Night Network starts / Flagstaff station opens on weekends

Today 1 Jan 2016 saw the start of the new Night Network and Flagstaff station being open on weekends. 

The Night Network provides hourly overnight service on all Metro train lines and half-hourly service on six tram routes to provide a 24 hour weekend service. 21 special bus routes would provide 1-5am coverage of other areas. There were also some regional Night Network services. This network replaces the bus-only NightRider system.  

Details here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170218235229/https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/news-and-events/news/trial-of-all-night-public-transport-on-weekends/

https://web.archive.org/web/20170218233415/https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/getting-around/night-network/

It should be noted that all of the 21 bus routes were special Night Network only routes. This proved confusing to passengers. A later reform in 2021 replaced some of these special routes with 24 hour weekend service on selected regular routes.  

Advice of Flagstaff station's weekend opening: 
https://web.archive.org/web/20170301030019/https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/news-and-events/news/flagstaff-station-to-open-on-weekends-in-under-a-month/

Note: This item was added retrospectively for posterity.

Sunbury gets upgraded evening trains

From today Sunbury gets a major lift in evening train services. Instead of every second of the half-hourly service terminating at Watergardens, all trains will extend to Sunbury. This provides Diggers Rest and Sunbury with a 30 minute evening train service - similar to the rest of the Melbourne rail network. Off-peak daytime services will remain at every 40 min. 

https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/more-80-extra-train-services-sunbury-every-week

Note: This item was added retrospectively for historical purposes. 

Real time information for all Melbourne bus routes (PTV announcement)

Today PTV announced that all metropolitan bus routes were returning real time information due to the installation of a bus tracking system. This was available via PTV's website and mobile app. 

https://web.archive.org/web/20170301030103/https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/news-and-events/news/all-metropolitan-melbourne-bus-routes-now-returning-real-time-information/

The announcement proved premature as a decade later, in 2025, the reliability of this data is poor. 

Note: This item was added retrospectively for posterity.