Beginning in the mid-2000s, a rapid increase in patronage of Melbourne's train network occurred. In the three-year period between financial year 2005 and 2008 rail patronage grew by 35 per cent. Trips grew from 148 million in 2004 to more than 200 million in 2008. In November 2007, Singapore's SMRT Transit and Hong Kong's MTR Corporation Limited expressed interest in taking control of Melbourne's suburban rail network from Connex in November 2009, when their contract was to be reviewed. On 25 June 2009, Connex lost its bid to renew its contract with the Victorian Government. Hong Kong backed and owned MTR Corporation took over the Melbourne train network on 30 November 2009, operating as a locally themed consortium Metro Trains Melbourne. MTR is a non-public railway owner and operator in Hong Kong where it is well known for constructing Transit Oriented Developments (TODS) above and around its stations. Metro began operation on 1 December 2009, promising to draw on its international experience to improve Melbourne's rail operations. Transport Minister Lynne Kosky stated that the Government's A$10.5 billion, 10-year major transport plan, announced in May 2006, had significantly underestimated the usage rates of public transport. Original assessments had forecast increases of around 3-4%, far short of the 10% seen year-on-year. The State Government responded by purchasing new trains and introduced a new ticketing option that enabled commuters to pay a reduced fare if their journey finished by 7am. In 2008, the Brumby Government announced a $14.1 billion Victorian Transport Plan to augment Melbourne’s rail network. The plan included:   Following the investment announcement, the plan for the introduction of more than 200 new weekly train services was released to tackle overcrowding on the city's busiest train lines, a problem that had been attributed to a lack of trains and falling reliability. On 1 May 2009 the State Government announced that they had committed $562.3 million in the 2009 State Budget for the extension of the Epping line 3.5 kilometres north to South Morang. Construction started in 2010 and was completed in 2012. In May 2011, operations commenced on a new metropolitan timetable, rewritten for the first time since 1996 with over 600 additional weekday services added. In 2012, a Public Transport Development Authority trading as Public Transport Victoria (PTV) was established to coordinate, plan and regulate the state's public transport services, including the metropolitan rail system. In the same year, the Metcard ticketing system was discontinued, completing the controversial network-wide roll-out of the new Myki smart card system.