SLADE’S Hamilton Newsagency & Lotto at 150 Gray Street, Hamilton, is V/Line’s new ticket agent and has already begun operating.

A V/Line spokesperson announced the appointment on Thursday following an expression of interest process after the previous ticket agency at the Hamilton Railway Station closed in January.

“We’re pleased to announce Slade’s Newsagency as Hamilton’s new V/Line retail ticket agent,” they said.

“We thank Slade’s for taking on this important service for passengers and look forward to working with them to help Hamilton locals get where they need to go.”

The ticket agent will be based out of the newsagency’s Gray Street premises and sell tickets for all V/Line services.

It will operate from 6.30am-5.30pm on weekdays, and 7am-4pm on Saturdays.

Owners, Gary and Chris Slade, said they were pleased to take up a new challenge.

“We’re ready to go,” Gary said.

“We sold our first ticket this morning (Thursday).

“This is something else we can add to our list of services we offer for Hamilton residents and the district.

“We’re all pretty new at it but we’ll find our way - it’ll be a learning curve - but we’ve got great staff here and they know what they’re doing.

“We look forward to providing the service and being as efficient in this as in everything else we endeavour to do.”

Slade’s is a family business - run by Gary and Chris and their children, Rachel and Justin.

Coaches will continue to depart from outside the nearby Hamilton Railway Station building on Station Street.

All coaches servicing Hamilton will continue to be equipped with an onboard ticketing system so passengers can still choose to purchase a ticket once boarding, using cash or EFTPOS.

Passengers can also purchase a ticket from the V/Line website and either have the ticket mailed to their address or display their confirmation email to the driver on a mobile device.

Hamilton is serviced by two return coach services to Melbourne via Ballarat each day, as well as a return service via Warrnambool on weekdays and Sundays, and a second return service via Warrnambool on Friday nights.

This provides passengers with the choice of three return services on weekdays and Sundays, two return services on Saturdays and an extra Friday night service to get home at the end of the week.

Service times are scheduled across the day to give passengers more choice on when they want to travel.

A return weekday service from Hamilton to Portland was added this year.