Locals say it too often leaves passengers waiting, wedged in or wondering whether it will show up at all. An MTF Transport Forum next week at the St Kilda Town Hall is a chance for political parties to state their plans to fix the 606. And you can be there to hear the news.
Despite a boost in services announced in May 2024, the vital 606 bus route remains woefully inadequate as a critical connection between Fishermans Bend and St Kilda and further to Elsternwick. Even after the addition of 111 extra services, the services don’t operate after 9 pm and are only hourly on weekends – intervals that are insufficient for community needs.
Community campaigners want a more reliable service on the much-used route, which runs between Elsternwick Station and Fishermans Bend, with stops through some of Port Phillip’s busiest school, shopping, beach and work precincts.
The call follows complaints about long gaps, crowding, delays and missed connections — especially for students, older residents and workers who do not have the luxury of treating public transport as optional.
Port Phillip Council has backed the push, voting to support a community petition and lobbying the Victorian government for urgent improvements to frequency and reliability. The ask is simple: buses that come more often, arrive when promised, and can actually take the people waiting at the stop.
It is hard to build a connected city on a bus that runs like an afterthought. If Fishermans Bend is booming, St Kilda is busy and Elsternwick is a rail gateway, the 606 should be treated as a proper cross-suburban link — not a timetable lottery.
More: The 606 currently serves 44 stops between Fishermans Bend and Elsternwick Station, according to Transport Victoria route information.
Route 606 current operating hours and frequency
| Day | Operating hours | Typical frequency |
| Monday to Friday | About 5.53 am to 9.04 pm | Every 26–34 minutes |
| Saturday | About 7.04 am to 9.04 pm | Every 60 minutes |
| Sunday | About 8.03 am to 9.03 pm | Every 60 minutes |
Source: publicly available Route 606 timetable information. Times may vary by direction, stop and public-holiday timetable.
Better buses: worth getting on board
If you rely on the 606 — or would use it if it turned up more often — now is the time to say so. Add your voice to the community call for buses that run later, come more often, connect properly with trains and can actually fit the people waiting at the stop.
The forthcoming election is an ideal time to press candidates on the 606. Let them know it is not a nice-to-have: it is a school route, a work route, a shopping route, a beach route and a lifeline for people who cannot or should not have to drive.
The ask is simple: more frequent services, better reliability, later buses and proper peak-hour capacity. Melbourne keeps talking about connected communities. Here is a chance to prove it, one bus at a time.
Pollies face your transport questions
More frequent buses? Safer cycling? More accessible tram stops? A fair go for pedestrians? Fewer potholes? Cheaper PT? This pre-election forum will put your transport questions to local MPs. Registrations are now open for a pre-election transport forum featuring local MPs Nina Taylor, ALP MLA for Albert Park; Katherine Copsey, MLC for Southern Metropolitan; and David Southwick, MLA for Caulfield.
Chaired by Mayor Alex Makin, the free forum will tackle growth and infrastructure, safety and accessibility, and affordable transport, with questions from the audience.
[Reserve your seat now]
St Kilda Town Hall, Monday 14 September, 6.30 pm – 8.00 pm
Organised by the Metropolitan Transport Forum, which advocates on transport issues for 25 Melbourne councils and more than 4 million residents.
