Paper tickets (3:35) could also be purchased on buses. The (short lived) scratchies and paper tickets were what was in place when I was at school. It seems crazy now in comparison to current Myki charges, but I lived in Zone 2 - the largest of the 3 zones - and for the grand sum of 60 cents (~1992) I could travel anywhere across Zone 2 for 3 hours. For $1.20 I could do it all day! Those paper tickets were easy to reuse if you were a crafty teenager. As you can see at 3:38 - the colour printing was cheap and nasty and thus varied in intensity - some tickets were a solid, bright shade, others a more washed out shade of the same colour, but if you kept your used tickets for a while, you'd end up with several tickets in the same shade. Then you needed to find a pair of tickets that were punched on different months and different dates. Glue one ticket behind the other and because they were such thin paper, you couldn't tell there were two tickets. Doing this meant the rear ticket filled in the gaps punched out of the front ticket, giving you essentially a "blank" ticket. When you wanted to go somewhere, you'd just take out a hole punch and punch your ticket with the month/day and (if a 3 hour ticket) time and yay, free travel. That 60 cents your parents gave you that morning to catch the bus to school could be spent at the school canteen on a chocolate jam donut instead!
I was very poor when the 'scratchies' were around and I got to recycle them each year as I travelled for work at roughly the same time each day. A bit cheeky, but when you have little money you do what you have to do.
I ......umm.....heard of a guy who did that too plus with the paper tickets too, he'd grab used daily tickets from the bin and save them for the next year and beyond, did it from August 1994 until metcard took over in 2002, must have saved a fortune!
i did the old scratch the month and leave the day, if ticket inspectors got on board there was plenty of time to scratch the right day, that way you only bought a ticket per month, it made train travel affordable ??? bring back the scratchy tickets again i say hurray !!!
I remember having a Metcard back in primary school. The classic child concession worth 10 trips. Was oddly satisfying getting the card scanned ever time and seeing a new entry printed on the card haha and the huge ticket machines for buying a ticket with the zones 1-3 and all the buttons for different zone combinations... fun times then remember when Myki got first introduced and everyone hated it bc it was so bad XD
let's just say I 'customized' a few of my own Zone 1 yellow paper tickets with some paper from the art room and my dads state of the art (at the time) 144 ppi scanner ;)
The Sunday Saver tickets were a popular Metcard that I used to use. Whether you were a concession or an adult you could travel anywhere and everywhere around Melbourne all day on a Sunday for the one low price of $2.50.
Far out, I wish they did that now, it'd save heaps of money for when I film haha. The metcard system was really iconic, it was a shame to see them go, even as my young age of 8 back then.
@@the_train_man what you said in your video was spot on I would have the scratchie ticket in my hand whilst on the train and if the inspector got on i would quickly scratch the date. Lol
Oh Those Neighourhood tickets I vaguely remember! The Paper tickets with the 3 Zones were also abused by many as if the day was not punched correctly or time period you could tape the back of it up and re-use!! My Nanna used to say to the tram conductor who would snatch her ticket out of her hand and examine it "What can't you afford a newspaper to read". And as for those Scratch Tickets introduced By Labor Transport Minister Jim Keenan they would have to be the most abused ticket out there and I remember pre-purchasing my tickets at 7/11 in Coburg!! Once Again Trani Man Thanks for another Great Video and taking me down Memory Lane!!
Thank you so much for the memories of the old cardboard zone 1 2 tickets. Many times they would be left in my school uniform and go through the wash and come out looking like paper pulp! Hahaha. Yes I remember the scratchies was a disaster . Still great memories. Thank you for your informative history. Well done🖒
Although Myki is so much more convenient, I'm still nostalgic for the old Metcards, since they were around when I first started taking PT in the late 2000s. I stuck to it pretty much until the final year, when Metcard got more expensive than Myki and I had to suck it up and switch. I had a massive collection of Metcards that were partly mine, partly given to me by friends, and partly found on the street. I preserved the unique ones I had, and some of the generic blue ones during a crafting activity in the COVID lockdowns.
Wow i forgot Myki has been around that long already. The system sure did have a rocky start. most of the time it was down on the buses so you could get a free ride lol
Just four things: 1) I wish they still had the short-term blue paper myki cards; however, the unused ones were apparently pupled. 2) Out of sheer curiousity a few years ago, I had a play-around with finding the most expensive ticket on the myki machine. It is a 325+40 Day Full Fare Zone 1-78 myki pass (though, this was recently corrected to being Zones 1-13 given paper tickets are used outside of the myki network). The only active equivalent of the Zones 1-78 ticket would be the Victorian Primary/Secondary Student myki Pass, which is valid statewide except on the Skybus (and I think the Melbourne-Mt Buller bus route for whatever reason). 3) Zone 3 still exists, but only in a regional sense; examples include: the Mornington Peninsula bus routes and GTS Network; and, Bacchus Marsh, Riddells Creek - Macedon, Kilmore East, and Nar Nar Goon - Tynong stations 4) Can anyone shed some light on the Metcard tags that were effectively the precursor to the myki?... Or am I remembering it incorrectly? Needless to say, love the nostalgia trip.
