Lindy See, owner of the Maitland Railway Cafe, makes great coffee and cakes – and this week she made history too.
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Ms See is the only retailer in the Maitland local government area to sell Opal cards.
These cards are part of the NSW government’s $1.7 billion transport ticketing system that does away with a range of train tickets and Ms See gives them to passengers.
People then pay an amount and these sums are registered on the cards in the cafe, which records the credit for train trips.
The new system came into effect on Monday.
But because the cards are not available at train stations yet, Ms See has had dozens of visitors from Morisset and Singleton, who cannot buy the Opal cards anywhere else.
“It all began about 18 months ago when I spoke to some technicians installing electricity on poles around here,” Ms See said yesterday.
“They told me the Opal cards would be selling soon and I didn’t know anything about them.
“I thought they were a good idea, so I rang the Opal people and later I was made an approved agent.”
Ms See has been selling the cards since August and was surprised to hear she was the only retailer in the Maitland area selling them.
“On Monday we sold a lot of credit for these cards and today the demand has been good too,” she said.
“I didn’t apply to sell credit for the cards to make money – I did it to provide an extra service to people.
“I don’t make much money from this either; I get a small commission.
“The minimum credit amount for children is $5 and for adults, it is $10.
“I was surprised to find I am the only retailer in Maitland to stock these Opal cards.
“Because I am right next to Maitland train station, I thought this service could help travelling people.
“And maybe they would try my coffee – and come back– because it tastes so good.”