If you have the time - Train/Bus Melbourne to Canberra

[serfty]

There was an AFF lunch in Canberra earlier this month that I wished to attend.

So as per normal, research began on flight options. I soon recoiled - either too expensive or at timings best described as unfriendly. Where awards were available they too were pretty poor value. (I have come to the conclusion that with carrier charges these days, domestic awards are basically unviable unless you are points rich - which I am not.)

On a whim I started playing around with land transport options and costs and noticed that for those with Australian State based Concession/Seniors Cards there were some cost effective choices with the main caveat being they required time and, lots of it.

An XPT from Southern Cross Station connecting to a bus at Cootamundra would cost under $60 each way.

OK, I knew that as a Victorian Seniors card Holder I could get a 'free' off peak return trip from Melbourne to Albury.

Looking at NSW Transport the Albury/Canberra fare was under $40 with one or two hour connections at Albury.

Then I found that if booked within 7 days, NSW has a concession scheme where any economy regional travel (in this case West of Goulburn) was $2.50 one way!

Aha! Why not? The worst that could happen would be that a train/bus would be sold out within the required seven days and I could not travel. Doing regular dummy bookings over time, I found that this was rare - the main thing I saw was the First class fare for the 2½ hours between Albury and Cootamundra would occasionally be unavailable but as First class was not available for the $2.50 fare it could be discounted.

Off I went to Mordialloc, the nearest station to me that could sell VLine tickets. Shortly there after I had my free tickets for a Southern Cross - Albury return. Out 7:07am on a Friday to Albury 10:43am and back 5:27pm the following Sunday arriving 9:45pm.

I booked accommodation in Canberra for two nights at a cost that was around the same as a one way airfare between MEL and CBR.

Then the wait until T minus seven days began.

NSW TrainLink bookings | transportnsw.info

Book NSW TrainLink tickets online

transportnsw.info

Country Pensioner Excursion tickets

Travel for $2.50 across regional NSW with a Country Pensioner Excursion ticket. For eligible seniors and pensioners. Conditions apply.

transportnsw.info

Seniors - Public Transport Victoria

If you're a Victorian senior, you may be eligible for a free Seniors myki and 50 per cent discount on travel, as well as other benefits.

www.ptv.vic.gov.au

 

[CaptJCool]

Yes you’d be right about “never” sold out”

Thanks for the tip

Recent trips to/from swan hill via Bendigo had stacks of empty seats

When I did Sydney - Canberra the time before, the online seats had exhausted but they had discretion to open up seats set aside for unaccompanied children a day or two ahead - of course this would necessitate a call or visit to a NSW trainlink office

 

[love_the_life]

There was an AFF lunch in Canberra earlier this month that I wished to attend.

So as per normal, research began on flight options. I soon recoiled - either too expensive or at timings best described as unfriendly. Where awards were available they too were pretty poor value. (I have come to the conclusion that with carrier charges these days, domestic awards are basically unviable unless you are points rich - which I am not.)

On a whim I started playing around with land transport options and costs and noticed that for those with Australian State based Concession/Seniors Cards there were some cost effective choices with the main caveat being they required time and, lots of it.

An XPT from Southern Cross Station connecting to a bus at Cootamundra would cost under $60 each way.

OK, I knew that as a Victorian Seniors card Holder I could get a 'free' off peak return trip from Melbourne to Albury.

Looking at NSW Transport the Albury/Canberra fare was under $40 with one or two hour connections at Albury.

Then I found that if booked within 7 days, NSW has a concession scheme where any economy regional travel (in this case West of Goulburn) was $2.50 one way!

Aha! Why not? The worst that could happen would be that a train/bus would be sold out within the required seven days and I could not travel. Doing regular dummy bookings over time, I found that this was rare - the main thing I saw was the First class fare for the 2½ hours between Albury and Cootamundra would occasionally be unavailable but as First class was not available for the $2.50 fare it could be discounted.

Off I went to Mordialloc, the nearest station to me that could sell VLine tickets. Shortly there after I had my free tickets for a Southern Cross - Albury return. Out 7:07am on a Friday to Albury 10:43am and back 5:27pm the following Sunday arriving 9:45pm.

I booked accommodation in Canberra for two nights at a cost that was around the same as a one way airfare between MEL and CBR.