5:26 Footscray :) been a regular there over the last few years. Can't wait to see more vids done there (Sunbury, Werribee lines and RRL), for all the criticism given to it, RRL was responsible for redeveloping that station, along with Sunshine and West Footscray was rebuilt. Think they did a good job there. What an abstract failure myki was at the start, $494 million became $1.35 billion, 2007 became 2009 (and eventually 2012) and it only worked and was valid on part of the network until 2012, 10 years after it initially begun development. If there's one thing I've got to give Ted Baillieu credit for, it's that he did fix Myki because buy and large it does work well now. From memory Vix (the developers of Metcard) put an offer to the Baillieu govt to fix Myki free of charge, and it seems they might have taken that offer because I think it's Vix that's behind it now (I've certainly seen the Vix logo on Myki readers). We should have just copied another system instead of making our own, Western Australia's worked fine whilst we were using 2 systems. Thankfully it works now.
I really liked the old small rectangular cardboard tickets from the 60s through to early 80s. They worked on a section system. I think from Memory there were up to 18 sections on the Melb train network back then. I believe the newer Zone 1,2 & 3 cards with yellow, blue and brown came in around 1983?
I only had experience with metcard up to the end of year 1 and then in year 2 i was using miki. and then miki came . Metcard seemed fun with the ticket spitting out
Great video.. I've still got (much of) my old 'colored cardboard' collection downstairs, with some in folders etc (if roaches haven't found it!) The MMTB tickets were sections; @2:07 you show a ticked marked in section 2 for an OUTward direction (be it tram or bus run by MMTB). I'm convinced they were not part of the Zone ticketing you mention, as you could purchase a Zone ticket for tram/bus travel to, but they were more expensive then the MMTB single-travel only ticket you showed. (this is from memory; I'd have to go exploring 'downstairs' to be sure).
@@the_train_man you're usual hairstyle is good man. great for the channel to have a good look, the hair doo might need it's own channel lol. It reminds me of Timothy Olyphant in santa clarita diet, his hair got a lot of attention.
haha I still have the metcard I used to travel with my friend to the city back in 2011. He has since moved to a different country, so we haven't seen each other since. That metcard still reminds me of the good times we had together lol...
Great stuff marvellous Max from Melbourne. I've been watching a few of your vids. Grew up in Nth Williamstown just near the Railway museum, and yes, worked on restoring the steamers as a kid. Rode the rails on the willy line for years but didn't appreciate the full history until your vid. Now the ticketing. Loved the clunk of the old machines as the ticket was dispensed. You're doing a great job, and entertaining. History, trains and quirky, how good is that?
It is an urban legend, as you say at 4:20 that there are government warehouses located within Melbourne full of unused and unusable scratch tickets. As I understand it when Treasury and Finance considered increasing fares, they had a major problem. As seen at 3:56, all the prices were preprinted onto the scratch ticket. When weighing up the cost, it was cheaper to just dump the tickets, go to yet another ticketing system and apply the price increases. The scratch ticket compared to paper tickets are complex to make and were produced in large batches, which is good as long as you are able to use them.
Hi Max, another really good topic, done so well. I know some rail enthusiasts who have spent their whole life collecting and collating rail tickets. It’s a fascinating subject, sadly paperless tickets have taken over. Cheers.
I grew up with the metcard system, I remember having to purchase them daily back with my mum to get to primary school and any other place, as we'd buy the 1 day ones, so we'd go through money and old metcards extremely fast. I also remember when mykis were first introduced, we ended up using metcards until switching was compulsory. I'd use myki daily until I lost a myki card, specifically one of the original green ones, that had a star in the card's design. After that, like most people I gradually stopped using mykis, everyone never used it at that point, and since ticket inspectors are easy to avoid, I only really have to use my current compulsory myki for the occasional train trip into the city despite using the bus to get to school because they chew through cash faster than the metcards going to and from school. I think my myki's in my school jacket from my last excursion and likely won't be leaving said pocket for a few months
With the scratchies, you'd do the year an month, and have your fingernail ready for the day. Then, when you went through a staffed barrier, you held you finger over the day, and just wafted the ticket at the checker. You only even scratched the day if someone official wanted a closer look. You had to do it subtly and quickly. If there was no-one at the barrier, and no ticket inspectors on the train, it was a free trip. I had a Inner Zone yearly, so only had to the the scratch thing for one extra stop into zone 2. It was a bit cheeky for that station not to be in the boundary. The ticket checkers probably all knew the tricks, but probably couldn't really be bothered.
