Seniors hoarding excursion tickets before Opal Card deadline

Seniors groups have called on the State Government to delay the changes while infrastructure is upgraded to allow better access to top-up services.

Only 27 per cent of the state's 314 Opal-enabled stations have top-up machines, and for more than 30 per cent of stations without machines the nearest top-up point is more than one kilometre away.

Trading hours for shops that could top up Opal cards vary significantly, because many are small, family-run businesses.

From January 1, paper tickets including the TravelTen for buses, the Pensioner Excursion Ticket and Family Funday Sunday will no longer be available.

Seniors who hold a Gold Opal Card will still have access to the $2.50 excursion fare, but many are still hesitant about making the switch.

"They want us to be in a cashless society, but I don't even have a computer for a start," Bligh Park man Neville McItosh, 78, said.

Retiree Ellen Karas said some people she knew were stocking up on paper excursion tickets while they were still available.

"I know someone who bought 15 of them because it would do them well into the new year and they don't want to use Opal," she said.

Basic single or return paper tickets will still be available after January 1, but 57 types of special and concession tickets will cease.

Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association research and advocacy manager Amelia Christie said older people needed accessible top-up points at all stations.

"Many pensioners have no alternative except to top up at Opal card machines because they may not always have enough money in the bank for automatic top-ups," she said.

"It is unreasonable to expect an older person or a person with a disability to travel more than a kilometre from a train station simply to purchase a ticket for travel.

"The government needs to sort out these issues before they take away paper tickets.

"They need to make sure public transport is accessible for everyone - it is public transport for a reason."