Myki outage in Melbourne causes commuter chaos on trams, busses and trains

Melbourne’s transport network was thrown into chaos on Thursday when the state’s public transport fare collection system shut down. 

The Myki outage affected trains, trams and buses across the city in the afternoon during peak hour making passengers unable to touch on or off.

Operators had no choice but to wave commuters through the barriers allowing them to ride for free. 

Metro Trains Melbourne issued an apology to commuters for the inconvenience but said the issue has now been resolved. 

Melbourne’s public transport fare system, myki, experienced a city-wide outage (pictured, a myki card reader out of order)

‘We are aware of an outage currently affecting myki devices and are working to restore it as soon as possible,’ Public Transport Victoria said in a statement.

‘We thank passengers for their patience while we work to resolve the issue.’

Metro Trains Melbourne also released a statement about the ‘technical fault’.

‘We are aware of an issue with the ticketing system which is impacting the network.’

‘Our teams are currently investigating and our authorised officers have been advised of the issue.’

Melbourne commuters have been able to ride the trains for free due to the technical fault (stock image)

Metro Trains Melbourne issued an apology to commuters for the inconvenience before updating them with news that the system had been restored (stock image)

Metro Trains later claimed the system had been restored and all myki card readers should now be working across Melbourne’s train stations.

The myki card system is due to expire in November.

The Andrews government has flagged plans to improve the state’s public transport fare network once the myki contract ends.