When Sydney Trains chief executive officer Howard Collins addressed AusRAIL Plus 2015 in November last year, his big push was for a smarter and more secure railway, and the operator’s new scheme to let commuters use their Opal cards to lock away their bicycles is just the latest move to make that happen.
Transport for NSW has announced that Opal card users can now tap on and tap off in ‘Opal-activated’ bike storage sheds that are opening across the railway network as a way to encourage cycling to stations with a convenient place to keep their bike once they hop on a train.
NSW Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said the first rollout has begun and more will follow.
“We’ve been seeing the popularity of riding to train stations growing and we want to encourage more people to embrace cycling to help ease demand for car parking spaces at stations,” Mr Constance said.
He said riding can definitely be more attractive and convenient when there’s proper storage available at the station.
The first ‘Opal-activated’ bike storage areas are available for use now at Blacktown and Woy Woy train stations. Construction of a bike shed has begun at Parramatta Station and another at Campbelltown Station is due to start construction next week.
More locations will be rolled out progressively including Liverpool, Gosford, Hornsby, Penrith and Redfern.
Mr Constance said use of the new storage areas is free and simple, all customers need to do is link their Opal card through the bike lockers website and they’ll have access to any of the other bike sheds we introduce in the future as well.
“More stations will be considered for bike storage in future rollouts as we monitor customer use,” Mr Constance said.
Customers can register their Opal card for bike shed access or find the most convenient bike shed location by visiting www.bikelockers.com.au
