Melbourne Public Transport Glossary

Melbourne's public transport system (or various bits thereof) has had many changes over the last 10 years

It's like a battered, exfoliating onion, with numerous juxtapositions of old names, new names and colour schemes. New brands are launched with fanfare, only to be abandoned soon afterwards. Recent changes are mostly skin-deep and done with stickers. As these peel, you will often find one or even two earlier names underneath. This fascinates historians, but is mighty confusing for everyone else.

This glossary will get you through the nomenclature jungle and talking like a expert in no time.

Accessible service: Service operated by a low-floor bus or tram that can accept wheelchairs. All trains and all stations (apart from Heyington) are accessible.

Authorised Officer: Commonly known as ticket inspectors. Able to book people for travelling without a valid ticket and other offences under the Transport Act.

Bayside Trains: A previous name for services operated by M>Train. (c 1999)

Coin Only: Means that the ticket machine inside the tram will not accept notes.

Concession card: A card carried by a passenger entitled to discount travel, by reason of age, low income, disability, etc. Unless you're very young, you must carry a concession card to be entitled to concessional travel.

Conductor: Operate on country trains only. The staff you see on the urban network are either 'authorised officers', 'passenger service attendants', or if at railway stations, 'station hosts'.

Connecting service: A bus, train or tram that serves the same station or interchange as your service. The local use of this terminology implies neither timetable co-ordination nor a good connection (ie whether the wait is five minutes, an hour or over a day).

Co-ordinated services: As for connecting services but implying that services have been scheduled to allow convenient transfers. Not common in Melbourne, but examples exist for train services at Newport, Camberwell and Caulfield. Note that transfers can be missed where one service has been delayed and related 'co-ordinated' services are not held back.

Connex: The sole surviving private train operator in metropolitan Melbourne.

Director of Public Transport: Head of the section of DOI with responsibility for public transport.

DOI: Department of Infrastructure. Government department responsible for public transport.

Hillside Trains: A previous name for services operated by Connex. (c 1999)

Low Floor: Refers to a bus or tram that can take wheelchairs.

M>Train, M> Tram: Trading name used by the British National Express Group when they ran trains and trams in Melbourne. The company couldn't make its operations pay and withdrew from Melbourne. (c 2000)

Met (the): A former name of the entire Melbourne public transport system and the trading name of the MTA/PTC. Apart from 'Metcard' and 'The Met Shop', the term fell into official disuse during the late 1990s, only to be partially reborn as the 'Metlink' brand several years later.

Metlink: The current brand of Melbourne's public transport system. Adopted when it was realised that the multiplicity of operator names confused passengers and hampered marketing. Note that unlike 'The Met', Metlink is merely a marketing brand and strictly speaking the Melbourne public transport system remains nameless. (from June 2003)

Meltrip: You're on it!

Metcard: The tickets you need to ride the Met. Also refers to the automated ticketing system which was infamous for its budget blowouts, delays and equipment unreliability. (c 1997)

Met fare area: The area in which Metcard tickets are valid, incorporating three travel zones. Encompasses almost all of metropolitan Melbourne. Passengers in outer areas (chiefly Geelong and the Mornington Peninsula) must pay higher non-Met fares.

MMTB: Melbourne Metropolitan Tramways Board. (192? - 1983)

MTA: Metropolitan Transport Authority. Became PTC. (c 1983)

Multimode (or integrated) fares: Refer to the system we have in Melbourne, ie you can use any combination of trains, trams or buses to complete your trip on the one ticket and not pay extra.

Myki: The name of Melbourne's proposed smart card ticketing system. (2006 - )

National Bus: Private operator that took over former government (PTC) bus routes, chiefly in the eastern and north-eastern suburbs. National has since been taken over by Ventura.

Neighbourhood fare system: Variation of the zone system, where the metropolitan area was divided into small 'neighbourhoods'. Proved unworkable after a few years and abandoned. (c 1983)

Nightrider: The after midnight bus system.

On-time: Officially defined as a service that arrives betwen 59 seconds prior and 5 minutes, 59 minutes after the timetabled time.

(fare) Paid Area: The part of a railway station excluded to people without a valid ticket (typically the platform).

PID: Passenger Information Display. Shows when the next train is coming. At major railway stations.

Premium station: Railway station that is staffed first to last train, has a covered waiting area and public toilets.

PTC: Public Transport Corporation. Was MTA. (c 1990)

PTUA: Public Transport Users Association. Main passenger lobby group.

Safety zone: Fenced area in middle of road where people wait for trams. Most common in central city.

Section fares: Fortunately now almost extinct in Melbourne, sections caused no end of confusion for passengers. A section usually consisted of about 6-8 stops. 'End of Section' signs are still visible at some bus and tram stops. Currently charged on former National Bus Routes, but will be abolished from March 4, 2007.

Scratch tickets: Failed ticketing system that contributed to the downfall of a government. (c 1991)

Shared (common or overlapping) Zone: Area on the border of two zones that allow single-zone travel from both zones. More details in the Fares & Ticketing section.

Smart Card: A proposed ticketing system planned to replace the current magnetic-stripe Metcards when the Onelink contract runs out after 2007. Rather than you having to select the ticket you need, Smart Cards will automatically calculate the fare for you and deduct the fare from the card. However for it to work, it will need to be 'tag on tag off', meaning that the passenger will need to validate their ticket on boarding and alighting.

Smart Bus: A DOI initiative to improve cross-suburban bus services. Smart Bus routes feature real-time passenger information displays at stops, more frequent services and operate on Sundays and evenings (c 2001)

Superstop: A tram stop that offers more facilities than regular stops, including real time information, a public telephone, ticket vending machine, better shelter and disabled access.

Swanston Trams: A previous name for services operated by M> Tram. (c 1999)

Terminus: Starting or finishing point for bus or tram route.

Timed stop, timing point: Stop at which bus or tram should be on time. If the service is running early, it should wait until the timetabled time before departing.

Train Link: Specially timetabled outer-suburban bus services that connect with all trains - first to last service. Trainlink services currently operate from Epping and Cranbourne. (c 2003)

Two hour ticket: The most common ticket sold in Melbourne. Valid for unlimited use in the relevant fare zone before the expiry time. Can be valid for nearly three hours, depending on the time of validation - see the Fares & Ticketing section for more details.

V/Line: The major country train and coach operator. Also operates some outer-suburban services. (c 1983)

Validate: The act of inserting a ticket into a validator machine so as to make it valid.

Validator: The machine into which Metcard tickets are inserted to make them valid. Exist on buses, trams, railway stations and the Stony Point train.

Victrip: Until 2004 the official public transport information website. This function is now carried out by Metlink.

VR: Victorian Railways. (192? - 1983)

W-class: The oldest type of tram used in Melbourne, most notably on the City Circle. Newer types are A-class, B-class, Z-class, C-class (Citadis) and D-class (Combino).

Yarra Trams: The sole surviving private tram operator.

Zone system: System of dividing the metropolitan area into coencentric travel zones based on distance from the city. Travel across zones costs more than travel within a zone. Not perfect, but probably the best fare system yet devised for a large city. (c 1981)