Then the wait until T minus seven days began.

NSW TrainLink bookings | transportnsw.info

Book NSW TrainLink tickets online

transportnsw.info

Country Pensioner Excursion tickets

Travel for $2.50 across regional NSW with a Country Pensioner Excursion ticket. For eligible seniors and pensioners. Conditions apply.

transportnsw.info

Seniors - Public Transport Victoria

If you're a Victorian senior, you may be eligible for a free Seniors myki and 50 per cent discount on travel, as well as other benefits.

www.ptv.vic.gov.au

I have used VLine in the past to go CBR-Wodonga by coach and then train to MEL. I think they do also stop at Albury now as well. It was always about 8 hours 30 or so. There is also coach/train via Bairnsdale three times a week but of course a lot longer trip.

 

[serfty]

I have used VLine in the past to go CBR-Wodonga by coach and then train to MEL. I think they do also stop at Albury now as well. It was always about 8 hours 30 or so. There is also coach/train via Bairnsdale three times a week but of course a lot longer trip.

I found that out - more later ...

 

[serfty]

I monitored availability every few days and there were no issues. Seven days out from the Friday I planned to travel, I went to book around 8am - however the $2.50 fares did not show. I tried several further times and somtime after 11am they appeared - seems it may not be seven calendar days but seven days based on the departure time before the fares become available

This was soon booked; afterwards I noted that I could "Upgrade" to First for around $8.50. Tempted slightly was I, but let it go.

Two days later the return was booked; so now had the following:

	Mode	Origin	Sch. Dept.	Destination	Sch. Arr.
Outbound / Fri	VLine	Southern Cross Station	7:07am	Albury Station	10:43am
Total 10:38	XPT	Albury Station	11:49am	Cootamundra Station	2:38pm
	Coach	Cootamundra Station	2:40pm	Canberra Kingston Station	5:45pm
Inbound / Sun	Coach	Canberra Kingston Station	9:22am	Cootamundra Station	12:22pm
	XPT	Cootamundra Station	12:46pm	Albury Station	3:11pm
Total 12:23	VLine	Albury Station	5:27pm	Southern Cross Station	9:45pm

Yes, some lengthy transits, but what do you want for $5?

Next was to work out how to feed myself on this trip.

 

[serfty]

I searched for Catering on VLine, XPT and NSW coaches. My aim was to keep thing inexpensive in line with the $5 travel costs.

With VLine there is a basic offering which can be found here:

On board with V/Line

V/Line trains and coaches are equipped to make your journey as safe and comfortable as possible. Find out more.

www.vline.com.au

They do not serve alcoholic beverages.

With the XPT, there is a somewhat more extensive offering:

Onboard food and drink

NSW TrainLink's onboard café in the buffet car sells hot and cold meals and a range of drinks throughout the trip.

transportnsw.info

Alcohol can be purchased with a maximum of two per hour.

For the NSW coach journies, there is no catering and they advertise only water as being permitted.

Onboard regional coaches

Travel information for NSW TrainLink regional coaches, including comfort features, seating, luggage allowances, and accessibility options.

transportnsw.info

Taking all this in account, I decided to generally self cater; looking to morning and afternoon outbound with afternoon and evening on the return.

For the trip up I packed a a morning snack and lunch - salad roll, fruit, water and soft drink. I would purchase food in Canberra for the return.

 

[serfty]

INTERLUDE ON

A bit more on the catering as provided - I was not aware of these timings / facits before I travelled

With VLine on the early morning departure they start selling for 'breakfast' pretty much after departing Broadmeadows. They close after departing Seymour and reopen from Benalla until approaching Wodonga.

This was a three car service with the buffet car in the middle.

On the way back the 5:27pm service is six cars, really 2 sets of three cars. There is no facility to move between the sets while the train is moving.

In the case of my trip from Albury to Melbourne they sold from the buffet in the rear set between Wodonga and Benalla and the buffet from the front set after Benalla.

With the XPT, specific meal service is offerred during the trip. There is no "Dining" car. These meals are in the form of purchasable packs similar to economy airline meals. You are expected to eat these meals at your seat. They do this with an announcement regarding specific meal/menu options. Staff then move through the train taking orders and payment.

