The Andrews Labor Government will give away 250,000 free public transport travel vouchers to Victorians heading back to the city for some of Melbourne’s most exciting events and attractions throughout December and January.

To promote a safe return to Melbourne’s CBD, there will be 50,000 vouchers available for five different event categories to encourage Victorians to head into the city and enjoy their day. These include Christmas events, galleries and attractions, dining, performing arts, and shopping.

The vouchers will be available through the PTV website from Thursday 16 December and will be emailed to passengers, so they can be printed or viewed on a smartphone. Passengers will simply show the voucher to station staff when entering or exiting the public transport network on the valid date of travel.

The Labor Government will also provide free public transport on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve so Victorians can take advantage of the opportunity to celebrate with family and friends across the state this year.

On Christmas Day, metropolitan and regional public transport will be free from 3am until 3am on Boxing Day and will run to a regular public holiday timetable.

Passengers on reserved V/Line services still need to book their travel so they can be issued a ticket free of charge.

On New Year’s Eve, Victorians will be able to welcome in 2022 across the state, with all train, tram and bus services free from 6pm on 31 December until 6am on 1 January. The first V/Line train services departing Melbourne on each line will also be free, even if they leave after 6am on New Year’s Day. Customers travelling during these free travel periods do not need to touch on or off with their myki.

A normal weekday public transport timetable will be in place between 6pm and midnight on New Year’s Eve, with additional services after midnight.

Metropolitan trains will run to a 15-minute frequency between midnight and 1am, a 30-minute frequency between 1am and 2am, and every hour from 2am. On the tram network, most services will operate all night – running to a 15 to 20-minute frequency between midnight and 2am, and every 60 minutes from 2am.

The newly expanded Night Network bus service will also run all night, with 34 routes helping Melbourne residents get to within 1km of a train, tram, bus or coach overnight service to help them get around.

From 1 January 2022, metropolitan public transport fares will increase by 2.3 per cent on average – which is lower than the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 2.9 per cent.

After freezing fares last year, the increase will add 20 cents to the daily Zone 1, Zone 2 and Zone 1+2 metropolitan fares.

The average regional fare increase across the network will be 1.1 per cent.

For regional Victorians, the cost of getting around town will remain unchanged, with the regional town bus fare remaining at $2.40 for a two-hour fare or $4.80 for a daily fare – for the seventh consecutive year.

For information and to plan your journey on Christmas or New Year’s Eve visit ptv.vic.gov.au.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Public Transport Ben Carroll

“Victorians will no doubt be keen this festive season to celebrate their hard-won freedom, so we’re making sure they have travel options to do just that.”

“This year, we’re not only making public transport free on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, we are also giving Melbourne a quarter of a million free reasons to head into the city this Summer to enjoy the best Melbourne has to offer.”

“After freezing fares last year, we’re keeping this year’s public transport fare rise as low as possible to allow us to support a sustainable return to public transport.”