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.
The ‘which one is right’ discussion seems to be having another round, as Boeing ramps up 787 production and observers comment that nobody seems to be ordering more A380s. Four engines is two engines too many seems to be the ‘A380 doesn’t work’ message. But every fligh...
I travelled through Shanxi Province in China recently, kicking off in Beijing and continuing through Taiyuan, Pingyao, Datong and back to Beijing with assorted excursions in particular to the amazing Buddhist caves at Yungang just outside Datong. ▲ Earlier this y...
There’s so much international bad news out there it’s a delight to have some good news and, from a surprising place. In February 2015 the International Cricket Council’s Cricket World Cup takes place in Australia and New Zealand. The 10 big teams of international cric...
▲ Maureen in Antarctica in 1997. When Lonely Planet published its first Antarctica guide in 1996 it felt like a pioneering project. In fact I remember having to work hard to convince some people in the company that it was a feasible idea. Were there really enough...
▲ I like this one! A colourful Chinese fixie. While I was in San Francisco earlier in the month I noted that share bikes had arrived in the Bay Area. And there were some interesting bike trends around. From there I flew to Beijing, enjoying some wonderful views o...
▲ I like the straightforward nature of Chinese signs, perhaps they’re not so abrupt in Chinese, but translated into English they come across in a very direct fashion. Like this one. ◄ Or this ‘clean my room’ hotel door hanger at my hotel in Taiyuan, no messing ar...
The final leg of my little China trip was to take the bus from Datong back to Beijing – where I started – and catch a flight to Bangkok (just for the night) and on to Denpasar in Bali to meet Maureen for the Ubud Writers Festival. ▲ At the Datong bus station I wa...
I’ve always said the greatest regret of my travelling life has been that I went to Afghanistan in 1972 and did not travel north of Kabul to Bamiyan to see the great Buddha statues. When I did get there in 2006 it was too late, the Taliban had destroyed them in 2001. ...
▲ Datong has the biggest Nine Dragon Wall in China. It’s impressive, this is dragon number 7. I flew in to China from San Francisco to Beijing, took another flight to Taiyuan, continued by train to Pingyao, made a little bicycle side trip out to the Shangluin Tem...
▲ I flew in to China from San Francisco to Beijing, took another flight to Taiyuan, continued by train to Pingyao, made a little bicycle side trip out to the Shangluin Temple and then tracked back to Beijing. The first leg was by car back to Taiyuan, stopping en rou...
© Tony Wheeler’s Travels 2013