A week today is Melbourne Cup Day. A public holiday, at least in Metropolitan Melbourne and those towns that have not opted out in favour of another day, typically for their local show. It's often been a confusing day for bus users as not all routes run. While most run a Saturday timetable on public holidays like Cup Day this is not always the case; there exist some buses that run Saturdays, and, in two cases, Sundays, that do not operate on public holidays.
However the complexities are become less common with changed contractual arrangements and enough smarts inside DTP to use these or subsequent timetable changes to reduce the number of routes with non-standard operating patterns.
Back in 2019 I wrote about the public holiday gamble on Melbourne's buses. However what I would call the definitive guide appears on the Bus and Coach Society of Victoria website, or when that's occasionally unavailable the archived version here.
The most recent changes happened on Sunday 25 October 2026. Transport Victoria's list of timetable changes is here. Six day routes in that list that gain public holiday service include 404, 407, 414, 415, and 538,
Back in 2019 I wrote about the public holiday gamble on Melbourne's buses. However what I would call the definitive guide appears on the Bus and Coach Society of Victoria website, or when that's occasionally unavailable the archived version here.
The most recent changes happened on Sunday 25 October 2026. Transport Victoria's list of timetable changes is here. Six day routes in that list that gain public holiday service include 404, 407, 414, 415, and 538,
The 4 October 2026 timetable change saw public holiday service added to Route 558 and 551 (latter in conjunction with 7 day service). And before that 536 gained public holiday service (in conjunction with its 7 day upgrade) in July 2026 with 503 and 506 getting public holiday service back in April.
Remaining bus routes that don't run on most public holidays
This represents faster progress in simplifying public holiday arrangements than we've seen for a while. This gets the remaining oddities down to:
Remaining bus routes that don't run on most public holidays
This represents faster progress in simplifying public holiday arrangements than we've seen for a while. This gets the remaining oddities down to:
* 7 day routes that do not run public holidays
These are 681 and 682 in Rowville. No change, like almost anything to do with public transport in the Knox area, has happened for the last 15 to 20 years.
* 6 day routes that do not run public holidays
490, 548, 549, 550, 559, 671, 672, 677, Croydon FlexiRide, Lilydale FlexiRide & Mooroolbark FlexiRide
Essentially the above are either flexible route services, Ventura Ivanhoe depot services or Croydon area routes. Oddly, despite both being run by Kinetic, 558 has a timetable with holiday service but 559 does not. This number has been approximately halved due to the abovementioned recent improvements.
These are 681 and 682 in Rowville. No change, like almost anything to do with public transport in the Knox area, has happened for the last 15 to 20 years.
* 6 day routes that do not run public holidays
490, 548, 549, 550, 559, 671, 672, 677, Croydon FlexiRide, Lilydale FlexiRide & Mooroolbark FlexiRide
Essentially the above are either flexible route services, Ventura Ivanhoe depot services or Croydon area routes. Oddly, despite both being run by Kinetic, 558 has a timetable with holiday service but 559 does not. This number has been approximately halved due to the abovementioned recent improvements.
Routes that justify not only public holiday but also Sunday service include 549, 548, 559, 550, 671, 672, 490 and the FlexiRides in about that order.
* 6 day routes with little or no public holiday afternoon service due to legacy Saturday morning-based timetables
509, 512, 558, 697, 699, 814, 844 & 857.
These all finish by early afternoon on public holidays as per their old Saturday timetables. 559 in the Reservoir/Thomastown area also doesn’t run past 1pm on Saturdays but doesn't run public holidays. No change as Saturday timetables have not been significantly updated for many years.
Of the above list the routes with highest usage and unique catchment to justify Saturday afternoon service include 814, 558, 844, 857, 512 and 697, in about that order.
To this should be added the significant number of bus routes that have Saturday afternoon service but at half frequency compared to Saturday mornings. This affects most public holidays due to the Saturday timetable being in effect. The most notable example is the 552 in Reservoir (every 15 min Saturday mornings, 30 min Saturday afternoons) but many other exist (eg the current 804 timetable hourly on Saturday mornings, 2 hourly on Saturday afternoons).
