Passengers taking the Maryborough train line to and from Ballarat and Melbourne are still using paper tickets and it appears they will be doing so indefinitely.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The rail line from Ballarat to Maryborough and return passes through Creswick, Clunes and Talbot Stations and passengers boarding at Maryborough and the smaller stations are required to have a paper ticket.
There are Myki card readers installed at some stations that are not yet operational.
The Maryborough line was reopened for passengers on 24 July 2010 by then-Premier John Brumby, after having been closed for about 17 years.
When asked whether there was a deadline for the paper-to-Myki changeover, Public Transport Victoria spokesperson John Lindsay said a review was being undertaken of regional transport fares through the Regional Network Development Plan “in a bid to achieve greater simplicity across the network.”
"As part of this, opportunities to further roll out myki throughout regional Victoria will also be assessed,” he said.
Mr Lindsay said passengers were required to buy a paper ticket for long-distance trains and buses outside the V/Line myki boundary, on V/Line coach services and for interstate travel.
He said all paper tickets purchased to and from Melbourne included travel in metropolitan Melbourne and that people could purchase tickets at ticket agents and designated Metro stations.
If boarding at an unstaffed V/Line station or from a roadside coach stop, passengers can then buy a ticket from the train conductor or coach driver.
There are conductors on board V/Line services, who go through the carriages and check paper tickets in much the same way they check myki cards, Mr Lindsay said.
Clunes woman, Dorothy said she catches the train once or twice a week to Ballarat and has to ensure she has cash with her to buy her paper ticket.
If she wants to go on to Melbourne from Ballarat, she can use the paper ticket all the way but also has her Myki card in case, while in Melbourne.
Dorothy said it adds another layer of organisation but she has become accustomed to finding the dedicated paper ticketing queues and to explaining at ticketing barriers.
Mr Lindsay said Maryborough is not the only station that uses paper tickets and passengers still need V/Line paper tickets on services to and from long-distance stations, including services from:
- Ballarat/Wendouree to Creswick, Clunes, Talbot and Maryborough, as well as Beaufort and Ararat.
- Waurn Ponds, to Winchelsea, Birregurra, Colac, Camperdown, Terang, Sherwood Park and Warrnambool.
- Seymour to Nagambie, Murchison East, Mooroorpna and Shepparton, as well as Avenal, Euroa, Violet Town, Benalla, Wangaratta, Springhurst, Chilern, Wodonga and Albury.
- Traralgon (Rosedale, Sale, Stratford, Bairnsdale.
- Bendigo (Epsom, Elmore, Rochester and Echuca, as well as Eaglehawk, Dingee, Pyramid, Kerang and Swan Hill)
- More information: ptv.vic.gov.au/regionaltickets