Re: [Melb] 27% of ticket machine out of order

["Bradley Torr" <truenorth@one.net.au.SPAMTRAP>]

William Pearce <ben_issacs@optusnet.com.au> wrote in article
<3b247a2b$0$25504$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au>...
>     Fellow Travellers,
>     What's the position regarding auto ticket m/cs in Sydney? Do they
there
> suffer the same problems to the same degree that Melb. does?  From some
> comments on this site it seems that they do.

As with all machines, there are occasional problems. However, from my
extensive experience in travelling the CityRail network and using ticket
machines, and from reading the complaints about the Melburnian automated
ticketing system on this newsgroup, I would go so far as to suggest that
Sydney's ticketing system is a thousand times better than the Melbourne
system.

The most common malfunctions with the Sydney ticketing machines at CityRail
stations are:

* An uncanny ability of the note acceptors on some machines to keep
rejecting banknotes even if the banknote is crisp and clean and newly
circulated, and even if you feed the banknote in the correct direction;

* They only ever give change in coins - so if you're buying a $1.10 ticket
with a $20 note, you better be prepared for a heavy wallet;

* Change often runs low and so you need exact change;

* Sometimes the ticket printing apparatus runs low on ink, making the text
on the ticket nearly illegible.

Small fry problems, really. The machines are built like Panzers, they seem
to be almost vandal proof. If only the same could be said about the rest of
the CityRail system.....

In all my travels, I've never been issued an incorrect ticket, been given
the wrong change, or had a machine break down on me. Other CityRail
travellers may well have their own experiences, I can only speak for
myself.

Regards
BT