Portfolio — 10 July 2026

The Minister for Public and Active Transport, Ms Williams, announced on 10 July that tap-and-go payment technology will be available at every train station across Victoria later this year, marking a significant extension of the system beyond the metropolitan network [TA-260710-vicmed-56859960c528]. The immediate focus is on regional connectivity: 108 new myki readers are being installed across 37 V/Line stations that currently rely on paper tickets or e-tickets, bringing stations serving destinations such as Bairnsdale, Wangaratta, Albury, Shepparton, Echuca, Swan Hill, Maryborough, Ararat, and Warrnambool into the contactless payment system.

Passengers travelling on V/Line services will be able to tap a bank card, phone, or smartwatch to purchase unreserved fares, while seat reservations remain available on services where they are offered. Concession, senior, and under-18 passengers will continue to use concession or Youth myki cards, preserving existing access arrangements for fare-concession holders.

The ministerial media release situates the V/Line rollout within a broader momentum story: more than one million tap-and-go trips have been recorded since the system launched last month, with four in five of those trips completed using a phone or smartwatch rather than a physical card. That uptake figure provides the government with a concrete metric to justify accelerating the rollout.

The next phase extends tap-and-go to myki-enabled buses later this month, meaning all three major modes — metropolitan trains, regional rail, and buses — will carry the technology within weeks. Running alongside the payment technology rollout, the Victorian Government's half-price public transport fare offer continues until the end of the year, with the government stating regular commuters will save more than $850.

The two measures — frictionless payment and reduced fares — form the dual pillars of the portfolio's current public-facing positioning on access and affordability.