Travelling on Christmas Day? You’ll be happy to know that public transport will be free from 3am on Thursday December 25 until 3am on Friday December 26. This includes metropolitan trains, trams and buses, as well as V/Line services in Victoria. So, if you’re going to drink a bit of wine or eggnog at the family feast, or if you don’t feel like driving on the day, hop on the train, tram or bus and make your merry way around Victoria without having to pay a cent. This doesn’t include privately operated services like Skybus. Here’s what you need to know.
Public transport on Christmas Day
You won’t need to touch on and off with your myki. But, if you’re travelling long distance on the V/Line, you will still need to get a free ticket before you travel. If you’ve already booked and paid for a ticket, visit your nearest V/Line station to arrange a refund.
Metro trains
- Metro trains will run on a Sunday timetable on Christmas Day.
- Metro Tunnel services will run every 20 minutes between Westall and West Footscray from 10am to 7pm.
- Some Metro Tunnel services will extend to East Pakenham every 40 minutes, and Sunbury every 60 minutes.
- All other trains on the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines will run through the City Loop on a regular Sunday timetable.
Metro trams
- Trams will run every 30 minutes, from the start of the normal Thursday timetable until the Sunday timetable begins. After that, trams will run on a Sunday frequency.
- Night network services will not run.
Metropolitan and regional bus
- Most Metro buses will run on a Sunday timetable, but there will be some exceptions so double check before you go.
- Regional bus services will vary depending on the operator.
- Night network services will not run.
Regional train and coach
V/Line trains will run on a Sunday timetable.
The following V/Line coaches will run on Christmas Day on a normal Sunday timetable. All other coach services are cancelled.
- Lorne/Apollo Bay services will run on a normal Sunday timetable. The Summer Holiday additional coaches will not run on Christmas Day.
- 9:10pm Melbourne to Mildura service
- 10:05pm Mildura to Melbourne service
- 12:03pm Shepparton to Cobram service
- 9:18pm Shepparton to Griffith service
- 5:37am Cobram to Shepparton service
- 12:04pm Griffith to Shepparton service
- 11:01am Melbourne to Leongatha service
- 2:44pm Leongatha to Melbourne service
- 9:16am Dandenong to Cowes service
- 3:14pm Dandenong to Cowes service
- 11:43am Cowes to Dandenong service
- 5:51pm Cowes to Dandenong Service
Ready to go? Start planning your journey here, look up Sunday timetables here or read more about the Christmas Day schedule here. Look out for any unplanned disruptions here.