Melbourne's bus timetable is set for a major overhaul, with almost $100 million committed in the Victorian Budget 2026/27 to expand services statewide.
The bus timetable upgrades will deliver new routes, extended operating hours and increased weekend frequencies across Melbourne’s northern, western, eastern and southeastern suburbs, as well as parts of regional Victoria.
The investment targets growing communities that depend on buses to reach train stations, universities and local employment centres, building on recent expansions that added hundreds of services to Melbourne’s northern corridors.
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Bus timetable upgrades for Melbourne’s northern suburbs
In the north, additional weekday and evening services will improve access to La Trobe University via routes 301, 551 and 561. Evening services between Roxburgh Park and Pascoe Vale on route 542 will also increase, alongside more trips connecting Mernda Station to RMIT Bundoora on routes 386 and 387. Routes 508 and 526 pick up extra evening trips to strengthen connections to Sydney Road, Brunswick and Northcote stations.
New routes and longer hours across Melbourne’s west
Western suburbs gain a brand new bus network for Melton South, featuring two entirely new routes. Route 454 receives a fresh connection to Woodgrove Shopping Centre with doubled frequency, while services between Moonee Ponds and Watergardens Station on route 476 also improve. Longer operating hours and more Sunday services land on route 408 between St Albans Station and Highpoint, and routes 496 and 498 deliver a more direct link between Laverton Station and Aircraft.
Eastern, southeastern and regional services expand
In the east and southeast, a new Sunday service launches between The Pines and Nunawading Station on route 273. Routes across Botanic Ridge, Casey Fields, Clyde, Junction Village and Devon Meadows receive upgrades and extensions, while connections from Dandenong to Chadstone and Monash University improve on routes 802, 804 and 862. Weekend frequencies increase between Carrum and Frankston on route 833, and route 928 gains longer operating hours between Berwick and Pakenham.
Regional Victoria benefits too, with a new route connecting Drysdale and Ocean Grove, an additional daily return trip between Castlemaine and Harcourt on route 3, and more Bass Coast coach services from Cowes and Inverloch to Dandenong.
The announcement sits within a broader public transport push that includes half-price fares across the entire Victorian network from June and free travel for all Victorians under 18. Victoria’s bus fleet is also transitioning to zero-emission electric vehicles, with all new public transport buses ordered from July 2025 required to be electric. Combined with dedicated busway infrastructure under construction on the Eastern Freeway, the investment signals a sustained effort to reshape how Melbourne’s outer suburbs connect to the rest of the city.
Full bus timetable details will be available through Transport Victoria as the upgraded services roll out.
