Fair weekly fares and gold standard for seniors continue for Opal network

To help offset the cost-of-living crunch on households, maximum weekly fares on public transport will stay capped at $50 for the seventh year when annual Opal fare variations come into effect next month.

Transport for NSW Secretary Josh Murray said fares across the Opal network will be changing from Monday 14 July with prices increasing on average by 2.5 per cent. However, weekly caps, and senior and pensioner daily cap will stay the same, giving commuters and regular riders confidence to plan their travel budgets.

“While a small increase in fares is necessary to help recover some of the cost of running the network, we’ve leveraged the discounts available to us to protect the hip pockets of those most reliant on our public transport system,” Mr Murray said.

“There will be no change to the weekly caps which will remain at $50 for adult passengers and $25 for concession card holders and children. Seniors and pensioners will continue to enjoy their $2.50 daily cap, which hasn’t risen since Opal commenced in 2012.”

The annual fare adjustment aligns with new parameters set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to peg Opal fare increases to inflation.

Individual Opal fares and daily caps will increase by 3.2 per cent in line with the average annual Sydney CPI as at December 2024. However, discounts and benefits including the weekly travel cap and the Senior/Pensioner Gold daily cap reduce this to an average increase of 2.5 per cent for passengers.

“We’ve done our best to minimise the impact on passengers and the 14 July changes will see average weekly adult travel costs go up by an average of $0.50, and less than $1 for 99 per cent of passengers” Mr Murray said.

Adult Daily caps will increase to $19.30 per day Monday to Thursday ($9.65 for Concession Opal cards), and $9.65 per day Friday to Sunday ($4.80 Concession).

The Station Access Fee set by the Airport Link Company for using the Domestic and International Airport train stations will also increase to $17.92 for adults and $16.03 for child/youth, concessions, and senior fares.

For more information about Opal fares visit transportnsw.info/opal. Fare estimates for multimodal trips can be calculated ahead of the changes, from early July, at transportnsw.info/trip.

Examples of Adult Opal fares before and after 14 July 2025