Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE

Books set free on Australia's public transport

If you find a book left behind on public transport, it might have been put there for you to find.

Books on the Rail
Source: Books on the Rail

Two best friends launched the project Books on the Rail, which encourages Australians to leave books on public transport so other can enjoy them too.

Self-proclaimed bookaholics, Ali and Mich started leaving their own books on the trains, trams  and buses of Melbourne earlier this year. Excited by their idea, authors and publishers joined them, also leaving books behind.

Thanks to more than 500 "book ninjas", Books on the Rail is now everywhere in Australia.

"We set books loose on Australian public transport services. We have everything from historical fiction to memoirs to psychological thrillers to colouring in books in circulation. They're there to be taken, read (or coloured!), shared, and of course, enjoyed! Once thoroughly satisfied, the books are to be released back into the wild, ready to be discovered, time after time, by unsuspecting commuters",  Ali and Mich explain.

If you find or leave a book in the wild, you can share it on social media tagging @BooksontheRail or #BooksontheRails

The book Young Digger, which we've talked about here, is among the books found in Melbourne:

Other books found thanks to Books on the Rail :


2 min read

Published

Updated

By Audrey Bourget



Share this with family and friends


SBS Easy French

Learning French? Stay up to date with SBS Easy French. Sign up for the weekly newsletter.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS French

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our exclusive in-language podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

French News First Edition

Watch it onDemand

Watch now