Also the original Zone based ticketing system had computerised kiosks at major stations such as Melbourne Central that were later adapted to the Neighbourhood based system! Also the Miki system was initially full of major technical issues initially and it would take until 2014/2015 until almost all of the issues had been resolved! :)
Great video as usual! The VGR still use Edmonson tickets and daters. Blue and Grey for second class and yellow and brown for first class. It’s always a fun task dating a whole lot of tickets for the day!!
Now that is cool! I must visit the VGR and do a video on it soon, and now that I know about the Edmundson system still in use, it makes me fascinated. Thank you!
When I visited Sri Lanka in early 2018, I remembered well that the country was still using that old-school fashioned ticketing machine and of course cash only.
My 2 brothers and i are all ex Station Masters. One of my brothers has an original ribbon press, not sure if he also has the box of stamps. we all worked for v/line in the 80's and 90's.
I have done some research on train ticketing in Australia seversl years ago. I found that Melbourne and Perth had the best systems overall. Perth's metro train network although small compared to our other cities is excellent. Melbourne's comes in 2nd ahead of Brisbane. Adelaide & Sydney lagged behind. Hobart has no metro train network.
Intersting coverage on this subject. I think MIKI ia the best one so far. The Edminston tickets were very cumbersome and filled huge racks at most stations.
Thanks Adam. As I was a little younger than you, my memories of the metcards only go as far as going to the footy with my dad, what an experience at the age of 6-8. I do remember being scared (no idea why) at the change of Mykis, I was so used to the amazing metcards! Anyway, thanks again Adam
Remember the first day the zonal ticket system. I was in my late teens and had to get buses to work. Ahhh then the scratchiest. I saved so much money - only scratched the month and held my finger over the date to scratch in case. That way I only bought one ticket a month even though I was traveling daily.
Awesome video!! I work on the railways in Sydney and have collected so many tickets throughout my time there. Sad it’s all Opal now. Really good info tho, sad we never got scratchy tickets 😂😂.
That was intersting well narrated and yes puffing billy still use that tickiting system that you were un sure of that they still used nice video as always.
thanks for the nostalgia. There once were phone cards but now payphones are free as they were in the 90's if you knew the maccas straw trick. Are you as old as me ;o;
Impressive work, Max, and a good concise summary. Must have taken you ages to research and especially to edit all those images. I learned a lot, so many thanks. It helped me put into context some of the brightly coloured zone tickets in my collection which I knew very little about. Makes me feel old that I’ve never used a Myki and still have several unused MetCards from my last visit! No big issue but the ticket inventor actually spelled his name Edmondson.
Thanks a lot Barney, glad I could teach you something. Hopefully one day you can come and use a myki, and see the changes made since you were last here! I was surprised at the vibrancy of the colours used across the whole history, with them being vibrant ever since Edmondson. My apologies about the spelling error, very disappointed that for all the effort I put in, I missed that! Thanks again
I remember I was in Melbourne during Christmas-new year 2020/21 and I had to use the bus. I grabbed some loose coins and went to give the bus driver some ( I don't have a Myki). He told me I could ride for free.
Buy A Ticket Before You Get On Board to Save Time And Problems Later. BATBYGOBSTAPL. An ironic advertisement since the problems were caused by the government. The system is still crap, can't tape on with a Visa/MC, the gates open when the tap is good instead of being open permanently and only close when the tap fails. Read spead is a joke. Yet another trip to Japan needed to see how its supposed to work.
Pre-Myki, I reckon I saved well over $1000 dodging fares on the Pakenham line...if I got caught travelling to the City, "sorry mate, got on at Officer" and heading the other way "sorry mate, got on at Carnegie". Got away with it for years, damn you technology 😁😁😁
For sure, great idea for a future video. Right now, I'm going to be going out and filming after a long time, but when I want a break, this is the prefect video!
Great video, keep up the good work!!! I have two question to ask. What videos have you got planned for us since Melbourne is slowly getting out of lockdown, and when is your DOB?
@@the_train_man Now I feel old. lol You're only a couple of weeks older than my eldest grand child. btw. I started taking railway photos when I was your age which was back in nineteen sixty something.
i just realised we don't have the zone system anymore......... that hit like a train, i was the first to praise myki when it came in but man, i still remember being very confused about how zones 1 and 2 got weirdly blended in some cases... or was is 2 and 3? i can't believe I'm forgetting
Wasn't one of the reasons the scratch tickets got abolished was because you could easily turn a 2 hour ticket into a yearly one? If you scratched the "appropriate" boxes
Fun fact: Zone 3 still exists! In fact, Zone 13 exists. Myki cards still use the zone concept, even in regional areas. So to get to Geelong you'll go through to Zone 4, Zone 6 for Seymour, 8 for Ballarat, 12 for Traralgon, and 13 for Bendigo!
