While Victorian metropolitan transport systems and short distance regional train lines have enjoyed the convenience of myki cards since the rollout between 2012 and 2014, train stations further north have been stuck in the past.
At regional train stations, paper tickets were commonplace until 2024 when a mobile purchasing system was introduced, but the words ‘myki’ and ‘regional’ have always juxtaposed.
During an adjournment debate in August 2024, state Member for Northern Victoria Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell raised the issue in state parliament, urging the transport minister to update northern Victorians on when myki changes would be implemented at regional stations.
A government spokesperson confirmed to McPherson Media Group in 2024 that a range of new myki infrastructure had been tested since late 2023, and around 23,000 new myki devices had been ordered to be installed on the network.
But with the standardisation of tap and go systems in 2026, a mobile substitution for the physical myki card, regional train stations are now two steps behind.
But this may not be the case for too much longer.
A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson told The Riv the tap and go system would be rolled out carefully to upgrade ticketing across the state as soon as this year.
The department will start on the rail lines where myki is already enabled, before rolling out to buses and trains in regional areas on the network past stations that already use myki.
“We are working to expand the myki and contactless ticketing network across Victoria later this year and will keep passengers informed about the rollout,” the spokesperson said.
However, state Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said he had heard this song before, pointing to ongoing shortfalls across the entire regional transport network.
He notes that when infrastructure delays drag on, smaller, unmanned stations pay the heaviest price.
“We’re fortunate here in Echuca that we’ve got the ticket office that’s manned, but if you’re getting on the train in Rochester, you can’t buy a ticket,” he said.
“It would be great those unmanned stations to actually have the ability to tap and go at the same convenience.”
For commuters or tourists at these unmanned stops, the lack of infrastructure turns a simple trip into a headache, forcing passengers to scramble for mobile reception to buy digital tickets online before boarding.
He said there was no excuse for the delay.
“Every shop in Echuca has tap and go, coffee vans set up at the market have tap and go — it just can’t be that hard,” he said.
If the department keeps its word, the digital divide partitioning Victoria’s commuters might finally begin to close.
But for residents in towns such as Rochester and Echuca, who have watched metro commuters tap through gates with their phones for years, seeing is believing.
