at any time over that almost four decades sine the current MTR mob took over ..

I can only base my opinion on the last four years, and I only really use the trains once or twice a week. However I do believe that MTR inherited a pretty poor network, and some shoddy infrastructure that needs serious investment.

 

[serfty]

I can only base my opinion on the last four years, and I only really use the trains once or twice a week. However I do believe that MTR inherited a pretty poor network, and some shoddy infrastructure that needs serious investment.

Apparently the main hurdles were some decades old legacy work practices that they managed to sort out - it took about 18 months ...

Any hoo back on topic ...

... being inured to Myki I am often shocked at how quickly the gates at other cities open when one's suica/Ezycard/etc. is employed.

 

[Himeno]

I can only base my opinion on the last four years, and I only really use the trains once or twice a week. However I do believe that MTR inherited a pretty poor network, and some shoddy infrastructure that needs serious investment.

The Melbourne train network is running much better with MTR in charge then it was when Connex was running things.

 

[Austman]

I'm visiting a building where they recently changed their prox-card readers for their car park entrance. The old ones needed the card to be placed close to the reader (not as close as myki though). The new ones just need the card to be placed near the driver's door window (on the inside of the car with the window closed). Quite a distance!

 

[seanpodge]

I can only base my opinion on the last four years, and I only really use the trains once or twice a week. However I do believe that MTR inherited a pretty poor network, and some shoddy infrastructure that needs serious investment.

I remember reading in the papers a few years ago that the previous operators were making their money by basically pocketing the money that was meant to be the maintenance budget.

While there's alot of talk about things like the Metro tunnel and a line to MEL, there are some other, less sexy, improvements that could be made such as better signaling. The ALP's promise to get rid of 50 railway crossings isn't bad, particularly given that 40 of them are meant to be the top 40 on the list of most dangerous ones, but it won't improve things dramatically. RRL should help though whenever it gets up and running.

 

[TomVexille]

I remember reading in the papers a few years ago that the previous operators were making their money by basically pocketing the money that was meant to be the maintenance budget.

While there's alot of talk about things like the Metro tunnel and a line to MEL, there are some other, less sexy, improvements that could be made such as better signaling. The ALP's promise to get rid of 50 railway crossings isn't bad, particularly given that 40 of them are meant to be the top 40 on the list of most dangerous ones, but it won't improve things dramatically. RRL should help though whenever it gets up and running.

Signaling is a major problem for Metro at the moment. I've been involved in part of the first stage of upgrading the signaling network and the old equipment is a nightmare.

 

[PLANT]

Also some dole rats..... Running around in flurro vests for social media hits!
Or are they disorientated or PTD miners from Perth?

 

[Simo]

Travel is about the adventure not just the flying there..

Mind you I do enjoy the lounge bit.

I do enjoy doing public transport and getting a train or a bus somewhere as long as it is not critical timeless for me to be there.

I did a Jeepney ride across 3 towns to go for lunch with some friends. I was lucky they where locals and it was easy but I got the cab home and the trip there was an hour and back to hotel in 20 mins but I enjoyed both parts of the trip.

 

[jastel]

Happened to me at SYD Domestic just before New Years. The ticket windows downstairs at the station doesn't sell them, they send me to the WHSmith store in T2 (which apparently is/was the only Opal vendor at Domestic?). They were out of Opal cards, so had to buy a normal Airport Train ticket into the city and then buy my Opal there...

So while the first impression was "OMG, Myki all over again!", once I had it and used it it worked well, and also the different caps that apply made it actually much cheaper than using a MyMulti as we had done previously.

Woman at Domestic train window very begrudgingly charged mine up after I figured out the machines couldn't do it. But I already had one, didn't need to buy it.
No wonder they need to sell paper tickets still....

Having charge up machines IN THE STATION AT THE BEGINNING seems pretty obvious to me.
Glad to hear they are waking up at last.

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Just a caution to infrequent Myki users.. after 3 months the credit goes into a hold and you can't use it instantly
Last week although the guy on the phone could see my $70+ credit (the stupid system also initiated an automatic top up hence the high (yet unusable) credit) the machines at the station couldn't so I had to put more credit on it to get home!
I'm back on the train today so stay tune for the next adventure..

 

[Boris spatsky]

Just a caution to infrequent Myki users.. after 3 months the credit goes into a hold and you can't use it instantly
Last week although the guy on the phone could see my $70+ credit (the stupid system also initiated an automatic top up hence the high (yet unusable) credit) the machines at the station couldn't so I had to put more credit on it to get home!
I'm back on the train today so stay tune for the next adventure..

Oh fun, i am back there next week after 5 months away. So if my credit is frozen, how do i use it? Thanks for the heads up btw.

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

You can't! Theoretically you pay the minimum amount to get on the system, wait the 24 -48 hours for the system to acknowledge you again and it should be there next time.. Test will be today..

 

[Spongbob]

I used a MYKI card 2 weeks ago that had credit added in June 2014, and there were no problems.

 

[moa999]

Just a caution to infrequent Myki users.. after 3 months the credit goes into a hold and you can't use it instantly
..

Not experienced that issue myself - a number of times I've jumped on the 901 at the airport having not used Myki for many months

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Ok.. All worked received information from frequent user and it's the internet top up that expires after 3 months..

 

[YSSY]

As a pom coming from London, I've been quite impressed with Opal, I think overall its a good system. The implementation is whats let it down. I also think that Sydney public transport is very good, I think the only issue is keeping up with peak demand.
In London everyone complained about Oyster when it was installed, my friends in Singapore complain about the system there...

Sydney's transport is pretty good.

 

[coriander]

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story!

Let's get a couple of things straight:

1. credit stored on your myki card NEVER expires (never ever, not even after 90 days) and is there for immediate use, no matter how long it's been since your card was last used;

2. If you top up online and don't touch on for 90 days, that credit is removed from the system and is "archived" because the system has not transferred the credit to your card. This is because the system doesn't want lots of incomplete inactive transactions on the system. The myki system holds your credit balance on the card - theoretically this makes touching on/off quicker and doesn't require a network connection to confirm your balance. If you have credit already on your card, you're good to go and any >90 day online top up will be added to your card within 24 hours (though I've found the auto online top up is within minutes lately).

So if you're an infrequent user, make sure you leave, say, $10 credit on your card (not on the system) and you'll always be good to go. As Spongbob confirmed above.

Yes myki cards expire (just like chip-encoded credit cards), and you can swap them over at any premium station "on the spot" with all credit, passes instantly transferred to the new card.