Indeed Floyd, I will make sure to mention this in the future, it is interesting that we have 13 zones in the state, seems a bit overkill, but you can see the thought behind it. I definitely should've mentioned it though, my apologies!
I had no idea that there were so much detailed designs and art on the metcards, I like them. I just hope myki would have done the same thing. I found a website that has some unofficial artwork on myki cards: www.cardsforacause.com.au
The elaborate signed ticket at 0:36 is due to it being an expensive monthly ticket first class from 1865. Back then train travel was expensive with ticket prices more than covering operating costs. Unlike the social welfare price levels of today that need taxpayers to pay four times the ticket price in subsidies to just cover operating costs. Not a typical ticket from the early days of 1865.
Ah, ok that makes sense John, thank you for explaining. Due to there being very little evidence of the ticketing prior to 1880, I found it difficult to figure out what tickets of the 1860s would have looked like. Thanks again
Metcard was my favourite. Brings back memories...
Same here, loved the old method, so nostalgic
Paper tickets (3:35) could also be purchased on buses. The (short lived) scratchies and paper tickets were what was in place when I was at school. It seems crazy now in comparison to current Myki charges, but I lived in Zone 2 - the largest of the 3 zones - and for the grand sum of 60 cents (~1992) I could travel anywhere across Zone 2 for 3 hours. For $1.20 I could do it all day! Those paper tickets were easy to reuse if you were a crafty teenager. As you can see at 3:38 - the colour printing was cheap and nasty and thus varied in intensity - some tickets were a solid, bright shade, others a more washed out shade of the same colour, but if you kept your used tickets for a while, you'd end up with several tickets in the same shade. Then you needed to find a pair of tickets that were punched on different months and different dates. Glue one ticket behind the other and because they were such thin paper, you couldn't tell there were two tickets. Doing this meant the rear ticket filled in the gaps punched out of the front ticket, giving you essentially a "blank" ticket. When you wanted to go somewhere, you'd just take out a hole punch and punch your ticket with the month/day and (if a 3 hour ticket) time and yay, free travel. That 60 cents your parents gave you that morning to catch the bus to school could be spent at the school canteen on a chocolate jam donut instead!
I was very poor when the 'scratchies' were around and I got to recycle them each year as I travelled for work at roughly the same time each day. A bit cheeky, but when you have little money you do what you have to do.
I ......umm.....heard of a guy who did that too plus with the paper tickets too, he'd grab used daily tickets from the bin and save them for the next year and beyond, did it from August 1994 until metcard took over in 2002, must have saved a fortune!
Same. Although I only bought 12 tickets a year and would scratch the month but leave the date unscratched
So did most of the military based in Melbourne (!!)😄
i did the old scratch the month and leave the day, if ticket inspectors got on board there was plenty of time to scratch the right day, that way you only bought a ticket per month, it made train travel affordable ???
bring back the scratchy tickets again i say hurray !!!
I remember having a Metcard back in primary school. The classic child concession worth 10 trips. Was oddly satisfying getting the card scanned ever time and seeing a new entry printed on the card haha and the huge ticket machines for buying a ticket with the zones 1-3 and all the buttons for different zone combinations... fun times
then remember when Myki got first introduced and everyone hated it bc it was so bad XD
let's just say I 'customized' a few of my own Zone 1 yellow paper tickets with some paper from the art room and my dads state of the art (at the time) 144 ppi scanner ;)
The Sunday Saver tickets were a popular Metcard that I used to use. Whether you were a concession or an adult you could travel anywhere and everywhere around Melbourne all day on a Sunday for the one low price of $2.50.
Far out, I wish they did that now, it'd save heaps of money for when I film haha. The metcard system was really iconic, it was a shame to see them go, even as my young age of 8 back then.
My childhood memory when I bought an Edmondson ticket was the thup-thup thup-thup on the green dater machine.
Thanks for that, we tend to forget this area of our history as it so ephemeral.
Ahh the scratchie ticket. I used the same ticket for months lol.
Great video Max! Keep up the good work!
Now that is an achievement! Happy you enjoyed Andrew, thank you :)
@@the_train_man what you said in your video was spot on I would have the scratchie ticket in my hand whilst on the train and if the inspector got on i would quickly scratch the date. Lol
Oh Those Neighourhood tickets I vaguely remember! The Paper tickets with the 3 Zones were also abused by many as if the day was not punched correctly or time period you could tape the back of it up and re-use!! My Nanna used to say to the tram conductor who would snatch her ticket out of her hand and examine it "What can't you afford a newspaper to read". And as for those Scratch Tickets introduced By Labor Transport Minister Jim Keenan they would have to be the most abused ticket out there and I remember pre-purchasing my tickets at 7/11 in Coburg!! Once Again Trani Man Thanks for another Great Video and taking me down Memory Lane!!
