Since then, I read and loved the book Night Trains: the Rise and Fall of the Sleeper by Andrew Martin, 2017. Now is a great time to review the 2 historical luxury train services in Australia and to introduce our newest luxury train.
1] Australia's most famous train, The Ghan, started in 1929. Originally known as the Afghan Express after the C19th Muslim cameleers who helped pioneer Australia's red interior, it first moved north from Adelaide on its inaugural journey to Alice Springs. The track extended to Darwin in 2004, stopping in Katherine and Alice Springs.
The modern journey takes 3 days/2 nights northbound and 4 days/3 nights southbound, including a stay in Coober Pedy. The fares range from $1,049 pp to platinum from $2749 pp.
2] The first Indian Pacific, one of the world's few transcontinental rail adventures, first set off from Sydney to Perth in 1970. Thousands of well-wishers were gathered a few days later to welcome the Indian Pacific's safe arrival in the capital of Western Australia. It was the first time one train had been able to complete the 4,352 ks journey from ocean to mighty ocean, using a common rail gauge.
The long trip stopped at Broken Hill, Adelaide, the South Australian wine regions, Nullarbor Plain and Kalgoorlie. But the off-train excursions differ, depending on whether the visitors are travelling eastward or westward. The gold single starts at $1789 pp while the Platinum starts at $3799 pp.
Both the Indian Pacific and The Ghan include great food and wine. While travelling on board, visitors can focus on local foods and wines from the regions the train passes through.
**
Thank you to Steve Meacham for the history and photos. Since 2004, when the previously unprofitable Ghan line was expanded north to Darwin, it and the Indian Pacific have been in the forefront of a renewed global interest in luxury rail travel. The slow train connected to the human psyche; being on the train was wonderful, and so were the off-the-train activities. The two long Australian train journeys were very popular and there was a nine-month waiting list for the Ghan and Indian Pacific! Other luxury operators in Canada, Europe, South Africa and Chile reported similar success rates. People loved the romance of luxury train trips, transformed into high-value, more experiential adventure.
3] More than a year of negotiations with the National Rail Freight Corporation went into planning Australia’s newest route. Now Australia has got its third epic, luxury, multi-day rail adventure - the Great Southern Rail. Dec 2019 was the start, but Australia was diverted within a couple of months by coronavirus. Great Southern Rail will again be one of the world's great new generation of railway journeys, from Adelaide to Brisbane and return, with multiple experiential stops in between.
Each trip takes 218 guests. Both gold and platinum accommodation is provided in single or twin cabins, with on-board dining, beverages and off-train excursions.
A 3-day/2-night adventure from Adelaide to Brisbane has stops en route. The trip leaves Adelaide in time for lunch on board. Most meals on the Great Southern's rail adventures are eaten in the train’s dining cars: watching the scenery go by is part of the rail experience. At Victoria's Grampians, the train stops so passengers can explore a lovely part of Australia. Walk to MacKenzie Falls after lunch, where the steep trail shows water cascades over huge cliffs into a deep pool. Or perhaps an hour or two at Brambuk, one of Australia's greatest Indigenous interpretative centres.
Both the Indian Pacific and The Ghan include great food and wine. While travelling on board, visitors can focus on local foods and wines from the regions the train passes through.
**
Thank you to Steve Meacham for the history and photos. Since 2004, when the previously unprofitable Ghan line was expanded north to Darwin, it and the Indian Pacific have been in the forefront of a renewed global interest in luxury rail travel. The slow train connected to the human psyche; being on the train was wonderful, and so were the off-the-train activities. The two long Australian train journeys were very popular and there was a nine-month waiting list for the Ghan and Indian Pacific! Other luxury operators in Canada, Europe, South Africa and Chile reported similar success rates. People loved the romance of luxury train trips, transformed into high-value, more experiential adventure.
3] More than a year of negotiations with the National Rail Freight Corporation went into planning Australia’s newest route. Now Australia has got its third epic, luxury, multi-day rail adventure - the Great Southern Rail. Dec 2019 was the start, but Australia was diverted within a couple of months by coronavirus. Great Southern Rail will again be one of the world's great new generation of railway journeys, from Adelaide to Brisbane and return, with multiple experiential stops in between.
Each trip takes 218 guests. Both gold and platinum accommodation is provided in single or twin cabins, with on-board dining, beverages and off-train excursions.
A 3-day/2-night adventure from Adelaide to Brisbane has stops en route. The trip leaves Adelaide in time for lunch on board. Most meals on the Great Southern's rail adventures are eaten in the train’s dining cars: watching the scenery go by is part of the rail experience. At Victoria's Grampians, the train stops so passengers can explore a lovely part of Australia. Walk to MacKenzie Falls after lunch, where the steep trail shows water cascades over huge cliffs into a deep pool. Or perhaps an hour or two at Brambuk, one of Australia's greatest Indigenous interpretative centres.
