Free PT until end of May, then half price until the end of 2026.
The government must invest in more services, to help the system cope with demand, and to ensure people most affected by high petrol prices in Melbourne's outer suburbs and regional Victoria have a public transport option they can use.
Passengers at Town Hall station waiting for a train
Passengers at a bus stop
Passengers boarding a tram
UITP graphic: World Public Transport Day banner: One day. Millions of journeys. Join the world on 17 April 2026 as we celebrate public transport and how it connects us - to work, to life, to each other. #WorldPublicTransportDay
World Public Transport Day is today, 17 April 2026!
Frequent, reliable, accessible, affordable, better public transport helps people get to where they're going quickly, safely and efficiently.
Find out more: worldpublictransport...
#WorldPublicTransportDay
A train at Paisley station on 27th November 1983. Picture by Warren Banfield. Source: https://www.victorianrailways.net/photogallery/suburb/hitpais.html
Paisley station closed 41 years ago today, on 14th April 1985.
With the Werribee line getting busier, and the western suburbs crying out for more public transport options, now would be a great time to re-open it.
You can sign the petition here: www.parliament.vic.g...
Hawthorn station pre-electrification. via https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/node/66359
Hawthorn station
🎂🚉Happy 165th birthday to Hawthorn station, opened 13th April 1861.
The Belgrave/Lilydale line has a confusing myriad of stopping patterns, and fewer services interpeak on weekdays than on weekends. A rewrite of the timetable is overdue, to make the service easier to understand and easier to use.
ABC news story: Government launches multi-million-dollar fuel saving campaign https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-11/government-launches-multi-million-dollar-fuel-saving-campaign/106555004
Bus timetable showing no service on Sundays
The best way to help people reduce their fuel use is to give them more options.
We look forward to seeing more investment in walking, cycling and public transport in the upcoming Federal and State budgets. #auspol
Steamrail isn't free like V/Line is right now, but at least you know you'll get a seat!
If people are trying out public transport during the free period, it's as important as ever that they have a good experience to encourage them to become regular users. Overcrowded and unreliable services don't help. State Govt and the transport operators need to do better.
People boarding a tram
It's World Health Day!
Public transport (and walking/biking to the stop or station) are healthier for people than driving, and also help reduce air pollution, with health benefits for everyone.
Read more about the benefits of using public transport here: link.springer.com/ar...
More passengers on board is a good thing, but some services aren't coping. The Government must boost capacity wherever possible, and reinstate V/Line seat bookings for those who need them.
Sunday bus timetable. "No service"
Free or not free, if the bus is not running today, you can't catch it.
In Melbourne and in regional towns, dozens of buses don't run 7 days a week, including some routes serving major shopping centres.
"Vampire" index, Australian Urban Observatory, showing Melbourne's suburbs
This map of household cost-of-living stress and car dependency is more important than ever right now. Public transport services in the most affected areas are inadequate. Government should be doing what they can to boost them. Even just running the buses more often can help a lot to provide options.
AI image of people on zip lines from a city building
Zip lines to Fishermans Bend: With the State Government failing to commit to major public transport upgrades into the growing precinct, such as the Metro 2 tunnel or even tram extensions, a plan has emerged to run zip lines into the area. ptua.org.au/posts/20...
The free PT month is an opportunity for government to improve services so more people can make use of the offer, and to look at fare reform (such as short trip fares and automatic weekly caps) to make public transport more cost-competitive with driving on a permanent basis. ptua.org.au/posts/20...
Myki card
Screen grab from Transport Victoria web site: "myki passes will not be charged during the free travel period and will be extended in the background before paid travel recommences without needing to contact Transport Victoria."
Do you use a prepaid Myki Pass, such as a 4+ week or yearly Commuter Club Pass? There's been some confusion over the April free period, but the Government tells us you don't have to do anything - Passes will be automatically extended.
Official info: transport.vic.gov.au...
Announced this morning: Free public transport in #Melbourne and across Victoria for the month of April.
It'll clearly benefit those who can use or switch to the PT network. Not so much the people who don't have a usable service they can use.
Bus with a tram icon in the display, marked as Cruise Ship Express 109.