My travels coincided with the "Lunch" service offerred from Albury to Cootamundra. Later on I found with the Southbound journey "Lunch" is offerred from Goulburn to Cootamundra.

Plans are afoot to have further research on other defined meal timings.

INTERLUDE OFF

 

[MEL_Traveller]

For anyone considering regional travel on V/Line, some regional services do have a ‘proper’ first class carriage. These are locomotive hauled rather than the rail cars of the velocity trains (no relation to VA velocity!)

First class is a bargain to upgrade on those services… $6 or $10 or something. Instead of 2+3 seating in standard carriages you get 2+2 with generous width, legroom and recline, and extra padding. Chalk and cheese compared to standard class, and not like the difference on the NSW xpts which is essentially the same seat in both first and standard class but with a tiny bit extra legroom.

(edited… see below… first class no longer offered but the first class carriages can be reserved on a sta card class ticket)

 

[AdMEL]

For anyone considering regional travel on V/Line, some regional services do have a ‘proper’ first class carriage. These are locomotive hauled rather than the rail cars of the velocity trains (no relation to VA velocity!)

First class is a bargain to upgrade on those services… $6 or $10 or something. Imstead of 2+3 seating in standard carriages you get 2+2 with generous width, legroom and recline, and extra padding. Chalk and cheese compared to standard class, and not like the difference on the NSW xpts which is essentially the same seat in both first and standard class but with a tiny bit extra legroom.,

There hasn’t been first class bookable on V/Line loco hauled trains for several years - the first class carriage is still on many (if not all) loco hauled trains and seats on this can be chosen with no additional cost. In any event, there aren’t many loco hauled services now - mainly only to and from Swan Hill and Echuca.

Also, the newer V/Line trains are VLocity trains - assume it’s a play on words of both V/Line and velocity (fast).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

There hasn’t been first class bookable on V/Line loco hauled trains for several years - the first class carriage is still on many (if not all) loco hauled trains and seats on this can be chosen with no additional cost. In any event, there aren’t many loco hauled services now - mainly only to and from Swan Hill and Echuca.

Also, the newer V/Line trains are VLocity trains - assume it’s a play on words of both V/Line and velocity (fast).

Oh wow!

They scrapped first! so quick! i wonder why?

 

[Cessna 180]

There are many options on V/line to where I need to go. Play around with the journey planner on V/Line.
Barham to MEL for 10$ and get dropped off right outside the terminal or continue in to the city.

If the bus does not work time wise. A taxi to Sunbury and the Kerang train.

When I tell people locally about this they seem bewildered. They have no idea we have a true airport bus departing every morning and returning each evening.
It really is not well advertised but is a great service.
The bus seldom is more than half full.

 

[AdMEL]

Oh wow!

They scrapped first! so quick! i wonder why?

My guess is the following are contributing factors:

- they are phasing out the loco hauled trains (though not totally until 2032);
- online sale of vline tickets that aren’t covered by myki
- COVID

 

[MEL_Traveller]

My guess is the following are contributing factors:

- they are phasing out the loco hauled trains (though not totally until 2032);
- online sale of vline tickets that aren’t covered by myki
- COVID

It seems backward… but I guess someone wt head office has crunched the numbers!

 

[VPS]

Very innovative

Sounds great

 

[serfty]

Oh wow!

They scrapped first! so quick! i wonder why?

It goes back to March 2023 when a flat cap was introduced to all regional travel of (back then IIRC) $9.50.

It appears some in Spring Street decided this without realising that first class still existed. People vey quickly cottoned on to booking First at that rate. By the end of 2023, first-class fares were scrapped.

These days, the cap is $11.00 weekdays or $7.60 on weekends/public holidays. Half of those for concession. (Seniors pay nothing on weekends±.)

There is an additional payment to travel to/from a destination more than 60km from the Victorian border. For example, the adult one-way fare Southern Cross to Canberra connecting at Wodonga is $36.60 ($33.20 on weekends).

Ticketing & fares

Learn more about ticket types, peak and off-peak travel, reservations, refunds and more.

www.vline.com.au

Metropolitan fares - Public Transport Victoria

We define the metropolitan area as Melbourne and its suburbs. The zones you travel in and ticket type determines the fare you pay.

www.ptv.vic.gov.au

± Seniors pay nothing on weekends for travel within/through up to two adjoining "zones." From Jan 1st 2026, this zone restriction will be lifted.

