The state government introduced the regional fare cap on March 31 last year, making regional public transport more affordable by capping the daily regional fare at the same price as the daily metropolitan fare.
The fare cap is helping ease cost-of-living pressures, with a return ticket to Albury-Wodonga previously costing $82.40 now capped at the daily metro fare of $10.60.
State Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes said passengers had been showing their enthusiasm for cheaper regional travel, with patronage hitting record numbers in December, January and February.
“Whether you’re travelling throughout regional Victoria or heading into Melbourne for a show or the footy, with regional fares now so affordable, public transport really is the way to see what our regions have to offer," Ms Symes said.
Passengers on the Albury/Wodonga line are voting with their feet for cheaper and fairer fares, with 448,554 trips taken since the introduction of the regional fare cap.
V/Line has also added hundreds of special services across the network, put on extra carriages, utilised standby coaches and trialled new reservations procedures to meet the increased demand.
Regular special services have been running most weekends, giving passengers more options to get to where they need to go.
Almost 200 extra permanent weekend services will be added thanks to a $219 million investment in the Victorian Budget 2023-24.
V/Line runs more than 2250 scheduled train and 1500 coach services every week, with more than 800 new services added onto the V/Line network since 2014.
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