Examples of how fares work

In this example, you travel by train from Joondalup Station to Edgewater Station. Because of the short distance, the 2 Sections fare applies. Remember, a 2 Sections fare is for a single one-way journey.

At Joondalup Station, you either tag on with your SmartRider, contactless payment method, or buy a 2 Sections cash ticket. When using the ticket machine, you may either select the 2 Sections fare or use the suburb option.

With SmartRider or contactless payments

With a cash ticket

In this example you travel by train from Joondalup to Perth Underground. 

At Joondalup Station at 10.00 am, you either tag on with your SmartRider, contactless payment method, or buy a Go Anywhere fare cash ticket to travel to Perth Underground Station. Your ticket will allow you to travel for up to three hours, which in this case means it expires at 1.00 pm.

In this example you begin with the same train ride as example 2, departing Joondalup Station at 10.00am en-route to Perth Underground Station. You leave Perth Underground Station to meet a friend for coffee, then return to the station and take a second train to Bull Creek Station.

With SmartRider or contactless payments

If you tag on at Perth Underground Station before 1.00 pm, the system deducts no fare when you tag off at Bull Creek Station. This is because when you tag on at Perth Underground Station you are within the three-hour time limit of the Go Anywhere fare.

If you tag on at Perth Underground Station after 1.00 pm, the system deducts another fare, capped at the DayRider rate, when you tag off at Bull Creek Station as you are outside the original three-hour time limit.

With a cash ticket

If you board a train from Perth Underground Station to Bull Creek before 1.00 pm, you can use the same ticket. It is still valid for travel anywhere within three hours from when you purchased the ticket.

If you board a train from Perth Underground Station to Bull Creek after 1.00 pm, you will need another ticket.

In this example you travel by bus from Joondalup to Perth. You begin by boarding a bus at the stand outside Joondalup Station at 10.00 am, and change buses twice before arriving at Wellington Street, near Perth Underground Station, about 11.45 am.

Although this journey involves riding on three buses and takes longer than the equivalent train journey, you can do it for the same fare. This is because your Go Anywhere fare entitles you to travel anywhere on the network within three hours.

With SmartRider or contactless payments

You need to tag on and off each bus. The system handles the fare calculations. Provided your last tag-on is within three hours of your first, you pay the Go Anywhere fare for the entire journey.

With a cash ticket

You need to tell the driver of the first bus your destination is Perth. The driver charges you the Go Anywhere fare and gives you a ticket that expires in three hours. You can change buses and travel all the way to Perth on that ticket, provided you board each bus before the expiry time.