The above two issues are not due to a lack of timetable standardisation on public holidays but because some Saturday timetables, substantially untouched for decades, are based around pre 1980s shop trading hours. Under these arrangements Saturday mornings had a service similar to weekday midday frequencies but no or diminished service ran on Saturday afternoons.
To this should be added the significant number of bus routes that have Saturday afternoon service but at half frequency compared to Saturday mornings. This affects most public holidays due to the Saturday timetable being in effect. The most notable example is the 552 in Reservoir (every 15 min Saturday mornings, 30 min Saturday afternoons) but many other exist (eg the current 804 timetable hourly on Saturday mornings, 2 hourly on Saturday afternoons).
The above two issues are not due to a lack of timetable standardisation on public holidays but because some Saturday timetables, substantially untouched for decades, are based around pre 1980s shop trading hours. Under these arrangements Saturday mornings had a service similar to weekday midday frequencies but no or diminished service ran on Saturday afternoons.
* 5 day routes with no public holiday service
Routes that justify upgrades to include weekend service include the likes 237, 774, 675, 783, 680, 609, 389, 758, 531, 823, 757 and 745. These are listed in descending order of weekday productivity here.
Summary
Catching buses on public holidays remains somewhat of a gamble in Melbourne as around 10 fixed bus routes that run 6 or 7 days per week do not adhere to the standard public holiday arrangements. However your odds of encountering one are diminishing thanks to gradual standardisation. The cost of finishing the job off is now trivial with better user legibility, simpler administration and fewer Transport Victoria data errors major benefits.
After then further work to add Saturday afternoon and Sunday service would deliver a genuine 7 day public transport network across Melbourne for relatively little cost and finally end the widespread confusion bus passengers face each public holiday.
The oddity here is not the lack of public holiday service but the lack of weekend service on routes that could be expected to have significant Saturday or Sunday usage. Where five day routes operated on public holidays this was typically due to them serving university campuses that did not always observe public holidays. However the practice of universities not observing public holidays appears to be declining.
Some five day routes have been upgraded to run seven days according to the standard pattern (which includes public holiday service). Route 551 between Heidelberg and La Trobe University was a recent addition, with 546 (also in Heidelberg) being upgrades some time prior. Route 802 in Dandenong has been funded to go from 5 to 7 days.
Some five day routes have been upgraded to run seven days according to the standard pattern (which includes public holiday service). Route 551 between Heidelberg and La Trobe University was a recent addition, with 546 (also in Heidelberg) being upgrades some time prior. Route 802 in Dandenong has been funded to go from 5 to 7 days.
Routes that justify upgrades to include weekend service include the likes 237, 774, 675, 783, 680, 609, 389, 758, 531, 823, 757 and 745. These are listed in descending order of weekday productivity here.
* Good Friday and Christmas Day services
As these operate to a Sunday timetable the large number of bus routes in Melbourne that do not operate on Sundays do not run on these days.
As these operate to a Sunday timetable the large number of bus routes in Melbourne that do not operate on Sundays do not run on these days.
Since Sunday public transport usage is only slightly below that of Saturdays on routes with similar service levels, the rationale for a network entirely of routes that run either 7 days (for general routes) or 5 days (for specialised routes) is much stronger than current arrangements where a significant (though gradually diminishing) minority of Melbourne bus routes still operate 5.5 or 6 days per week. Unique sections of the bus network with such limited service is mapped below:
Suburbs with concentrations of buses that don't run 7 days (despite having high usage potential and/or high social needs) include Laverton, Maribyrnong, Moonee Ponds, Brunswick, Campbellfield, Dandenong and Springvale. Frankston, Knox and much of the outer East also have very high concentrations of limited service bus routes with essentially no timetable upgrades this century.
Summary
Catching buses on public holidays remains somewhat of a gamble in Melbourne as around 10 fixed bus routes that run 6 or 7 days per week do not adhere to the standard public holiday arrangements. However your odds of encountering one are diminishing thanks to gradual standardisation. The cost of finishing the job off is now trivial with better user legibility, simpler administration and fewer Transport Victoria data errors major benefits.
After then further work to add Saturday afternoon and Sunday service would deliver a genuine 7 day public transport network across Melbourne for relatively little cost and finally end the widespread confusion bus passengers face each public holiday.
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