Hello! I'm a bus🚌 pretending to be a tram🚋 that used to be a train🚆 connecting to a ship🚢.
Frequent services, legible networks, Tap and Go payment options, good connections and walkable neighbourhoods can all help tourists and locals alike get around without driving.👍
Diagram of area around Malvern, Caulfield, Chadstone, Ashburton, highlighting lack of local public transport connections.
View of Carnegie station and new apartment block
More housing around public transport is a good idea, but needs more than just good CBD rail access. For many of the proposed precincts, good PT services aren't in place to support local and cross-suburban trips, leaving residents having to drive. #Melbourne
Unsafe tram stops that motorists drive through
Windows you can't properly see out of
Lack of platform stops for accessibility
So many upgrades needed for our tram system
Chart showing train frequencies on Sunday mornings, 2025 vs 2026. Sunbury, Cranbourne, Pakenham have improved; Craigieburn and Upfield soon.
More frequent services and reduced waiting times mean more people can use public transport for more trips - important with petrol prices rising fast.
Good to see progress on this - some #Melbourne rail lines improved already; some soon. What about the others?
Poster for Public Transport Fares, with no prices shown, just a QR code. In the background is a KMart ad for a product priced at $5.
In a railway station, where the KMart ads have prices, but the PTV fare posters don't.
QR codes can be useful, but for this? Why require people to have a smartphone and navigate the web site just to see the fares?
In the face of rising petrol prices, some people can switch to public transport, but for many others, there just aren't adequate services to make PT a viable option.
Only better services can make public transport useable for more people.
Electric locomotive hauled train, with a sign on it: First electric passenger train between Melbourne and Traralgon March 14th 1956. Source: Public Record Office Victoria. VPRS 12800/P0001 https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/63FCDE06-F7DD-11E9-AE98-6D39FED49D19/content?image=1
The spike in fuel prices reminds us that Victoria once had electric regional trains, Melbourne to Traralgon 1956-1987.
Planning and funding electrification for V/Line, starting with the busiest lines, would help protect against future cost spikes, help cut emissions, and improve air quality.🚆⚡
Photo of Ed Sheeran and the XPT train he caught from Sydney to Melbourne
Happy World Sleep Day! 😴
Although you can't sleep while driving, you can on PT (T&Cs apply). Fatigue is a major cause of road crashes, particularly in rural and regional areas. Be like Ed - leave the driving to a professional and get some shut eye. Sleeper train optional. worldsleepday.org/
Bus stop sign for Footscray Hospital. Another sign in the background: Footscray Hospital has moved.
Sometimes the routes don't change, but the landmarks do. Keeping public transport information up to date - including stop names, journey planners, timetables and on-board displays - is important to help people find their way around the network.
A passenger trying to stay dry under a small shelter on a narrow platform at South Kensington station
🎂🚉Happy 135th birthday to South Kensington station, opened 11th March 1891.
The service is more frequent than most in Melbourne, with a train every 10 minutes for most of the day, every day. Just don't count on finding much shelter if it's raining or hot in the sun.☔🌞 Time for an upgrade?
Public transport is not just about infrastructure - service is vital. How often does it run? How late does it run? Do the routes form a usable network?
PTUA's @tonybmorton.bsky.social in the recent Infrastructure Victoria webinar.
Watch it here: www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/resources/ac...
Would bimodal trains be the best option for Victoria? Probably not with our current network. But the State Government should be planning and funding conversion of the busiest parts of the V/Line network to electricity.🚆⚡
NSW bimodal regional train being tested. By Jenper via Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_R_set#/media/File:R2-Clarendon-18May25-Edited.jpg
V/Line VLocity diesel trains at Southern Cross Station
With oil prices skyrocketing, NSW must be glad its new bimodal (diesel and electric) long distance trains are getting closer to entering service. Meanwhile V/Line is still running a last century design that is 100% reliant on global oil supplies.🛢️📈
The colouring is a bit clumsy! Outer part of T2 is every 15 mins. Inner part is not, but combined with other lines all stations achieve it. Intersecting T3 and T5 lines are less frequent.
