Cubic and Transport for New South Wales Extend Contactless Payment to Sydney’s Trains

Cubic Corporation has announced that its Cubic Transportation Systems business division and Transport for New South Wales will expand the contactless payment system to cover the city’s train network, following its success on Sydney’s ferries and light rail. Some of the contactless technology, software and equipment developed for Sydney will also be included in Cubic projects to be rolled out over the next few years in cities like New York, Boston and San Francisco, as a result of recent Cubic contract wins.

“Expanding contactless in Sydney is a game-changer for transport and represents one of the biggest advancements in ticketing technology in years,” said Tom Walker, senior vice president and managing director of CTS, Asia-Pacific. “We’re very proud that Sydney is helping to lead the way by embracing new technologies to provide the best services possible for passengers.”

The project was led and engineered by Transport for New South Wales and the CTS Asia-Pacific team based in Sydney, supported by Cubic’s global teams, beginning with a trial on the Manly ferry service in 2017.

More than 235,000 trips have been taken in Sydney using contactless payments since the system was extended to all ferries and light rail in March this year.

“This effort is a tremendous achievement, driven by New South Wales Transport and Infrastructure Minister for Transport Andrew Constance’s vision of using the most advanced technologies available to improve transport for commuters,” added Walker.

The technology gives commuters a wider choice to pay for ticketing including credit cards, smart watches, wearables and other electronic devices, alongside the popular Opal card.

The Sydney contactless or open payment system is based on ticketing technology Cubic pioneered with Transport for London (TfL), that’s readily adaptable to meet the unique environmental and regulatory conditions of cities around the world.