You'll no longer need a myki at every regional V/Line station, with tap and go landing line by line through to November.
Fishing around for a myki at a regional train station is nearly over, with tap and go rolling out statewide.
The rollout kicked off on 16 August, when every station through to Echuca switched on, letting passengers pay with a bank card, phone or smartwatch. Crews are fitting 106 new readers across 37 V/Line stations that until now only accepted a paper or eTicket, and the rest of the network flicks on in stages over the following weeks. Once the last reader is live, tap and go will work at every train station in the state, alongside trams and myki-enabled buses.
From myki to debit cards: tap and go regional rollout
- 16 August: every station through to Echuca
- 23 August: Swan Hill line
- 30 August: Shepparton line
- 6 September: Ararat and Maryborough lines
- 13 September: Warrnambool line
- 20 September: Bairnsdale line
- 27 September: Albury line, with Benalla and Euroa stations added on 22 November after upgrade works
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
Debit card, smartwatch, iPhone or myki
The technology was trialled on Wangaratta buses through to May 2025 before this wider switch, and it has since caught on in a big way, with more than five million contactless journeys paid for by card, phone or watch since March 2026. Melbourne’s metropolitan trains, trams and City Loop stations moved across earlier in the year, so the regional rollout brings the rest of Victoria into line.
Travellers on long-distance services who haven’t reserved a seat can now buy an unreserved fare at the station with a single tap, using the same card or device to tap on and off. Half-price fares also run until 1 January 2027, cutting more than $850 off the yearly cost for regular commuters across the network.
A complete overhaul of the myki system
The change is one piece of a much larger overhaul of Victoria’s ageing myki system, which is being rebuilt to accept cards, phones and smart devices across trains, trams and buses. New readers have been going in right across the network since early 2026, at first reading myki only before contactless was activated line by line.
It also arrives amid a wider push to bring fares down. Every fare has been halved until 1 January 2027, anyone under 18 rides free on a Youth myki, and seniors travel for nothing on weekends. Together the measures are designed to draw more people onto public transport as Melbourne’s network keeps growing.
If you’d rather stick with a physical card, myki isn’t going anywhere and is still available at every station. Concession passengers, seniors and anyone under 18 should keep tapping on with their concession or Youth myki, which stay the cheaper option.
For more information, head here.
