The Daily Advertiser story about train services from Wagga, their cost, the inconvenient times, and the lack of frequency in comparison to VicRail services from Albury, didn’t really attract my attention.
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I like riding on the train, but the departure time in the middle of the night is uncivilised.
The day train’s arrival time in Sydney is not really useful, either.
So it’s been a while since I’ve used the XPT.
Even then, if I didn’t have a Seniors’ Card the cost would not compete with going in the car.
Trains are not really a proposition except for those who have no other choice.
That is, unless you live in Sydney.
Seniors in the country are being robbed, not only in cash terms, but in our ability to enjoy ourselves by travelling long distances cheaply.
A few weeks ago I had to travel to St Vincents for a middle-of-the-day appointment.
I arranged to stay at my brother’s place in the Southern Highlands the night before.
My idea was that I would drive into Sydney the next morning after the peak hour.
“Don’t you have a Seniors’ Opal Card?” my brother asked.
I explained that Opal Cards didn’t work in Wagga, although I sometimes pay $2.50 on the bus to ride around town with my grand kids, just for fun, but we pay the driver.
“Then apply for a Seniors’ Opal Card,” he suggested.
“I use mine all the time.
“From here I can travel all day for $2.50, on any public transport, as many times as I like.
“We’ll go by train, and I’ll show you what I mean!” he added.
An Opal Card is needed for travel in Sydney these days.
So I rang the phone number to apply. A very patient and courteous lady talked me through the procedure, but no, I couldn’t use my new Seniors’ Opal Card until it had been sent to me in the post.
I explained that my wife Cheryl has a regular Opal Card.
Could I check the balance in Wagga? No, not in Wagga. “Young, Canberra, Queanbeyan and Parkes. Are they near you?”
So on our way to the train we stopped at a newsagent.
I added $20 to the balance. We “tapped on” at the station, and we were away. On the train I couldn’t help but notice that almost every passenger would have been travelling on some type of concession card.
My day out cost me $27, travelling with an ordinary Opal Card. My brother paid $2.50 with the Seniors’ Opal Card. “Sydney” these days stretches to Goulburn, Lithgow, Kiama, and Newcastle.
If any one of us with a Seniors’ Opal Card lived within that greater Sydney area we could travel all day for $2.50.
So from Goulburn we could have a Seniors’ day out to Newcastle and return, about 350km each way, all for $2.50 each.
Compare that $2.50, 700km, fun day out for Goulburn Seniors with our 450km XPT to Sydney. Where is the Wagga equivalent?
In the country we are being robbed. We don’t have frequent train or coach services for a start.
We don’t get any “all day” $2.50 rides to anywhere, unless of course it’s around town in the bus.
I think country Seniors have a case to demand the almost free travel over long distances that Seniors in the city enjoy.