Thank you so much for the memories of the old cardboard zone 1 2 tickets. Many times they would be left in my school uniform and go through the wash and come out looking like paper pulp! Hahaha. Yes I remember the scratchies was a disaster . Still great memories. Thank you for your informative history. Well done🖒
I love your videos, I live in Melbourne and use the trains every week, I love learning more about the Melbourne train network
Although Myki is so much more convenient, I'm still nostalgic for the old Metcards, since they were around when I first started taking PT in the late 2000s. I stuck to it pretty much until the final year, when Metcard got more expensive than Myki and I had to suck it up and switch. I had a massive collection of Metcards that were partly mine, partly given to me by friends, and partly found on the street. I preserved the unique ones I had, and some of the generic blue ones during a crafting activity in the COVID lockdowns.
Love it when the train man uploads 😃
Wow i forgot Myki has been around that long already. The system sure did have a rocky start. most of the time it was down on the buses so you could get a free ride lol
Same mate!
Just four things:
1) I wish they still had the short-term blue paper myki cards; however, the unused ones were apparently pupled.
2) Out of sheer curiousity a few years ago, I had a play-around with finding the most expensive ticket on the myki machine. It is a 325+40 Day Full Fare Zone 1-78 myki pass (though, this was recently corrected to being Zones 1-13 given paper tickets are used outside of the myki network). The only active equivalent of the Zones 1-78 ticket would be the Victorian Primary/Secondary Student myki Pass, which is valid statewide except on the Skybus (and I think the Melbourne-Mt Buller bus route for whatever reason).
3) Zone 3 still exists, but only in a regional sense; examples include: the Mornington Peninsula bus routes and GTS Network; and, Bacchus Marsh, Riddells Creek - Macedon, Kilmore East, and Nar Nar Goon - Tynong stations
4) Can anyone shed some light on the Metcard tags that were effectively the precursor to the myki?... Or am I remembering it incorrectly?
Needless to say, love the nostalgia trip.
5:26 Footscray :) been a regular there over the last few years. Can't wait to see more vids done there (Sunbury, Werribee lines and RRL), for all the criticism given to it, RRL was responsible for redeveloping that station, along with Sunshine and West Footscray was rebuilt. Think they did a good job there.
What an abstract failure myki was at the start, $494 million became $1.35 billion, 2007 became 2009 (and eventually 2012) and it only worked and was valid on part of the network until 2012, 10 years after it initially begun development. If there's one thing I've got to give Ted Baillieu credit for, it's that he did fix Myki because buy and large it does work well now. From memory Vix (the developers of Metcard) put an offer to the Baillieu govt to fix Myki free of charge, and it seems they might have taken that offer because I think it's Vix that's behind it now (I've certainly seen the Vix logo on Myki readers). We should have just copied another system instead of making our own, Western Australia's worked fine whilst we were using 2 systems. Thankfully it works now.
I really liked the old small rectangular cardboard tickets from the 60s through to early 80s. They worked on a section system. I think from Memory there were up to 18 sections on the Melb train network back then. I believe the newer Zone 1,2 & 3 cards with yellow, blue and brown came in around 1983?
I only had experience with metcard up to the end of year 1 and then in year 2 i was using miki. and then miki came . Metcard seemed fun with the ticket spitting out
Metcard's were fun, I certainly missed them when they were phased out :(
Great video.. I've still got (much of) my old 'colored cardboard' collection downstairs, with some in folders etc (if roaches haven't found it!)
The MMTB tickets were sections; @2:07 you show a ticked marked in section 2 for an OUTward direction (be it tram or bus run by MMTB). I'm convinced they were not part of the Zone ticketing you mention, as you could purchase a Zone ticket for tram/bus travel to, but they were more expensive then the MMTB single-travel only ticket you showed. (this is from memory; I'd have to go exploring 'downstairs' to be sure).
I may have an old Metcard somewhere. The scratches did reliy on the honesty of people.
Good job Max. Best voicing work so far and by a long way.
And I particularly like how you didn't bother with your hair when you filmed this.
Haha, thanks John, the hair is certainly getting out of hand, will be getting a haircut very shortly!
@@the_train_man The hair is good. Just introduce it to a comb.
