Travel by train in Australia is, for the quality offered, comparatively expensive and not particularly fast by European standards. This is partly due to the fact that older lines were still built in countless different gauges including Cape Gauge (1067 mm). Newer lines were built in standard gauge, and more and more long-distance routes have been adapted for a good twenty years.
Because of the long distances and slow speeds, rail transport can hardly compete with air travel. Traveling by train, except in the surrounding areas of Sydney and Melbourne, is therefore something for lovers, also because of the not exactly new wagons. In many cases, these are sets that were purchased in the 1970s and that have been pimped up a bit.
Tourist trains
The following three special trains are centrally located across railaustralia bookable. The prices depend on the season and performance.
Timetable and tariff overview: The 2017/18 high season prices for the entire routes are given below. For bookings more than half a year in advance there is a discount of around 20%; Australian retirees with proof save around 15%.
Indian Pacific
The Indian Pacific runs from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, as the name suggests: Perth – Adelaide – Broken Hill – Sydney. American wagons built in 1973 are used.
Classes include “Platinum,” “Gold Twin,” “Gold Single.” They cost A $ 4719, 2999, 2839 one way, respectively.
Ghan
Darwin – Alice Springs - Adelaide, 2,979 km. The trip lasts 54 hours, an offered “Ghan Expedition” 4 days / 3 nights.
Classes include “Platinum,” “Gold Twin,” “Gold Single.” They cost A $ 4139, 2849, 2699, one-way, respectively.
Overland
Adelaide - Melbourne, twice a week, 11 hours drive.
Open-plan carriages with adjustable backrests are made available. The 49 cm legroom advertised as "generous" is slightly higher than that offered by European low-cost airlines in the wooden bench class. The classes are called Red and Red Premium at A $ 159 or 259 (with meal).
Long-distance transport
Rail operations are the responsibility of the respective states, each of which has its own company. Long-haul routes are not served all that often, but the entire coast between Adelaide and Cairns drive along.
In the NT only he is wrong Ghan. There are no railway lines in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) is included in the New South Wales network.
- Network cards
From a tourist point of view and also in terms of price, the season tickets, which allow 14 days or a month of free travel on the respective networks, are not uninteresting, especially for NSW and Queensland.
New South Wales
The tracks in NSW were laid in standard gauge right from the start. This state's network operated by TrainLink is the only one that also opens up the cities of the hinterland in a half-way close-knit. But here, too, connections are rare outside of Sydney. Hardly any place is visited more than twice a day, Broken Hill only goes once a week: Timetables. Cross connections are made by rail buses.
The railway points out that the only alcohol that can be consumed is the beer sold on the train at certain hours, and you are not allowed to stand in the aisle. The staff is usually extremely humorless and not very knowledgeable. Attempts to complain are answered with threats to the police for "threatening behavior" or expulsion from nowhere. The idea of sparking ahead to ensure connections for passengers is completely alien. There are no (partial) fare refunds or a European-style “passenger rights charter”. Endless instructions regarding smoking bans, "anti-social behavior" and the opening times of the dining car are boring.
Defrosted ready-made meals as "meals" with little choice are only served at fixed times after pre-ordering about an hour later. Beer and wine are only available after noon and then only "one unit per passenger and hour."
It is generally forbidden to take food with you on the train buses. Only drinking water is allowed on the bus (bag checks), blankets or pillows are also not permitted. Baggage is limited to 20 kg. The passenger compartment is completely monitored by video cameras.
- Discovery Pass
The network card only for the XPT regional trains from NSW TrainLink is probably the most sensible offer in the country. This includes connections to Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne. 14 days cost (2019) A $ 232, 1 month: A $ 275. Reservation (also for the included train buses) is required in any case, but inconvenient. Both on the badly designed website, which is hardly suitable for smartphones, as well as the mostly sour staff at the few counters ask for an Australian telephone number and email address.
When you are finally in one of the wagons, they are quite comfortable. All seats are rotated in the direction of travel. At smaller train stations only 2 or 3 doors are opened, if you are unlucky you can drag your luggage through half the train to get off.
Queensland
The operating company is Queensland Rail (Timetables). The route network of Queensland, in Cape Lane, consists of a coastline between Brisbane and Cairns (1681 km; 25 hours), which is driven by diesel multiple units with tilting technology (Spirit of Queensland) to be served. Four branch lanes go into the interior:
- Brisbane–Charleville The Westlander-Trains serve the 740 km long route twice a week for 17 hours.
- (Brisbane) -Rockhampton–Longreach. The Spirit of the Outback runs from the capital twice a week in 26 hours over 1325 km.
- Townsville–Mt. Isa. The Inlanders-Trains serve the 922 km long route twice a week for 21 hours.
- The Savannahlander from Cairns to Forsayth, is a primarily tourist train that runs 42 weekends a year. The one-way ticket costs A $ 250 in 2017, but most departures are booked out months in advance. From Cairns there is the short tourist route to Kuranda (daily).
There is a Rail City network in and around Brisbane with three regional lines and ten S-Bahn lines. There is a 3 day SEEQ-Card at A $ 79.
The remote places Normanton and Croydon The tourist train connects once a week Gulflander.
- Queensland Explorer Pass
The Network map is available for 1 or 2 months, 2017 at A $ 299 or 389. It is only sold to tourists / working holiday visitors and is not valid in the Brisbane metropolitan area or on the tourist routes mentioned. Reservations are mandatory.
Victoria
V-Line, is the operator of five regional trains (with bus network) in the greater Melbourne area (Timetables). The central train station is Southern Cross (earlier Spencer St.) from there the stretches to Warnambool (over Geelong), Ararat / Maryborough (via Ballarat, Keerang / Echuca (via Bendigo), Albury (on the main route to Canberra and Sydney) and Traralgon.
Payment is made by myki- Prepaid card (initial purchase A $ 30, of which A $ 24 credit) or individual cards. Price example 2017: the 340 km to Albury cost A $ 37 off-peak, otherwise A $ 57.
- myki pass
The network card designed as a smart card comes in four versions (2019): Greater Melbourne 7 or 28 days: A $ 44 or A $ 149. For the rest of the country A $ 168 or A $ 402.
Western Australia
Transwa only serves the route Bunbury (Australind) - Perth (East Perth Terminal) - Kalgoorlie, the latter route is 635 km long. The Prospector-Express runs at least once a day in around seven hours.
Local transport
A train system similar to the S-Bahn exists only in Sydney in the form of the Cityrail and in Melbourne with the Connex. Operates in and around Perth Transperth five lines.
vehicles
In NSW, the XPT a. This is the English adapted to local conditions InterCity 125-Model. The top speed is reduced to 160 km / h. Even on main routes, the average speed rarely exceeds 80-90 km / h.
