The council’s chairman has campaigned on electronic ticketing since the last millennium, Staples said.
“I think it’s going to revolutionise how people use our public transport.”
Paper ticket sales at stations will cease on December 31, but rail customers without Snapper cards will still be able to pay their fares onboard with cash.
Snapper on rail went live on the Kāpiti line at the weekend and will be available for Melling, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa trains from November 27.
Transport Minister Michael Wood said more people needed to travel by public transport to decongest cities and reduce carbon emissions.
He said being able to use Snapper on trains would help make public transport easier to use for people with busy lives.
“When I talk to people about New Zealand’s public transport system, people have still sometimes expressed some disbelief to me that we still do paper tickets on a critical part of our public transport system in our nation’s capital.”
The launch was held at Wellington’s central train station, which was busy and loud with commuters wandering in and out. Wood joked the speakers hired for the event looked like they came from the last ACDC concert, but he was pleased everyone in the station could hopefully hear what they were talking about.
The total cost of Snapper on rail is $18m, including $10m for ongoing operating costs.
However, the move comes with a catch - the electronic ticketing system isn’t integrated.
It means some people travelling by train will miss out on free bus connections because the system doesn’t register transfers between different modes of public transport.
The system has been labelled a missed opportunity and unfair to train users because transfers between buses can be made for no extra cost.
Metlink general manager Samantha Gain said electronic ticketing was an important first step and once it had time to bed in, the council would look at integrated ticketing.
Snapper chief executive Miki Szikszai said the company supported integrated fares.
“We are standing by to support Metlink should they decide to extend the integrated fares policy to the rail network in due course.”
Gain said they would need to see how long it might take, considering the introduction of a National Ticketing Solution.
The solution will create one single payment system when travelling on buses, trains and ferries nationwide.
It’s due to start being rolled out in Canterbury in 2024 and will mean people can pay for public transport using contactless debit or credit cards, as well as digital payment methods like Apple Pay or Google Pay, while still offering the option of using a prepaid transit card.
It’s then expected to be in Wellington by 2026.
