Ashley Gardiner | August 08, 2008
THE troubled myki smartcard ticket system is being tested on Melbourne's rail network.
Testing at stations in the eastern suburbs began last week.
It is the first time the smartcard system, which is behind schedule and over budget, has been used in metropolitan Melbourne.
Testing by contractor Kamco, under Transport Ticketing Authority supervision, will begin on city trams and buses in coming weeks.
Adrian Darwent, a spokesman for the authority, said yesterday the present round of testing would continue until at least the end of next month.
"Kamco is currently conducting a series of environmental tests at train stations," he said.
"The tests are confirming (and) testing the functionality of the devices in the field."
The trial is taking place at East Camberwell, Canterbury, Chatham and Mont Albert stations.
Mr Darwent said the system would be tested separately on the train, tram and bus systems, before "multi-modal" trips were tried; for example, a bus trip followed by a train journey.
"It is still very early days of testing and no definitive test results are available yet," Mr Darwent said.
"(The ticketing authority) will release the results of the tests at an appropriate time."
The myki system was intended to be fully operational last year.
The cost to taxpayers has risen by $350 million to $850 million.
The ticketing authority has come in for criticism, including allegations about the tender process and its former chief executive, Vivian Miners.
The authority was left red-faced recently when, during a media stunt, a myki device malfunctioned in front of Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky.
Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said the system would need to earn the confidence of the travelling public.
"They've got a hell of a long way to go for a complete myki roll-out," he said. "And they've got a hell of a long way to go before we see commuters carrying myki cards and being confident the system is capable of handling their money."
Herald Sun