The Other Cheap-Arse Way to Melbourne Airport - by Tram!

In my popular post To Melbourne Airport the Cheap-Arse Way, I describe how to travel to/from the city centre and the airport by regular public transport, aboard a train and the route 901 bus.

It's the most frequent option. However, there is a second, more obscure, way of travelling between MEL and the city: using Melbourne's favourite mode of transport, the tram.

Here's how to do it...

To Melbourne Airport

From Elizabeth Street in Melbourne's central business district, catch a route 59 tram all the way to its northern terminus at Stop 59 in the suburb of Airport West (timetable here).

You may have noticed two interesting things already. Firstly, it's a curious coincidence that route 59 happens to have 59 stops (pure chance, as it happens).

Also, that Airport West is an odd name for a suburb that's south of the airport. That's true, but it was actually named after Melbourne's original air terminal, Essendon Airport to the east, which is still in operation and which you'll pass on the tram.

When you step out of the route 59 terminus, ignore the bus stop that's immediately adjacent - that's for buses heading to the nearby shopping centre. Instead, you have to do a slightly fiddly crossing of the road intersection to reach the bus stop to the north of the terminus on the other side of the road (near the Red Rooster outlet).

Are you there? Good. Now you simply have to wait for a bus. From here, you can catch any of three bus routes to the airport:

• Bus 478 to Melbourne Airport (timetable here)
• Bus 479 to Sunbury Station via Melbourne Airport (timetable here)
• Bus 482 to Melbourne Airport (timetable here)

These buses are not that frequent. Between them, the 478 and 479 buses run every half-hour from 5.45am to 7.15pm on weekdays (and hourly between 7.45am and 6.45pm at weekends), taking 15 minutes to reach the airport.

The 482 runs only eight times a day on weekdays and follows a curiously circuitous route through the industrial hinterland leading to the airport, thus taking 25 minutes. As the 482 bus is so less frequent and takes a bit longer, I'd only recommend it if it happens to show up and the next 478 or 479 bus is more than ten minutes away.

The bus terminates at the public transport interchange on Grants Road, next to Terminal 4 at Melbourne Airport. It's a convenient stop for flights aboard Jetstar and Tigerair, the budget airlines serving that terminal.

For international flights and Virgin Australia domestic flights respectively, Terminals 2 and 3 are about a 10 minute walk away. For Qantas domestic flights, Terminal 1 is a 15 minute hike.

From Melbourne Airport

You need a Myki card to travel on Melbourne's public transport, and to get hold of one of these at the airport you have three choices.

1. The easiest option is to buy a card directly from a bus driver, who can also add credit to the card. The card costs $6 to purchase, and on top of that a two-hour fare from the airport to the city centre (and onwards to anywhere in Melbourne within the time limit) is $4.40.

All buses should be equipped for this transaction, but if you strike a bus where the driver has run out of cards or the equipment isn't working, there are two other options.

2. You can buy a Myki card from one of the three Myki ticket machines located at the airport. These are located in the arrivals areas of Terminals 2, 3 and 4.

Again, the card itself costs $6 and you top it up with credit; you'll need at least $4.40 credit to reach the city centre and stay in the black.

3. You can also buy a Myki Explorer Pack from the Skybus ticket booths at the airport (Skybus is the premium departs-every-ten-minutes airport bus which heads to the city centre for $19.75).

The $15 purchase price includes the standard $6 purchase price for the card, plus $9 of travel credit on standard public transport (ie not aboard Skybus itself). That's more than enough to get to the city centre on the regular bus and tram, then travel onwards to anywhere in the Melbourne metropolitan area.

The visitor pack also includes discount vouchers to major Melbourne attractions and a decorative Myki card wallet, so that may add to the incentive to pick one up.

The standard bus stop is within the public transport interchange on Grants Road, near Terminal 4 (so allow 15 minutes walk from Terminal 1, and 10 minutes walk from Terminals 2 and 3). Look for the orange-and-white PTV sign inside the interchange.

Here you board any of these bus routes, all of which head to Airport West Shopping Centre:

• Bus 478 (timetable here)
• Bus 479 (timetable here)
• Bus 482 (timetable here)

"Touch on" the card (as the jargon goes) against a Myki reader on board, and take a seat.

Between them, the 478 and 479 buses run every half-hour from about 6.30am to 8pm on weekdays (and hourly between 8am and 7pm at weekends). It takes 15 minutes to reach the terminus of the 59 tram, which is next to the Dromana Ave/Matthews Ave bus stop.

Note that this is the second-last bus stop on the route; if you doze off you'll end up at the Airport West Shopping Centre, one stop further on (don't worry if this happens, it's a short walk back).

