The new year party soured quickly for revellers in Sydney who faced long queues getting home after lightning strikes scored direct hits on signal boxes, sparking delays which continued into the morning.
Central Station was crammed with partygoers trying to go home in the early hours. The delays affected the North Shore, Inner West, Bankstown and Eastern Suburbs lines.
"Severe thunderstorms and multiple lightning strikes have caused delays for passengers," a spokesperson for Sydney Trains said.
"Sydney Trains worked closely with NSW Police to clear massive crowds through Central Station and other CBD stations safely.
Last night's direct lightning strikes on equipment will have flow-on effects on the network today, with some delays and cancellations."
Travellers were being advised to allow extra travel time for any journeys on New Year's Day and to check indicator boards for changes at short notice.
As the fireworks displays ended around the country, the buzz of celebration gave way to the inevitable clean-up.
In Sydney, more than 200 staff were working on the clean-up from 2:00am at Circular Quay before moving to Darling Harbour.
Police praised the behaviour of revellers and said there were minimal alcohol-related arrests, which reflected on the temperament and patience of last night's crowds.
In Melbourne, Victoria Police had rostered more officers than ever before in the CBD as hundreds of thousands of revellers poured into the city to see in the new year.
At 2:00am, police said in a statement they were "pleased" with the public's behaviour.
"All but a handful of the hundreds of thousands of Victorians enjoying New Year's Eve festivities have behaved well," Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said.
St Kilda Beach, which was trashed during the 2017 Christmas period, appeared unaffected by revelry, with no rubbish left along the foreshore.
Port Phillip Mayor Dick Gross said tens of thousands of people saw in 2019 from along St Kilda, Elwood and Sandridge foreshores.
He said recent alcohol restrictions introduced by the council had helped make the night a success and that he was proud of the cleansing teams.
"The beach is as clean as a whistle. We've had two problems in St Kilda in recent times with liquor and litter, and both of those issues didn't erupt last night, the place is clean," Councillor Gross said.
Not all smooth-sailing
Paramedics were called to more than 1,000 emergencies across Victoria between 6:00pm and 3:00am, for incidents involving drunk and drug-affected revellers as well as accidents such as trips and burns.
A man in his 20s was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition after he fell and hit his head at Falls Festival in Lorne.
Ambulance Victoria's Ian Hunt said overall the patients had been well behaved towards paramedics.
"It's been a really good evening. We've been busy but the crowd has been very respectful of the work we do and has treated our paramedics very, very well," he said.
NSW Ambulance said they were called out to 2,500 jobs between 4:00pm and 3:00am — mostly for assaults, alcohol intoxication and drug overdoses.
More than 30 people were arrested with a combined total of 45 charges for drug, assault and resisting arrest.
At least one person was also arrested for unlawfully launching fireworks.
In Canberra, aviation safety regulators warned amateur drone pilots to read up on the law, after two drones were found flying illegally near official celebrations last night.
Police will refer both pilots to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, and they could face fines of more than $10,000.
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