State government announces 450 extra services to Victoria’s train network

Hundreds of new services and discounts to myki fares are among some of the “biggest changes in a decade” to Victoria’s train network.

Hundreds of new train services will be added to Melbourne’s timetable – as well as major fare discounts – in a shake-up hailed as the biggest change to metropolitan rail travel in years.

The Victorian government will provide an extra 450 train services every week under a timetable redesign that aims to further spread train times across the day.

Of the new services, 280 will be in metropolitan Melbourne and are expected to provide capacity for an extra 100,000 passengers each week.

There will be 170 new regional services.

The state government also expects the changes to reduce overcrowding for more than 24,000 passengers, with 7100 fewer people forced to stand.

Myki fares will also be discounted in a bid to encourage more passengers during off-peak times. Picture: Darrian Traynor/NCA Newswire

The new timetable will come into effect on January 31, 2021.

To encourage passengers to travel during quieter times and physically distance, off-peak fares will be discounted for three months.

From January 31, anyone using myki money between 9.30am and 4pm or after 7pm on weekdays will receive a 30 per cent discount.

The new services will increase capacity on the Cranbourne, Pakenham, Frankston, Werribee, Williamstown, Upfield, Craigieburn and Sunbury lines to prepare the metropolitan network for the opening of the Metro Tunnel.

But the state government expects passengers “to adjust the way they travel on some metropolitan lines”, with Cranbourne and Pakenham line passengers travelling in an anticlockwise direction through the City Loop all day.

Frankston services will not run via the City Loop until the Metro Tunnel is open in 2025, instead running straight to Flinders Street and Southern Cross then through to Werribee.

Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll said today’s rail announcement was the biggest timetable change in a decade. Picture: Darrian Traynor/NCA Newswire

Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll said it was the “biggest timetable change in a decade”.

“We know COVID-normal will see people travelling differently than in the past – working from home arrangements, more services and a discount for off-peak travel will make it easier for people to stagger their trips,” he said on Tuesday.

“This is just the first step in the massive improvements Victorians will see to our transport network, with new bigger, better trains as we prepare to deliver the Metro Tunnel and our upgrades of every regional rail line still to come.”