Touch off your Myki card as you leave the bus, then step onto the platform at the tram terminus right next to the bus stop - you'll recognise it by its distinctive green signage.

Trams run later and more frequently than the buses, so sit back and wait for a number 59 tram to Flinders Street Station in the city centre (timetable here).

Touch on your card again when you board the tram, and relax - you'll be in Melbourne's central business district in about 50 minutes, with plenty of interesting suburbia to view on the way (if you're a Dame Edna Everage fan, give her a wave as you pass through Moonee Ponds).

Fares

The Myki fare between the airport and city centre in either direction is a mere $4.40. This sum is automatically subtracted from the card balance when you touch off along the route.

This fare covers both of Melbourne's fare zones, so includes all public transport for the duration of the two hours. Hence you could transfer to another tram, a bus or a train when you reach the city centre, to travel onward within the same fare.

Give me credit

The catch is that you must buy a Myki card for that non-refundable $6 purchase price; though of course you'll be able to keep using it during your stay in Melbourne, and retain it for use on any future visits.

To top up the card's credit, the easiest method is to step into any of the numerous 7-Eleven outlets in the city centre and ask the person behind the counter to do it (it can also be topped up at train stations and at Myki machines at larger tram stops).

To work out how much credit you need during your visit, budget $8.80 per weekday (the capped daily fare) and $6.40 per weekend day or public holiday. If you like, the 7-Eleven staffer can alternatively add a pass to the card covering all travel over seven days for $44.

So very Melbourne

The best thing about the bus+tram option, is that it gets you straight into the "being in Melbourne" vibe – the city has the world's largest tram network, and the tram is one of its most beloved icons. There's no more civilised way of travelling in the city, if you ask me.

Note that the bus+tram option isn't really suitable for people with large amounts of luggage; but if travelling with reasonably small and portable gear, go for it.

So happy flying - and enjoy the cheap ride by tram to/from Melbourne Airport.

NSW Summer Series: Sydney Light Rail (Part 2)

Through January, I'm running a series of my previously published print articles about New South Wales. 

Last post, I started on a trip along Sydney's light rail line in 2011. Now the journey continues...

Tram Stop: Fish Market

As I step out of the tram, I can smell the faint aroma of seafood wafting up from the Sydney Fish Market. It’s a fascinating place, still a working market but also a place for visitors to drop by to enjoy a meal.

Its perimeter is dotted with shops both selling seafood to take home, and serving fish meals. On the waterfront, Claudio’s (Bank St) is packed with people browsing large trays of prawns on ice, oysters, and other marine edibles.

A nearby boardwalk runs along Blackwattle Bay, where stubby floating quays serve serious-looking fishing boats decked out with crates and nets.

The boardwalk is set with fixed tables in front of a strip of eateries, and dotted with people eating, and taking in the bay and the industrial relics along the shoreline. I’m struck by the array of dishes they’re sharing, from straightforward fish and chips, to meals best tackled with chopsticks.

The market’s a pleasant spot to visit, but I’m pleased to see it’s not as tarted up as similar precincts throughout the world; there’s still a rough-edged authenticity to the place. 

Tram Stop: Paddy’s Markets

As the name suggests, this stop serves the famous markets which have been located in Haymarket since the early 19th century.

On the other side of the rails, however, is Sydney’s Chinatown, and I’m interested in trying out a regional cuisine I’ve never before encountered.

Following busy Dixon Street through Chinatown to its quieter northern end brings me to Uighur Cuisine (2 Dixon St), a restaurant serving dishes from China’s northwestern Xinjiang province.

Being largely Muslim and connected by cultural ties to Central Asia, this part of China is quite different to the eastern regions that Australians are more familiar with. The Uighurs have produced a cuisine that’s distinctly different from what we usually think of as Chinese food.

The interior of the restaurant is that of a suburban ethnic eatery, down to the stark lighting, plastic vine leaves strung across the ceiling, and a bouquet of artificial flowers on the paper “cloth” across my table.

The images on the menu have an emphasis on lamb dishes, and so I order the goshnan, a kind of lamb mince pie, along with a salad of transparent noodles threaded with capsicum slices and a spicy red sauce. With a dash of vinegar or soy sauce from the bottles on the table, it’s a tasty meal.

As exotic music plays over the restaurant’s speakers, I chew happily while watching spectacular flashes of flame occasionally light up the open kitchen.

Other Attractions

There are many other sights located along the Metro Light Rail line, including the Capitol Theatre (tram stop: Capitol Square); the Powerhouse Museum (tram stop: Paddy’s Markets); the Chinese Garden (tram stop: Exhibition Centre); Darling Harbour restaurants, shops and museums (tram stops: Convention and Pyrmont Bay); and the casino (tram stop: The Star).