 

[serfty]

On the morning of departure I had a light breakfast before catching a Suburban train to Southern Cross. This was at no cost as Zone 1 and 2 suburban travel is included in the VLine ticket. I arrived half an hour before scheduled departure and found my way a to an information desk where the location of Platform 1 was pointed out. Oh - right up there? I made reference to checking luggage, but it seems from the reaction this is not a done thing with these services.

Platform 1 is below the Spencer Outlet Shopping Mall and a good 200 metres from where I was. Upon arrival at the platform the train was there but passengers could not yet board. Several people were standing around waiting with numbers increasing as time went by. My carriage was at the front so I headed further up to its location.


I peered inn through the windows to see If I could see my seat. It was a bit difficult due to lighting reflection and the light. I did take a photo of some of the seating.

While waiting the Overlander from Adelaide arrived, slowly moving as its seemingly endless length came past and then to a stop.

Fifteen minutes before departure boarding was announced; I proceeded on and found my seat, soon to be joined by my seat mate. The train had been fully booked and announcements were made that unless a seat had been reserved, passengers may have to stand. I had noticed in my research that up to 50 'unreserved' tickets are sold on this service however a few seats were still empty at this stage.

These are special VLine train sets, usable only on standard gauge tracks. One thing to note with these carriages is that most seats have a USB charging port in the back of the seat in front - they had a decent charging rate. For those with no seatback in front, there is a port at the base between seat pairs.

On schedule the train departed wending it's way out through the Western suburbs before looping back through Airport West towards its first stop at Broadmeadows. The weather was dark and gloomy - sunrise was marked only by a lightening of the grey sky. A conductor came along verifying tickets and checking seating. Departing Broadmeadows it was announced the buffet was open for breakfast service.

I had brought along a small tablet with some preloaded movies, so firing that up I passed the time as we travelled North. Nothing of real note happened over this part of the journey. By the time Seymour was behind us, all seats were filled. The gentle murmuring of passengers and the rumble of the train was broken before arriving into Benalla by an announcement to state the buffet was soon to close and catering staff would change on arrival at that station; it would reopen after that and close before Wodonga.

The stops were now more frequent; my seat mate left the train at Wangaratta and their seat remained vacant for the remainder of the trip. I'd had breakfast at 5am and the fruit I'd consumed after Seymour was a memory and I was starting to feel a little peckish. An announcement the buffet was soon to close spurred me on and I decided to see what offerings there were. Making my way to the buffet I elected to try a pastie. After ordering and paying, I saw that it was to be microwaved! Oh well, lets see how that goes. Taking it back to my seat it indeed had all the panache a microwaved pastie could muster. Ugh!

An announcement was made approaching Wodonga asking Canberra passengers to be ready to exit and where to find the coach (!?). I quickly looked up timetables online and indeed there was such a service, a nice 4½ hour bus trip arriving Canberra Civic 3:20pm. On arrival into Wodonga, there was a surprisingly large exodus of passengers - leaving the seating less than half occupied for the last part of this journey.

Soon we were to be in Albury - I checked the status of the following XPT I would catch. It had been scheduled to depart Southern Cross 8:30am - It appeared to be running late due to "Repairs" at Southern Cross, but I could not ascertain how late ...

 

[CaptJCool]

If memory serves me correct
If you take a train and arrive in the CBD before 7am, it’s free as well

 

[AIRwin]

If memory serves me correct
If you take a train and arrive in the CBD before 7am, it’s free as well

Weekdays only:

Travel benefits - Public Transport Victoria

There are plenty of benefits you can take advantage of when travelling on public transport, including free and discounted travel.

www.ptv.vic.gov.au

 

[serfty]

If memory serves me correct
If you take a train and arrive in the CBD before 7am, it’s free as well

This true - it can be any Melbourne suburban train service, not just to/from CBD. Also, you actually have until 7:14:59am to scan off. (You must scan off otherwise a default fare will be assessed.)

I have used it 100's of times.

FWIW, I phrased it that way for the edumacation of others who possibly may be on an afternoon trip.