@@the_train_man you're usual hairstyle is good man. great for the channel to have a good look, the hair doo might need it's own channel lol. It reminds me of Timothy Olyphant in santa clarita diet, his hair got a lot of attention.
i like tickets because you can have a memory of that rain journey
haha I still have the metcard I used to travel with my friend to the city back in 2011. He has since moved to a different country, so we haven't seen each other since. That metcard still reminds me of the good times we had together lol...
Great stuff marvellous Max from Melbourne. I've been watching a few of your vids. Grew up in Nth Williamstown just near the Railway museum, and yes, worked on restoring the steamers as a kid. Rode the rails on the willy line for years but didn't appreciate the full history until your vid. Now the ticketing. Loved the clunk of the old machines as the ticket was dispensed. You're doing a great job, and entertaining. History, trains and quirky, how good is that?
It is an urban legend, as you say at 4:20 that there are government warehouses located within Melbourne full of unused and unusable scratch tickets. As I understand it when Treasury and Finance considered increasing fares, they had a major problem. As seen at 3:56, all the prices were preprinted onto the scratch ticket. When weighing up the cost, it was cheaper to just dump the tickets, go to yet another ticketing system and apply the price increases. The scratch ticket compared to paper tickets are complex to make and were produced in large batches, which is good as long as you are able to use them.
Can you do a one with stations with no miki tickets max
You should do more videos on regional Victoria like V/Line and their ticketing system or the secrets of the Geelong line for example
Hi Max, another really good topic, done so well. I know some rail enthusiasts who have spent their whole life collecting and collating rail tickets. It’s a fascinating subject, sadly paperless tickets have taken over. Cheers.
Hi Max, a nice array of railway books on your desk . Cheers Graeme.
Wonder where I got them from 😏😏😏
Legend mate
I grew up with the metcard system, I remember having to purchase them daily back with my mum to get to primary school and any other place, as we'd buy the 1 day ones, so we'd go through money and old metcards extremely fast. I also remember when mykis were first introduced, we ended up using metcards until switching was compulsory. I'd use myki daily until I lost a myki card, specifically one of the original green ones, that had a star in the card's design. After that, like most people I gradually stopped using mykis, everyone never used it at that point, and since ticket inspectors are easy to avoid, I only really have to use my current compulsory myki for the occasional train trip into the city despite using the bus to get to school because they chew through cash faster than the metcards going to and from school. I think my myki's in my school jacket from my last excursion and likely won't be leaving said pocket for a few months
Cool, the Melbourne’s Transport Ticketing system is my favourite, nice video mate. :)
Thank you, our ticketing system is truly awesome!
Yes the Melbournes old Metcards reminds me about my childhood! But today my favourite is Myki. :)
With the scratchies, you'd do the year an month, and have your fingernail ready for the day. Then, when you went through a staffed barrier, you held you finger over the day, and just wafted the ticket at the checker. You only even scratched the day if someone official wanted a closer look. You had to do it subtly and quickly. If there was no-one at the barrier, and no ticket inspectors on the train, it was a free trip.
I had a Inner Zone yearly, so only had to the the scratch thing for one extra stop into zone 2. It was a bit cheeky for that station not to be in the boundary.
The ticket checkers probably all knew the tricks, but probably couldn't really be bothered.
Also the original Zone based ticketing system had computerised kiosks at major stations such as Melbourne Central that were later adapted to the Neighbourhood based system! Also the Miki system was initially full of major technical issues initially and it would take until 2014/2015 until almost all of the issues had been resolved! :)
Great video as usual! The VGR still use Edmonson tickets and daters. Blue and Grey for second class and yellow and brown for first class. It’s always a fun task dating a whole lot of tickets for the day!!
Now that is cool! I must visit the VGR and do a video on it soon, and now that I know about the Edmundson system still in use, it makes me fascinated. Thank you!
Another great one Max!
Cheers Ethan, exciting to see your 18th b'day coming up!
I unfortunately missed the stream I was busy with homework, but this was a very interesting historical video! Well done! 👍
Good to hear you doing homework! Glad you enjoyed the video again Alex, thank you
When I visited Sri Lanka in early 2018, I remembered well that the country was still using that old-school fashioned ticketing machine and of course cash only.
My 2 brothers and i are all ex Station Masters. One of my brothers has an original ribbon press, not sure if he also has the box of stamps. we all worked for v/line in the 80's and 90's.
Great work TTM. I was wondering how you'd pull this one off as I thought it would be complicated, but you did with flying colours. Cheers man.
Thanks very much, I appreciate the support, and find it awesome that you think I pulled it off well 😊
I have done some research on train ticketing in Australia seversl years ago.
I found that Melbourne and Perth had the best systems overall. Perth's metro train network although small compared to our other cities is excellent.
Melbourne's comes in 2nd ahead of Brisbane. Adelaide & Sydney lagged behind. Hobart has no metro train network.
