Thank You

a) waving it in front of the reader before you get on (it will deduct one fare and say the number remaining)
b) insert into the big machines at any station (it will say how much is left without deducting a fare)

I did manage to add the fare and did pass my card on the reader before exiting Lucien L’allier, but since it didn’t issue a receipt, I was hoping that if there was a controller passing by, that he’d have an OPUS machine to check that my fare was paid — all I had was my Interac receipt for the fare.

The user-interface on those machines is terminally moronic. First, you have to lookup on the map or the schedule which zone is the station you want to go, then you have to tell the machine you want a ticket for that zone. The machine won’t ask which station you go. Noooo. That would take too many CPU cycles from Windoze that runs the eye-candy on the screen, and that would also killed too many of the few neurons the developpers have left.
In Europe (I know, we’re not in Europe. Here, we’re in North-America, where the morons rule), the ticket machines ask you where do you want to go, you don’t have to kill the few neurons you have left to figure out which fare you have.

It depends what this OPUS card user already has on their card. If they have a monthly TRAM pass they can load a higher zone, but that ticket can only be used in the zone it's valid (in other words, for inbound trips only). For outbound trips, if you're at the machine it will find your monthly TRAM pass first.

For CAM users it's quite simple for the first loaded zone. Any additional zones need to be added with SOLO tickets.

For the occasional (ticket) user is where it becomes complicated. Because a Zone 1, 2 and 3 TRAM-TICKET is valid on an STM bus / train, someone who already has STM bus tickets (which are cheaper, of course) is not able to load Zone 1, 2 and 3 TRAM tickets onto an OPUS card. They're OK for TRAM 4, 5, 6, and 7. The occasional user needs to by Individual SOLO (or OPUS cards) for each Zone (1, 2 and 3) that they want to use.

Ouate de phoque is right!

What would someone with an Opus card do? Can you load zone 2 and zone 4 tickets on the card? If so, fine, but how does the “card reader” (the buzzing machine) validator know where I am going when I board the train downtown? Or do I have to purcha$e another Opus card?

Ouate de phoque???

Abount being stuck in Blainville: The Blainville train station happens to be next to one of the, if not the, most frequent bus route in the Greater Montreal Area outside the STM/RTL. No one can say they're "stranded" at Blainville.

I do agree with you that train station OPUS machines should be able to sell the transit tickets / passes of the transit authority nearby (in your case, the STM). Don't get me started on the bickering between the STM and the AMT (the the STM/STL, STM/RTL, STM/CITSO, the list goes on).

I personally prefer the 9 minute train ride downtown from TMR then the 45 minute bus ride on the 165/535!

One advantage of the old CAM card was that it could be bought in many outlets outside the STM network, such as drugstores and dépanneurs.

I seem to remember hearing somewhere that Jean Coutu was supposed to be installing OPUS machines. Does anybody know anything about this?

(1) I can bet that AMT trains are not exactly popular with tourists and the change-over to the OPUS system won't affect said tourists at all. As a Montrealer, I barely use the trains at all, even though I live right next to one of the stations. And the reason is very simple - the trains are so infrequent, especially on week-ends (4 times a day on Sundays), that I just can't be bothered. Who wants to be stranded in Blainville for hours if one misses their train back? Certainly not tourists.

(2) (slightly off-topic) I live next to the (Town of) Mont-Royal train station which has a swanky & shiny OPUS "vending machine". But silly me, since I only use STM and have a regular CAM loaded on my card, I cannot refill it at that machine (only TRAM/TRAIN and single/ten-pack tickets are sold in there). Why such an arbitrary limitation? That vending machine is basically the only place to refill the OPUS card in a 2km radius and it's an annoyance that all those 165/535 bus ridders like me cannot buy STM passes in there...

http://www.amt.qc.ca/images/opus/Solo_Train_120.jpg

The same big machines you see at metro stations are also at every train station and allow for:

* The purchase of 1 or 6 tickets on a SOLO Card
* Loading of 1 or 6 tickets on an OPUS card
* Loading of at least the Home Zone's monthly TRAM or TRAIN pass on an OPUS Card
* Optionally offer additional zone's monthny TRAM or TRAIN pass on an OPUS Card

Additionally, anyone wanting to use the system at a reduced rate already had (or should have) an OPUS Card. They MUST use their OPUS card to benefit from reduced rate train tickets.

And, there's no more tarif combiné (the combined fare option that allowed a user with a bus/metro transfer to ride the train simply by paying the difference). To make up for it, TRAM 1, 2 and 3 TICKETS loaded onto an OPUS or SOLO card will work when boarding an STM bus or metro.

I hope this clarifies!