The Department of Infrastructure initiative will ease the pain for many families battling costly petrol prices.

The Bacchus Marsh bus service will run from Hepburn Springs and Daylesford to the Ballan railway station from Monday.

The bus service will connect travellers with early morning and evening Regional Fast Rail services between Melbourne and Ballarat.

One Hepburn Springs family has said the new service will change their lives.

For the past eight months Jen Bray and her two-year-old son Keaton have been leaving home at 5.45am and driving her husband Mark Dickenson to the Ballan Station.

"We have breakfast in the car and watch the sunrise in Ballan," Ms Bray said.

"My husband works in St Kilda Rd and we only have one family car."

The couple tried different options including car pooling for one-and-a-half-years before the new bus link was announced.

Ms Bray said the service would save them at least $8 a day in petrol.

"We were really excited when we heard about the bus service. It means we don't have to buy a second car," she said.

"A lot of people will find it useful."

Hepburn Shire Hepburn Healthy Communities Project Strengthening Communities co-ordinator Brian Dunn said the council would be actively encouraging residents to use the new bus link.

He said it was a huge step forward in providing residents in the shire with transport services.

"This service will benefit students and commuters who work in Ballarat and Melbourne," he said. "Visitors to the area will also be able to travel to Ballan by train and then use the service to travel to Daylesford."

Ballarat East MLA Geoff Howard said he hoped the service would be upgraded to cover Creswick later in the year.

"A lot of people have said to me they wish they could get more access to public transport," he said.

Mr Dunn said the council was delighted to see the bus link through to fruition and would be exploring options for more public transport services in the shire.

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