With thousands of people set to descend upon Melbourne over the next two weeks for the Australian Open, the Victorian government has implemented extra public transport services to make getting to and from the event easier.

Last year, almost half a million trips were taken to the tennis by tram – representing about half the record 1,020,763 crowd over the two-week tournament.

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“The Australian Open is one of the largest sporting events in the world – and our world’s largest tram network will help people get there,” public and active transport acting minister Colin Brooks says.

“We’re making it easier for thousands of tennis fans to get to and from Melbourne Park using public transport.”

An extra 4,500 services on Route 70a will shuttle Australian Open ticket holders and staff for free across the two week event – with trams set to run every two to three minutes during busy periods throughout the day.

For the first time, night buses will depart from Federation Square 40 minutes after play concludes on a range of popular public transport routes – this limited service will run no later than 2:00am on Sunday to Thursday nights, with regular night network services operating over the weekend.

Tennis fans can also catch the Route 246 bus running between Elsternwick and Clifton Hill, stopping at Olympic Boulevard on Punt Road.

Richmond station will be easily accessible, and those travelling to Flinders Street Station can connect with a tram to Melbourne Park or walk across the Tanderrum Bridge through Birrarung Marr to the Garden Square Entrance.

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