Most people depart Melbourne Airport via an overpriced mode of transport – SkyBus, taxi or car park. But it is possible to get to the city via a normal public transport – the hard bit is finding a place to buy or top up your Myki card.
The Melbourne Airport website says the machines exist.
In order to travel on public transport in Melbourne, you’ll need a myki card. Top up or check your card balance at the myki machines located throughout the terminals using cash or EFTPOS/credit card.
Machine locations:
– T2 Arrivals
– T3 Arrivals
– T4 Baggage Reclaim
But have fun finding them on the official maps.
So here they are.
Melbourne Airport map, annotated by me
Terminal 2 – on the ground floor in the arrivals hall.
Next to the toilets.
Terminal 3 – on the ground floor in the arrivals hall.
Beside the windows to the street, next to the corridor towards Terminal 2.
Terminal 4 – on the ground floor in the arrivals hall.
Hiding beside some vending machines, along the landside wall.
And the bus stop – you need to head down into the dungeon at the Melbourne Airport terminal 4 transport hub.
PTV bus routes 478, 479, 482 and 901 departing from the end furthest from the terminal.
Footnote
Daniel Bowen has more on getting to Melbourne Airport by public transport.
Exactly the same at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. I knew in advance there was a machine to buy a Presto card for the then brand new airport rail line, but do you think I could find it? I couldn’t.
Compare it to the ticket office at Hong Kong Airport – right in the middle of the arrivals area.
Good review of options. Using standard public transport would be fine but the time to get from Airport to the City might not be. I think SkyBus offers a good service. At around $20 it is direct and frequent. I can’t see the train being any cheaper. It isn’t in Sydney.
I’ve used the bus + train a few times when I lived on the Craigieburn line – it saved the trip into the city, then back out again.
I also tried heading from Sunshine to the airport: bus, tram then a second bus – a direct bus should really run along that corridor:
https://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/2019/08/building-melbournes-useful-network-part.html
Had this issue last week for a guest who lacked a myki. Luckily I was accompanying them. We got her myki Explorer from the Skybus booth. Then the 901 & train.
On a related topic, have you ever tried to find a myki outlet via the PTV website? There’s instructions at the bottom of https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/tickets/myki/buy-a-myki-and-top-up/where-to-buy-and-top-up/ but have never got them to work.
Earlier this month the machine in Terminal 3 was still in the Virgin baggage collection area but was located at the bottom of the escalators. There is construction work going on that forced it to move, and another commentator recently stated on Daniel Bowen’s blog that this forced the T2 machine to disappear too.
I was at the airport about two months ago – international arrivals was mostly construction hoardings.
How long did you have to wait to take the photos of the machines before there was no one waiting use them?
I’ve used the one at T3 arrivals a few times to get rid of any coins I have before an international flight and there’s never been anyone there.
I’ve never seen anyone use the T2 or T3 myki machines, but have often seen a queue at the Skybus ticket office.
They will make it as difficult as possible to find and access, and justify this on the basis that “hardly anyone uses it”. After all the airport make money from taxi, skybus and parking fees.
At least the bus stop is more obvious than the old one – hidden away near the freight sheds!
Myki app on Google Play. Say no more
Only works if you have an Android phone with NFC – so no iPhone, and no mid-range and budget Android phones.
Myki PTV airport to city is Zone 1and 2, costs $4.50 one way (2hour), best to take the bus that stops at Broadmeadows station, 20 minutes travel time, then train to Melbourne Flinders Street station
Never had any trouble using the myki machine at the bottom of the escalator in the Virgin section.
You can even get an actual card from them. In Sydney you can’t get a card from a machine, there is a top-up machine at most stations but most of them only take credit/atm cards to pay, not cash. In Sydney, you have to go and find a shop, wherever that may be. Not all stations have a shop nearby.
There might be a machine that actually issues cards at the airport or at Central station.
In Melbourne, I’ve found that the 901/train via Broadmeadows to CBD takes about half an hour longer than the Skybus. Unless that time saving can be monetized, thats usually what I do. I find the biggest drawback with taking the train is that there is no way on the train to determine which way the bullshit loop is working if you need to change to another service. Going round the loop one and three quarter times is an even more pointless way to waste half an hour.
Airport train will be a huge waste of money, I think. Worse than Skybus.
I had trouble buying an Opal card at Central Station in 2016 – turns out the ticket office doesn’t sell them, you have to go to a newsagent instead!
https://wongm.com/2016/07/why-is-buying-sydney-opal-card-so-difficult/
Visiting from the US and took a friend’s and this site’s advice of taking the bus to be cheap and just for the fun of it. Boy… I understand why everyone here complains about the difficulty of transportation in/out of Melbourne airport. Sydney has the airport access and Melbourne has SkyBus. Your pain is duly noted and shared.
I arrived into T3 on a VA flight. The myki kiosk was next the escalator at the baggage area, BUT it was dead or more like not even plugged into the power!!! Nada, not a light, not a thing… just dead. I just had exactly 11AUD cash on me and didn’t want to find an ATM to get cash and get the myki Explorer from the SkyBus counter, so I walked over to T4 and was able to find the kiosk and get a $6 card + 5 top up to cover the trip. Since the bus depot is even further out from T4, walk from T3 to T4 wasn’t a waste.
Anyways, I took 901 then train via Broadmeadows and it was really straightforward, even with luggage. The connection at Broadmeadows Station is really easy.
I agree Victoria needs an improvement. In NSW, they accept contactless card payment, the ability to use my foreign credit card or my phone was incredibly easy. I didn’t get an Oval card and just tapping on and off with my phone without thinking ahead, and likely spent more than I would in Victoria with myki, worrying about not over top off the card and not able to get a refund. I still can’t swallow paying $6 for a card and not able to get a refund – this is the only place I know of, of all the cities and countries I’ve traveled to that force visitors to use a card without a way to get a refund.
Most cities offer refunds on their transport smartcards, but sometimes they apply an admin fee for newly purchased cards – for Hong Kong it is a token amount.
https://www.octopus.com.hk/en/consumer/tourist/leaving-hk/index.html
All that Melbourne has is a Myki donation bin at the SkyBus stop at Southern Cross Station:
https://www.danielbowen.com/2013/01/16/myki-collection-bin/
[…] It’s a little easier to find these days – the Terminal 4 transport interchange. […]
Can you actually buy a Myki card from these machines though? Or just top an existing one up?
You can buy myki cards from the ticket machines – full fare, as well as concession, child and senior fares.
https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/news-and-events/news/2021/08/20/myki-machines-now-dispense-concession-card-types/
Thanks Marcus, this has been super helpful!