For more information about Sydney's light rail service, visit this section of the Transport NSW site.

NSW Summer Series: Sydney Light Rail (Part 1)

Over the rest of January, I'll be running two of my previously published print articles about New South Wales, Australia.

This article was first published in 2011, so some details may have changed. However, as Sydney is currently in the process of expanding its single tram line into a larger network, it seems apt to revisit attractions along the route of the existing light rail service...

“He shot through like a Bondi tram!”

It’s fading now, but this colourful expression was part of the Australian idiom for many decades, meaning to depart at high speed. Whether Sydney trams were ever that fast is another question; but since the city’s tramways were closed in the 1960s, there’s been little chance to find out.

Which is a pity, as around the world trams are back in fashion for their environmental positives. They’re also a tourist attraction in themselves, in cities as diverse as San Francisco, Lisbon and Melbourne.

There is, however, one exception - Sydney’s Light Rail, which opened in 1997 and runs along the route of a disused goods line that once snaked through the industrial suburbs of the inner west.

Though overshadowed by the big-ticket tourist attractions on Sydney Harbour, the tram line is a microcosm of Sydney, taking in restaurants, tourist districts, cultural attractions, neighbourhood shopping strips and suburban parks.

It’d appeal to anyone who’s been to Sydney more than once and is looking for something new - and today, that’s me. Stepping aboard at Central Station, I set out to discover some of the city’s lesser-known attractions at the stops along the way.

Tram Stop: John Street Square

Passing up the restaurants and museums by the tram line’s initial stops, I head onward to Pyrmont, to a cafe I’ve been told is a great place to have breakfast.

At this point the line lies within a deep cutting, and its rough-hewn stone walls add an unexpected dash of grandeur.

At the top of a steep flight of stairs (where I belatedly discover a lift) is Harris Street, an appealing collection of weathered buildings that speak of Pyrmont’s working-class past.

On one corner there’s a dilapidated old shopfront with a pitched roof, and opposite it is the atmospheric facade of the Terminus Hotel, clearly closed for decades and covered with old beer ads and a tracery of ivy.

A few doors down from these relics is Bar Zini (78 Harris St), a symbol of the gentrification of this area. Slotted into a narrow shopfront, it’s a light modern space with dark timber furniture, exposed floorboards and a long counter, a modern Australian take on the classic Italian cafe.

From the short breakfast menu I choose a panino filled with double smoked ham, tomato, fontina cheese, basil and tomato salsa. It’s basically a fancy version of a toasted ham and cheese sandwich - and it’s very tasty.

Tram Stop: Jubilee Park

From this stop I have a great view over a suburban gem that tourists seldom visit - the perfect circle of Jubilee Park, an old-fashioned cricket ground with a white picket fence and dainty pavilion, nestled within the curve of the old railway viaduct which carries the tram line.

Beyond the park is Rozelle Bay, one of the many nooks of Sydney Harbour. It’s a pleasant walk past the cricket ground and through Bicentennial Park, a former industrial space that was redeveloped as waterside parkland in recent years.

The view from the waterline is a snapshot of the area’s history, with neatly manicured greenery on one shore and a collection of shipyards and old factories on the other, including huge silos in the direction of the modern ANZAC Bridge. I sit on a bench with a view over the water, enjoying this haven, a quiet space on a weekday morning.

Tram Stop: Glebe

Backtracking, I step out at Glebe, whose tram stop opens onto a fascinating streetscape of sandstone ex-warehouses beneath a narrow park set into a cut, with a row of terrace houses high above.

A short walk away is Glebe Point Road, an attractive shopping strip lined with genteel terrace houses and lush gardens on one side, and shops on the other.

In the 19th century shopfronts there’s both the old and new: retro furniture shops, classy fashion boutiques, sushi outlets, Thai restaurants, discount stores, antiques emporiums and day spas. It has a village atmosphere, but one updated for the 21st century.

I walk along to Gleebooks (49 Glebe Point Rd), a renowned independent bookshop that’s a veteran of the strip and the host to many literary events. Inside, the lofty interior is crammed with volumes, the shelves taking up every part of the shop floor that isn’t necessary for customer access.

Browsing the stock, I’m pleased to spot two novels by my favourite British humorist, PG Wodehouse. In the self-help section in the centre, my eye is drawn to titles such as Hamlet’s Blackberry and Why We Lie; and I can’t help smiling at a copy of Stuff White People Like, a humorous poke at the tastes of people who live in gentrified suburbs just like Glebe.

[Next post: Fish out of water, and dishes of the East...]