Canberrans will be be able to travel free on all bus and light rail services on Christmas Day this year. Transport Canberra will be running a reduced bus timetable from Monday 21 December to Sunday 10 January, with fewer bus services to match a decrease in demand over the holiday period.

The holiday timetable will still see local services and the rapid 10 running at least every 30 minutes, according to Transport Canberra. All other rapid services will be running at least every 15 minutes during the day and around every hour after 8pm on weekdays.

The regular Sunday timetable will run on both Saturdays and Sundays from 26 December to 10 January, as well as public holidays.

Buses on Christmas Day will be free for all trips on the day, running from 7.40am to 5pm. Local services will run every two hours, rapid services every hour and the rapid 4 service every 30 minutes.

“While customers will see some reduction in frequency during this period there are still 526 more services each weekday than the same time last year and we are confident that service levels will not impact crowding,” said Transport Canberra and Business Services’ deputy director-general, Ben McHugh.

“When travelling through the summer holiday period, we recommend planning ahead using the TC Journey Planner or accessing real-time information about bus services via NXTBUS.”

Light rail services will continue to run as normal over the holiday period, with a ‘Sunday frequency’ for Christmas Day and public holidays, as well as later services on New Year’s Eve.

Transport Canberra has reminded Canberrans to be mindful of COVID-19 when traveling on public transport over summer, which includes practicing good hand hygiene, not travelling if you’re unwell, using the rear doors to board the bus and using a prepaid ticket or MyWay.

More bus services were added earlier this year to reduce crowding on board due to COVID-19 and as people returned to work.

For more information on Canberra bus timetables, visit the Transport Canberra website.