Victoria will get free public transport every weekend this summer

Melbourne’s free transport zone will get a whole lot bigger this summer. In fact, it will cover the entire state of Victoria.

Victoria is already known for its accessible public transport, with a free tram zone in Melbourne comprising the CBD, Docklands and the Queen Victoria Market. But this summer, the whole public transport network across the state of Victoria will be completely free each and every weekend until 1 February.

This new initiative, dubbed ‘The Summer Start’ will launch in early December, right in time for the opening of Melbourne’s brand new $15 billion Metro Tunnel. After almost a decade of planning and building, the completed tunnel will run between South Yarra and South Kensington and comprise five new underground stations. Its goal is to connect existing suburban train lines (specifically the Sunbury and Cranbourne/Pakenham lines), with the new tunnel acting as a corridor that bypasses the City Loop, making all services more efficient.

Melbourne tram — Melbourne has had a free tram zone for over a decade. (Image: Matt Zhang/Unsplash)

“The Metro Tunnel will cut congestion and get you to work, uni and home sooner – and it opens in early December," said Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan.

When the Metro Tunnel opens, services through the tunnel will run mainly between West Footscray and Westall, with an extended timetable to launch 1 February 2026. Dubbed ‘The Big Switch’, this will see the reconfiguration of services through the tunnel, and will be a major overhaul to Melbourne’s transport, introducing a new timetable across buses, trams, regional and metropolitan trains.

But before things switch up for good, Melburnians and Victorians can enjoy public transport for free – every tram, bus, city train and regional train from the first to last service over the weekend.

“This is our way of saying thanks to everyone for their patience while we built the Metro Tunnel – and to celebrate this huge moment in the history of our state," added Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Gabrielle Williams.

The new Metro Tunnel is set to improve services network-wide. (Image: Nao Takabayashi/Unsplash)

There have been previous short-term experiments with free transport, such as the 12-day fare-free period in Sydney in 2022 amid strike action. The data showed a spike in public transport trips around Sydney and a boost to consumer spending. The hope is that the Victoria’s free transport will be a boon for both passengers and the economy, making its easier for people to get out and about and enjoy what the state has to offer this summer.

“We’re saying thank you Victoria – with free PT every weekend this summer," Jacinta Allan said. “Everyone, everywhere, every weekend, free until Feb 1. The biggest free transport bonanza in Victoria’s history."

A town charmingly paused in time has become a hot mountain biking destination.

There’s a forest reserve full of eucalyptus and pines surrounding town – when you combine all the greenery with a main street of grand old buildings still standing from the Victorian Gold Rush, Creswick looks more period movie set than a 21st-century town.

old gold bank Victoria — Grand buildings from the Victorian gold rush. (Image: Visit Victoria)

This entire region of Victoria – the Central Goldfields – is as pretty-as-a-picture, but there’s something extra-special about Creswick. I used to live 30 minutes north; I’d drive in some evenings to cruise its main street at dusk, and pretend I was travelling back in time.

It was sleepy back then, but that’s changed. Where I used to walk through its forest, now I’m hurtling down the state’s best new mountain bike trails. There’s a 60-kilometre network of mountain bike trails – dubbed Djuwang Baring – which make Creswick the state’s hottest new mountain biking destination.

Meet Victoria’s new mountain biking capital

Creswick bike trail — This historic town has become a mountain biking hotspot.

Victoria has a habit of turning quiet country towns into mountain biking hotspots. I was there in the mid-2000s when the tiny Otways village of Forrest embarked on an ambitious plan to save itself (after the death of its timber cutting industry) courtesy of some of the world’s best mountain bike trails. A screaming success it proved to be, and soon mountain bike trails began popping up all over Victoria.

I’m no expert, so I like that a lot of Creswick’s trails are as scenic as they are challenging. I prefer intermediate trails, such as Down Martuk, with its flowing berms and a view round every corner. Everyone from outright beginners to experts can be happy here. There’s trails that take me down technical rock sections with plenty of bumps. But there’s enough on offer to appeal to day-trippers, as much as hard-core mountain-bikers.

I love that the trails empty onto that grand old main street. There’s bars still standing from the Gold Rush of the 1850s I can refuel at. Like the award-winning Farmers Arms, not to be confused with the pub sharing its name in Daylesford. It’s stood since 1857. And The American Creswick built two years later, or Odessa Wine Bar, part of Leaver’s Hotel in an 1856-built former gold exchange bank.

The Woodlands is set on a large bushland property. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)

Creswick is also full of great cafes and restaurants, many of them set in the same old buildings that have stood for 170 years. So whether you’re here for the rush of the trails or the calm of town life, Creswick provides.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

Inside the Woodlands, a chic 1970s log cabin. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)

RACV Goldfields Resort is a contemporary stay with a restaurant, swimming pool and golf course. The Woodlands in nearby Lal Lal comprises a chic log cabin set on a 16-hectare property abundant in native wildlife.

Eating there

Le Peche Gourmand makes for the perfect pitstop for carb and sugar-loading.

The menu at Odessa at Leaver’s Hotel includes some Thai-inspired fare. Fuel up for your ride on baguettes and pastries from French patisserie Le Peche Gourmand . The Farmers Arms has been a much-loved local institution since 1857.

Playing there

Creswick State Forest has a variety of hiking trails, including a section of the 210-kilometre-long Goldfields Track. Miss Northcotts Garden is a quaint garden store with tea room.

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