Passengers are welcomed back on the train with cocktails. Appropriately the livery of the diesel engine pulling the Great Southern train is burnt orange, matching the Australian bush and hot beaches
The Brisbane-Adelaide return is a 4-day/3-night trip, with a Hunter Valley stopover. After departing Brisbane, enjoy lunch on board and a relaxing afternoon settling in a private cabin before arriving at the coastal town of Coffs Harbour. Visitors can choose to meander through the historic vineyards of the Hunter Valley, sampling wines from boutique cellar doors and enjoying a sumptuous lunch.
Or visit Newcastle, a city with amazing coastal views and a historical Fort Scratchley site visit. Finish the day with a visit to Strzelecki Lookout and stroll along the Newcastle Memorial Walk.
Or explore the beautiful Port Stephens area. Travel to Nelson Bay for a relaxing cruise spotting dolphins and taking in the beauty of the Bay before a fresh seafood lunch at the Marina while the waves lap at the shore nearby. Next stop is exploring the Stockton Bight Sand Dunes in 4WD vans. Then return to the train for dinner.
Cocktail lounge
Great Southern train from Adelaide to Brisbane: Australia's new luxury train unveiled noted that Sydney and Melbourne were not included in the trip. Next day after bunch on board, visit the Moorabool Valley and wander along the Geelong waterfront, discover public art on the foreshore and enjoy the Pier, Eastern Beach and Baywalk Bollards. Then set off on a road trip by coach through regional Victoria to the Great Ocean Road to see unforgettable highlights such as the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge or the majestic London Bridge. Finally journey through the charming Adelaide Hills and enjoy the last breakfast on board before arriving into Adelaide.
Post coronavirus, fares will restart from $1649 per person for Gold service and $3899 per person for Platinum service.
13 comments:
The Indian Pacific trip provided very Australian views, fun stops, food, drinks and beds. But three days and nights were enough... the fourth day was too much. The Great Southern will be better.
Train Man
I am going to add a photo of the spacious cocktail lounge. If passengers have viewed all the views, and have read all their books and newspapers, they can move into the hub of the train where people gather very sociably.
Hi Hels - I saw a couple of programmes about these trains and would love to actually travel - must be staggeringly beautiful. In recent years these sort of trips have really been upgraded ... I've only been on the Blue Train in South Africa in the late 80s, and then the Rocky Mountaineer around the turn of the century ... both had great impact on me. If the time ever comes around for this sort of travel - then I'd like to take them! All the best - Hilary
Hilary
Good choices! The Blue Train and the Rocky Mountaineer were both terrific fun. But the Rocky Mountaineer is different in one important way - that the passengers sleep in hotels en route and not in the train. And we very much enjoyed the Maharajas' Express from Delhi to Mumbai.
If the time ever comes.....*patient sigh*
Hello Hels, The scenery must be magnificent on these trains--certainly the example you show is incredible. I am not sure that I would be a good candidate for a train vacation however. On a train I tend to get motion sick. I have been on the high-speed train in Taiwan, which is very smooth, but the scenery goes by so fast it is hard to enjoy.
--Jim
Parnassus
even if you always face the front and you always sit in the front of the train, anti-motion sickness tablets only reduce the nausea. They don't solve your basic problem, as my beloved spouse found on his last trip to Tasmania - he was sick the entire way.
Fast trains are great for business, but not for tourist pleasure and education.
You are talking my language. After some research I decided the Indian Pacific was not for us. After some research, I decided The Ghan is for us, but that is of course on hold. I looked at the new train trip and I think I remember that it would not travel through Sydney or Melbourne as the operator did not want it to be caught up with local lines, and of course the different rail gauges makes it complicated.
I expect you know Prime Minister John Curtain used to travel from Perth to Canberra by train frequently.
Andrew
Good grief. I was hoping that NSW and Victoria got over their petty self aggrandisement issues ages ago, and got on with being just two states within a giant Federal system. Although I must admit that it wasn't until 1995 that trains could travel between Brisbane and Perth, via Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide on a standard gauge track.
Thank goodness for Curtin *nod*. While he was Prime Minister, Curtin used the train to travel between his Perth home and the Parliament in Canberra. Mind you, when he crossed the Nullarbor on the broad gauge trans-continental railway, even the Prime Minister had to get out at Kalgoorlie, then cover the last 600 km to Perth on the narrow gauge :(
Friv
Many thanks for reading my cross country railway post, but I don't take advertising.
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dheerajdixit
I am glad you are interested in luxury train tours, but I was writing about Australian trains. Have you been on one?
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