Sydney Trains installs 'paid zones' concerning commuters they'll be fined for walking inside tunnels

A collection of bizarre ‘paid zone’ stickers have emerged across New South Wales train stations, concerning commuters they’ll be charged for simply walking through a tunnel. 

Transport NSW have introduced new paid zone strips at 46 ungated stations across the Sydney Trains network and at Rose Bay Ferry wharf as part of a program to catch fare evaders. 

The grey stickers have been spotted strategically placed at the entrance of station tunnels warning travelers that ‘tickets may be checked beyond this point’. 

New ‘paid zone’ stickers have been spotted across 46 ungated stations on the Sydney Trains network (pictured)

The Summer Hill station now have the new paid zone stickers inside the tunnels (pictured) 

The installment of the paid zone strips at Cabramatta station’s railway bridge in Sydney’s south west has raised concerns for locals as the elderly community regularly use the overpass.    

A Cabramatta resident said they were ‘not sure as to why these stickers have been laid down’. 

‘It just leads to confusion for some people, especially the elderly or people that can’t read English properly,’ they wrote on a community Facebook page.  

‘Please be aware and let your parents/grandparents that use this bridge know that they will not be charged for simply crossing over.’

The paid zone stickers are also installed at Summer Hill station, leaving commuters baffled as to whether they’ll be fined for using the public bathrooms inside.

The new paid zones were also introduced at the Cabramatta Railway Bridge that is regularly used by elderly residents (pictured) 

‘Lucky these days you can just reverse your tap off. Did it at Central as the bathrooms are in the paid section. Tap on go to bathroom then reverse the tap off,’ one commuter said on Reddit. 

‘I do this occasionally- the fully contained toilets at Wynyard and Martin Place are some of the best public toilets in the city,’ another agreed. 

This hack allows people to enter train stations to use the public toilets, but avoid being charged a fare as they soon tap out at the very same station. 

According to Transport NSW: ‘If you change your mind about travelling, you can reverse your tap on to avoid getting charged. 

‘Reverse your tap on within 30 minutes by tapping your Opal card, single trip ticket, contactless card or linked device at any Opal reader at the same location you tapped on.’

But other savvy Sydneysiders had even more inventive ideas. 

‘The real hack is finding the corporate buildings on Phillip and Pitt Street that allow free access to a floor with a toilet,’ a traveler recommended. 

Another commuter believed it was a strategy to tell homeless people to ‘move along’ out of the station. 

‘Basically the law says staff/cops can hassle you to check if you’ve tapped on, and you have to hope they buy that you’re just passing though as a ‘reasonable excuse,’ they said. 

‘I think the answer is far more likely to have something to do with stopping people from simply claiming “I was just walking through the tunnel’ to avoid getting a ticket,” another refuted.   

Transport NSW confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that the strips are used as a ‘communication to tool remind customers to tap on before using public transport.’ 

‘The paid zone signage reminds customers travelling on the public transport network that they need to tap on and off to avoid a fine,’ a Transport NSW spokesperson said. 

Transport NSW confirmed that the new strips (pictured) will not limit access or use of tunnels and walkways and no fines have been issued to customers 

‘These strips have been positioned near Fixed Location Readers to increase the visibility of the readers to customers.’

Transport NSW said the new strips will not limit access or use of tunnels and walkways and no fines have been issued to customers.  

‘Transport for NSW does not intend to issue fines to customers using the tunnel as a thoroughfare.’