It has helped generations of Victorians and visitors through two global pandemics, migration waves, vastly changing times and a recent V/Line shutdown.
But it is likely you have never heard of Travellers Aid, a vital cog in Victoria's public transport system that helps more than 110,000 people a year.
These days, the not-for-profit organisation mostly helps people with mobility challenges get around the state's trains, buses and trams.
However, when it began in 1916, Travellers Aid was all about providing safe passage for women and children, during a time when many husbands had left to serve in World War I.
"All the men went off to fight the war, and the women were starting to come into the big cities of Australia and do the work that the men traditionally would have done," CEO Elias Lebbos says.
"That happened all over the world, but it was happening here as well."
Volunteers began meeting weary travellers arriving by boat at Melbourne's Station Pier, or by train at major city stations.
Travellers Aid also helped to find suitable accommodation for women and children arriving in the city, along with job opportunities.
At one stage, Mr Lebbos says the service took the matchmaking a step further, helping to find husbands for some women.
Throughout the years, the organisation has also helped greet and accommodate a post-World War II wave of migrants, young Asian students arriving as part of the Colombo Plan in the 1950s and anxious train passengers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
More recently, when a Telstra outage shut down the V/Line network in early July, Travellers Aid assisted passengers by providing information, helping them to reach replacement coaches or contact family members, among other things.
An impact that grows each year
As it celebrates its 110th birthday, Mr Lebbos says Travellers Aid is by no means a small operation.
Its 100 or so staff members and about 150 devoted volunteers assisted tens of thousands of people last financial year alone, with the free service funded by a broad range of government grants, corporate partnerships, commercial revenue and public donations.
There are buggy rides — some travelling underground via the old Spencer Street subway — along with wheelchair assistance, personal care, a travel companion service, and plenty of answers to questions involving directions and timetables.
At Southern Cross Station, a quiet lounge provides a spot to rest the legs and have a friendly chat. There are also showers that can be used for a small fee by anyone, from interstate footy fans arriving on overnight trains to people experiencing homelessness.
Travellers Aid, the only service operating at this scale in Australia, also operates out of the Flinders Street, Seymour and Ballarat railway stations.
Late last year, it expanded to Geelong, the new Metro Tunnel station at Parkville and Melbourne Airport, where the service will expand when the airport's new pick-up and drop-off zones open next month.
Mr Lebbos says in the past 10 years or so, the team has also begun helping fans attend events including the Australian Open and the F1 Australian Grand Prix.
"We made a conscious decision some time ago that people's disability or impairment, or whatever the mobility challenge, doesn't just disappear once they cross the kerb of the station," he says.
A ride on the 'limousine'
Close friends Bev Keane from Warrnambool and Wendy Poulter from Ardeer in Melbourne's west are regulars at the service's Southern Cross site.
"I've got a disability breathing and can't really walk much. They come and get me [from the platform]," 83-year-old Ms Keane says.
"Bev's been staying with me back in Melbourne. I sit here and wait for her to be chauffeured in the 'limousine'," jokes Ms Poulter, who is 79 and has low vision.
Ms Keane has a different nickname for Travellers Aid's popular buggy.
"I call it the billycart," she quips.
The pair used to work together and have been as close as sisters for about 35 years.
Having access to help at the station makes them feel secure in their V/Line travels to visit one another.
"I don't think I'd be confident to go without this," Ms Poulter says.
Helping patients during stressful periods
At the slick new Parkville station, staff clock up thousands of steps a day providing physical and emotional support for patients and visitors heading to nearby hospitals.
Site supervisor Joel Ubias says his team has helped close to 3,400 people at Parkville since last December, when a two-year pilot program got underway.
He and his staff often proactively approach people who look like they may need a hand.
"Some people are surprised and they really appreciate the way we ask," he says.
Train travellers might be going through anything from chemotherapy to a knee replacement, or be expectant mums nearing their due date.
Others will have just received bad news about a loved one or their own medical condition.
Surrey Hills resident Seng Tan has used Travellers Aid multiple times to get from Parkville station to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
The 72-year-old says cancer treatment has weakened his spine.
"I'm on painkillers, but the painkiller doesn't stop the pain," he says.
Rather than struggle through the long walk to the centre using his walking frame, Travellers Aid spirits Mr Tan there and back in a wheelchair.
"Since I started using them, I can't stop using them," he says.
Joining at 22, Karen never left
Karen Lovell is Traveller's Aid's longest-serving staff member.
Her mum Maureen had been working at the organisation's cafe in 1990 when she asked if the then-22-year-old would like cover for another staff member for a few weeks.
"I said, 'Yeah, I'll come and fill in', and I've been here ever since," she smiles.
The cafe near the Bourke Street Mall was a meeting point for country people visiting friends and served up staples like sandwiches and apple slices, along with countless pots of tea.
While the cafe has since closed, Ms Lovell — now the site supervisor at Southern Cross — says that ethos of helping people has remained at the heart of the growing organisation.
She often assists people who are stranded, including those fleeing domestic violence or others who have been rushed to hospital from country areas.
"They've had to go to the hospital for an emergency, and they leave their wallet behind," Ms Lovell says.
Operations manager Maria Groner says Travellers Aid has helped a huge variety of people, including a single mother of three who had moved to Australia and couldn't afford public transport fares for her children to get to school (before public transport was free for kids).
There's also the occasional prisoner who has been released with no wallet and no way to pay for public transport.
"You hear a lot of nice stories, and some very sad stories," Ms Groner notes.
'Good for the soul', volunteer says
Ken Clearihan, who has been with the organisation since 2019, is one of the many volunteers keeping the vast operation humming along.
He volunteers for five hours each Wednesday, driving the buggy and helping with office work and customer service.
Mr Clearihan says Travellers Aid has provided him with a "wonderful community" and many opportunities to support others.
"We improve their day. It's good for the soul; it's good for the heart," he says.
Ms Groner says many volunteers are retirees or international students.
"For them, it's an opportunity to gain some local experience and to have access to socialising and getting to know Australian culture, and getting to an event [like the Australian Open] they would not otherwise be able to afford," she says.
A slice of goodwill in a 'transactional' world
CEO Elias Lebbos believes in some ways, our world has become far too transactional, and goodwill far too rare.
"It seems to have disappeared, and hopefully it's coming back," he says.
Mr Lebbos hopes Travellers Aid is doing its bit to change mindsets, particularly given Australia's aging population.
He is proud of the way the service has encouraged other organisations or businesses to see inclusion not as an afterthought, but as something they should plan for.
Mr Lebbos says it is all about connecting the dots for people's journeys.
He hopes the service might one day be able to do something about the gaps in public travel assistance in other parts of the country.
"We're exploring opportunities interstate and places like Queensland are an obvious one — most of Australia's aging population moves up north," he says.
"But also, there's a big event happening in 2032 — the [Brisbane] Olympics. What role can we play in that?"