Intersting coverage on this subject. I think MIKI ia the best one so far. The Edminston tickets were very cumbersome and filled huge racks at most stations.
Another great video Train Man. I remember using the zonal paper tickets when I was a kid and then switching to Metcards in high school
Thanks Adam. As I was a little younger than you, my memories of the metcards only go as far as going to the footy with my dad, what an experience at the age of 6-8. I do remember being scared (no idea why) at the change of Mykis, I was so used to the amazing metcards! Anyway, thanks again Adam
@@the_train_man Yeah, I was the same. Metcards were so easy
Remember the first day the zonal ticket system. I was in my late teens and had to get buses to work. Ahhh then the scratchiest. I saved so much money - only scratched the month and held my finger over the date to scratch in case. That way I only bought one ticket a month even though I was traveling daily.
Awesome video!! I work on the railways in Sydney and have collected so many tickets throughout my time there. Sad it’s all Opal now.
Really good info tho, sad we never got scratchy tickets 😂😂.
That was intersting well narrated and yes puffing billy still use that tickiting system that you were un sure of that they still used nice video as always.
Thanks for clarifying about Puffing Billy, and I'm glad you found it interesting 👍
Well done, Max - another interesting comprehensive video.
At Werribee and hoppers stations there sre old reference signs everywhere from when it was called metlink.
thanks for the nostalgia.
There once were phone cards but now payphones are free as they were in the 90's if you knew the maccas straw trick. Are you as old as me ;o;
Impressive work, Max, and a good concise summary. Must have taken you ages to research and especially to edit all those images. I learned a lot, so many thanks. It helped me put into context some of the brightly coloured zone tickets in my collection which I knew very little about. Makes me feel old that I’ve never used a Myki and still have several unused MetCards from my last visit!
No big issue but the ticket inventor actually spelled his name Edmondson.
Thanks a lot Barney, glad I could teach you something.
Hopefully one day you can come and use a myki, and see the changes made since you were last here!
I was surprised at the vibrancy of the colours used across the whole history, with them being vibrant ever since Edmondson.
My apologies about the spelling error, very disappointed that for all the effort I put in, I missed that! Thanks again
I remember I was in Melbourne during Christmas-new year 2020/21 and I had to use the bus. I grabbed some loose coins and went to give the bus driver some ( I don't have a Myki). He told me I could ride for free.
Metcards were the best. Should've kept metcards along with mykis.
Best comeback since Essendon vs Hawthorn
That's a fair shout haha
😂
Don't you mean Essendon Vs. North Melbourne? (Round 16, 2001)
Well done as always, Max! Was the pun, "scratching the surface", intentional?
Haha, certainly unintentional, but a good pickup
I remember the BATBGOBSTOPL ads for the metcard
Buy A Ticket Before You Get On Board to Save Time And Problems Later. BATBYGOBSTAPL. An ironic advertisement since the problems were caused by the government. The system is still crap, can't tape on with a Visa/MC, the gates open when the tap is good instead of being open permanently and only close when the tap fails. Read spead is a joke. Yet another trip to Japan needed to see how its supposed to work.
You could do a story about ticket inspectors ....and about what a bunch of (........lovely people) they were, are and have been.
Another great informative video, Max. Well done👍
Thank you Dave, happy to hear you enjoyed 😊
Pre-Myki, I reckon I saved well over $1000 dodging fares on the Pakenham line...if I got caught travelling to the City, "sorry mate, got on at Officer" and heading the other way "sorry mate, got on at Carnegie". Got away with it for years, damn you technology 😁😁😁
Hi @The Train Man, are you going to make a video about the different operators on the Melbourne train system? eg. Connex, The Met, Metro
For sure, great idea for a future video. Right now, I'm going to be going out and filming after a long time, but when I want a break, this is the prefect video!
6:21 J Class!!! LOL
Great Video Train Man
Thank you, I loved bringing back the old outro!
@@the_train_man YES!
But why was there a J Class?
Lol, I have no idea
@@the_train_man ok
@@the_train_man 🤣
When will you continue the secrets of lines videos?
Most likely in 3-5 weeks, the next one will come out, followed by the rest, Rosstown Railway, and then Springvale Cemetery next
Great video, keep up the good work!!! I have two question to ask. What videos have you got planned for us since Melbourne is slowly getting out of lockdown, and when is your DOB?
Next two videos will be The Rosstown Railway, and The Springvale Cemetery Line.
DOB = 26th February 2004
@@the_train_man Now I feel old. lol You're only a couple of weeks older than my eldest grand child. btw. I started taking railway photos when I was your age which was back in nineteen sixty something.
this is cool ticket history Max!
Thank you, I am happy to hear you think so :)
Really like these videos could you do one on the line that went to mansfield tanks
Interesting as usual Max.
