SINCE cheaper V/Line fares were introduced on March 31, an estimated $4m has been saved by passengers.
More than 1.5M people took a trip on public transport across regional Victoria in the first month of the new fairer fares.
The first week alone saw more than 420,000 passengers travel, making it the busiest week on the network since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
V/Line patronage data shows more passengers are taking advantage of cheaper fares to travel to and from major events like the Grand Prix and AFL matches, as well as tourism destinations across Victoria, with an uplift in patronage on weekend and special services.
Daily fares are now capped at the current metropolitan fare of $9.20 or $4.60 concession, while on weekends or public holidays, fares are capped at $6.70 for a full fare of $3.35 for concession per day.
Passengers taking long-distance journeys from regional cities such as Ballarat and Bendigo have saved more than $40 for each one-way journey on the regional public transport network since the cap was introduced.
As Victorians continue to embrace travel on V/Line thanks to the cheaper fares, there are plans to upgrade and boost the regional public transport network, including progressively adding new trains and more services to the network.
