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 temple is a sidetrip from Pingyao, get there by bus, taxi or, in my case, rent a bicycle and pedal the 7 km to the village. ▲ The temple’s multi-armed Bodhisattva statue. And me! Dating back to 1571 the temple is packed with Song and Yuan painted statues, all...
I flew San Francisco to Beijing, then my first stop was Taiyuan, next up was Pingyao – ‘China’s best-preserved ancient walled town’ according to my Lonely Planet China guide. ▲ It is indeed quite a wall, it stretches for over 6 km, punctuated by no less than 72 w...
After flying San Francisco to Beijing I set off on a little trip around Shanxi province. China today is amazingly easy to travel around, everything from getting on a flight to finding the right train, jumping on a bus to booking a hotel seems to work! ▲ So I jump...
Took United Flight 889 from San Francisco to Beijing, a flight that arcs way north, crossing Alaska and reaching just south of the Arctic Circle then crossing Siberia, across the Sea of Okhotsk (where the Russians shot down a straying Korean Airlines 747, killing all ...
◄ And amazingly it's in the US, the home of general security insanity. Arriving at security at San Francisco International Airport I encountered this sign, inviting you to empty your water bottle, take the empty bottle through security and refill it from a water foun...
It was my first trip back to the San Francisco Bay Area since 2009 and I’ve noted some interesting bicycles I encountered. ▲ Lots of other things hadn’t changed at all, the sunset view out over the Pacific Ocean from the Beach Chalet Restaurant was the same as ev...
I haven’t been back to the San Francisco Bay Area since 2009, this trip I’ve noticed a few new bicycles. Starting with the Bay Area Bike Share scheme. ▲ I’m pretty sure it’s the same Montreal designed bicycles-locking stations-software system that I’m also famili...
▲ Kabul from my Kam Air Boeing 737-200 When I flew to Afghanistan a few years ago it was on an elderly Kam Air Boeing 737-200. Well that’s soon to change, on 4 April 2013 Emirates will start daily services from Dubai to Kabul. Making Afghanistan yet another count...
Patrick Smith’s Ask the Pilot was “everything you need to know about flying before you click the ‘book now’ button. “ Now he’s followed it up with Cockpit Confidential: more questions, more answers, but equally important more reflections. Patrick may be a hard-nosed ...
Having a big ferris wheel was quite a bit city thing for a spell. I blogged about the London Eye, the Singapore Flyer and Melbourne’s Southern Star back in 2009. On Wednesday 2 October I’ll be talking about ruins at Global Heritage Fund’s annual dinner at Menlo Park...
© Tony Wheeler’s Travels 2013