Actually Myki is great. So much simpler now!
I love the Myki, a Melbourne staple!
May you please upload the secret of the Sunbury and mernda line
Can’t wait!
I’ve got most of tickets on thumbnail LOL
Fair play haha, I have only 2!
@@the_train_man I only have them because someone I know found them somewhere in there house and gave them to me
i just realised we don't have the zone system anymore......... that hit like a train, i was the first to praise myki when it came in but man, i still remember being very confused about how zones 1 and 2 got weirdly blended in some cases... or was is 2 and 3? i can't believe I'm forgetting
Those were the days haha, I reckon one day a year they switch to 3 zone tickets again, to spice it up
@@the_train_man oh god no hahahaha, maybe do a print run that people can use as well as myki, but not replace ahah
I miss the Metcards. the Sunday Saver was the best idea ever!! the entire network for $2.50
Wasn't one of the reasons the scratch tickets got abolished was because you could easily turn a 2 hour ticket into a yearly one? If you scratched the "appropriate" boxes
Scratchies would easily wear out, the grey stuff rubbing off. Metcards were not much better. I used to get laminated monthlies
Also, where I worked, a lot of people soaked the weekly tickets in bleach and restamped them with a (then) $5 stamp. A weekly could last for months.
What sort of tickets were these?
You Forgot The Nightrider tickets $6 for a 2hr used and $8.20 for Mornington and Melton went down to $5 and eventually turn into Myki
Did you know there was a metal yearly ticket sometime around the late 80s?
Will there be a metro tunnel follow up?
Yep, 'Melbounre's Metro Tunnel 2021' coming out on new years
I think i have a metcard from one of the last days, but basically nothing else
Same with me, never heard of any of the rest until I did my research, so fascinating!
@@the_train_man i only ever knew about metcard and myki!
I’ve got about 5,000 old Mykis.
Wow, you must've done a fair bit of travel!
Fun fact: Zone 3 still exists! In fact, Zone 13 exists. Myki cards still use the zone concept, even in regional areas. So to get to Geelong you'll go through to Zone 4, Zone 6 for Seymour, 8 for Ballarat, 12 for Traralgon, and 13 for Bendigo!
Spot on Floyd
Indeed Floyd, I will make sure to mention this in the future, it is interesting that we have 13 zones in the state, seems a bit overkill, but you can see the thought behind it. I definitely should've mentioned it though, my apologies!
@@the_train_man all good mate, just wait until we have Myki to Swan Hill, then we’ll have 30 zones lol.
Hope your been keep safe Max’s
And you too Jake :)
I have been
Proper cute. Good info too
I had no idea that there were so much detailed designs and art on the metcards, I like them. I just hope myki would have done the same thing. I found a website that has some unofficial artwork on myki cards: www.cardsforacause.com.au
thats cool
Or you could just do what most of us have done and “accidentally” forget to touch on and off
Definitely haven't done that before...
Touching off doesnt matter, it just makes your trip a daily zone 1+2 fare.
Touching on is important, get fined
Those cardboard tickets were so easy to abuse hey (shh) lol
How good it would have been, lots of money saved, it would make filming my videos a lot cheaper!
I remember the metcards
Me too, great memories of the footy, I remembered feeling weird with the Myki's for the first time!
Hi Max I just want to tell you that it’s been a long time since you last uploaded can you tell me what happened.
Just had a cheeky break, school was tough during that period, I just wanted to regroup. Tune in to my Springvale Cemetery Video in 45 minutes!
Mikeys 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 it’s myki
And btw( Myki embarrassment)
wow
how many zones are there
13 now I believe
Vline conductors would hole punch the scratchies
Just a little heads up, Coburg and Moreland stations have trains running on them again.
Thank you, I went past both stations last week for some filming, very exciting!
the old mykis that lime colour
Indeed, wonder when they officially turned black
Hey Train Man
Big man
i like the british facts
👍
👍👍
you cant roll ya joint with a myki
No, but you can rack up a line!
When restrictions are eased further, will you do a secrets of the Mernda Line video?
Yes, next 4 videos will feature the Mernda Line :)
@@the_train_man Amazing! Mernda is my home line
The elaborate signed ticket at 0:36 is due to it being an expensive monthly ticket first class from 1865. Back then train travel was expensive with ticket prices more than covering operating costs. Unlike the social welfare price levels of today that need taxpayers to pay four times the ticket price in subsidies to just cover operating costs. Not a typical ticket from the early days of 1865.
Ah, ok that makes sense John, thank you for explaining. Due to there being very little evidence of the ticketing prior to 1880, I found it difficult to figure out what tickets of the 1860s would have looked like. Thanks again
Metcard is the best