The Allan Labor Government's recent boast that 'tap on' payment for public transport fares would be rolled out by the start of 2026 has quietly turned into another broken promise – now delayed by at least 18 months.
On top of the delay, Labor has also poured an additional $140 million of taxpayers' money into the project, bringing its cost closer to a staggering $1 billion.
As a result of Labor's latest cost and time blowout, Melbourne will now be the last major city in Australia to introduce contactless payment across its public transport network.
Shadow Minister for Public Transport, Matthew Guy, said the ongoing mismanagement of a basic ticketing payment system was yet another embarrassment for the government – and another inconvenience for long-suffering commuters.
"Sydney has had tap-on payment for public transport since 2018. The fact that the Victorian Government still can't deliver this in Melbourne is astounding," Mr Guy said.
"Labor only announced this project a few months ago, and already it's delayed and blowing out by hundreds of millions of dollars. It's further proof of this government's inability to manage even the simplest of projects."
"Labor's excuse that Melbourne's 998 km of rail and 250 km of tram lines are 'too complex' for contactless payment is laughable. Tokyo manages it with 2,500 km of track and four times the number of stations."
"The Minister has also claimed that Melbourne's mix of trains, trams and buses creates complexity that other cities don't face – yet Sydney also has trains, trams, buses and ferries, and still introduced tap-on years ago."
Mr Guy said the difference in usability between systems was having a clear impact on patronage.
"Sydney's rail system is about the same size as Melbourne's, but carries 50 per cent more passengers. You have to ask: Is the ease of ticketing in Sydney part of the reason that patronage on the same sized system is fifty percent more?"
