By the time Tony co-founded Lonely Planet Publications in 1973, he already had the travel bug. And ever since, travel and discovery have been at the heart of his life and career.
Melbourne has a new subway line – the Metro Tunnel – running through five new stations and currently having a soft opening, before the schedule launches full tilt on 1 February 2026. The new Parkville Station will probably be the most useful new station, since it’s at the University of Melbourne which badly needed a handy Metro station.
▲ The Town Hall Station
The two new central city stations might look slightly redundant since the Town Hall Station is only a couple of hundred metres from Flinders St Station and the State Library Station is right beside the Melbourne Central Station. In fact you might find it easier to enter the State Library Station from Melbourne Central rather than from its own entrance. The Metro Tunnel line, however, runs in a different direction than the other lines through Flinders St and Melbourne Central.
Unfortunately to use the new line you still need the horrible old Myki Card. Transport Victoria have announced that they are introducing ‘tap and go’ technology to Melbourne. Tomorrow? No, they are testing it in 2026 and at some point in the future you’ll actually be able to use it. But didn’t they start testing it in 2023 at some stations? Well yes they did, but clearly three years of testing wasn’t enough, there’s more testing to be rolled out in 2026
◄ My hated Myki Card
Hasn’t anybody asked them about this before? Well yes, for one person I asked Transport Victoria why we couldn’t use contactless cards in Melbourne when London introduced the technology in 2014. So that’s 10 years ago.
And I did get an answer, ‘we’re working on it and hope to introduce it soon.’ Which in Melbourne seems to be in 10 years time. So for over 10 years I’ve been able to use my Australian ANZ credit card to pay for public transport in London, England. But not in Melbourne, Australia. Absurd isn’t it?
Once upon a time Melbourne was a regular ‘most liveable city in the world’ title holder. How could you be a ‘most liveable city’ and at the same time operate the world’s most-visitor-unfriendly-travel-card? I suggested that in 2013 and 13 years later my opinion hasn’t changed. Never mind, the new Metro Tunnel Line reportedly took lots of lessons from London’s very popular Elizabeth Line. In London I often use the Elizabeth Line even if it means travelling a bit further because it’s so fast and convenient. Perhaps Melbourne can also learn from London how to get rid of the Myki Card.
▲ The Elizabeth Line at Bond St.in London
Since it opened in 2022 the Elizabeth Line quickly became the busiest railway line in the UK although technically it’s not part of the London Underground network. It runs out to Heathrow Airport – but so does the Piccadilly Line – and even further to Reading. It’s popular and has won architectural awards as well as being so busy. Check my August 2024 posting about riding the London Tube.
It’s one of the most interesting books I’ve read recently, the impact of the ‘beauty and terror’ of science on the romantic age, from the late 1700s through the early 1800s. I’ve always been fascinated by Joseph Banks, the young, rich and endlessly inquisitive gentlem...
Maureen and I went back to school in London this week. Teach First is an innovative campaign that puts young university graduates on a fast track teaching programme which propels them into often challenging school environments. Maureen and I went along to talk about h...
Maureen and I are in Mumbai for the launch of the Indian edition of the Lonely Planet magazine. The UK edition launched 12 months ago and our partners BBC-Worldwide are launching more editions around the world including – on Friday 29 January – in India. So we'...
Way back in 1973 Maureen and I published the first Lonely Planet guidebook. We were living in a basement flat in the Paddington, a suburb of Sydney. That's Maureen 37 years ago at the kitchen table where we put together that first book. She's still a Dylan fan. &nb...
I visited the country in 2008 and despite the many problems the Caribbean nation faced I had an extraordinarily interesting time there and never felt unsafe. Even when I had to find a ride back to my hotel in Port-au-Prince on the back of a motorcycle taxi in the ear...
▲ My laptop on the table at the place we stayed, the view out the window The year’s travels for Maureen and I kicked off with a trip with some friends to Bruny Island. Go to Hobart, the capital city of Australia’s island state Tasmania. Drive south from Hobart f...
In 1983 New York City’s Hudson River got a ‘Riverkeeper,’ someone to keep an eye on the health of the river. They make sure companies don’t dump stuff into it, builders don’t shove up ugly and inappropriate buildings beside it and that the river is looked after for ev...
I've been posting some 'end of 2009' lists in an assortment of categories, starting with Aerial Views, then Hotels, Other Transport, Music, Cars & Drives, Galleries & Museums, Books, Animals & Wildlife, Photographs and finally Projects, Politics & Prot...
It will be years before the millions of Bajaj scooters on the roads of India all disappear, but in March 2010 the last scooter will roll off the Bajaj production line. The company intends to concentrate on motorcycle manufacture with the aim of overtaking Honda as I...
I've been posting some 'end of 2009' lists in an assortment of categories, starting with Aerial Views, then with Hotels (good and bad), Other Transport, Music, Cars & Drives, Galleries & Museums, Books, Animals & Wildlife and Photographs. Today's is my fin...
© Tony Wheeler’s Travels 2013