Passenger Rail in Oz

[rmgreenesq]

Greeting Gang:

I get to go to Austualia in the upcoming months. I'm looking to ride the rails down under. Anybody on here know anything about passenger rail service in Australia? Specifically I will need to travel between Sydney and Cairns, Queensland.

Thanks in advance for any infromation y'all may provide.

Rick

 

[MrFSS]

Greeting Gang:
I get to go to Australia in the upcoming months. I'm looking to ride the rails down under. Anybody on here know anything about passenger rail service in Australia? Specifically I will need to travel between Sydney and Cairns, Queensland.

Thanks in advance for any information y'all may provide.

Rick

I'm envious!!

Try this LINK.

And, this LINK.

 

[PRR 60]

First, get ready for a LONG plane ride. I've done the trek to Australia twice and it is quite a trip. Well worth it, by the way.

From Sydney to Brisbane the train service is operated by CountryLink (Rail Corporation of New South Wales). You have two choices. One is an XPT through train that leaves Sydney late afternoon and arrives Brisbane in the morning. The advantage is one seat all the way. The disadvantage is night nearly all the way. Not great for sightseeing. The other option is taking the XPT that leaves Sydney early morning and arrives at Casino (NSW-QLD border) in early evening. A bus connection from Casino arrives Brisbane about 11:00pm. This option gets you daylight much of the way at the expense of losing a one seat trip. The XPT is an Acela-like train but diesel powered. Sleepers are available. Meals are cafe, eat at seat or room.

A link to CountryLink service info is HERE.

Brisbane to Cairns (pronounced "cans") is on QR (Queensland Rail). This, believe it or not, is a narrow gauge line. Once again you have two options. The Sunlander is a conventional train that offers both standard services and luxury services (Queenslander Class). Standard has sleeping rooms and access to paid meals and drinks. Queenslander Class is an all-inclusive rail cruise in a separate portion of the train. The Sunlander runs three times weekly. Queenslander Class service is provided twice a week. The trip leaves Brisbane mid-morning or noon (depending on day of the week) and arrives late afternoon or evening the next day: a 31 hour ride.

A second option is the "Tilt Train". This is a coach-only train (Business and Economy Class) that is billed as "the fastest narrow gauge train in the world". There may not be much competition for that honor. While it does not have sleeping rooms or a full-service dining car, it does make the trip to Cairns about 25 hours (evening to evening). The Tilt Train runs to Cairns twice a week.

A link to QR services is HERE.

 

[PRR 60]

One other train riding opportunity is the Kuranda Scenic Railway in Cairns. This is a narrow gauge line that runs 75km from Cairns through sugar cane fields, rainforrest and mountains to the small town of Kuranda. It is a tourist train and Kuranda is a tourist town, but that's OK because Americans visting Australia are, afterall, tourists.

The coaches (carriages) are old, open window, and very quaint. The trip is slow and curvy and just what you want a narrow gauge tourist train to be. It takes just under two hours each way. Kuranda is an interesting stop with umteen vendors selling all kinds of stuff in a tropical rainforest setting. There are two round trips a day. It takes just under two hours each way. A link is HERE.

Sidebar story: my wife, daughter, son and I rode the Kuranda train back in 1991. At the time my daughter was 13 and my son was 8. On the way back down from Kuranda to Cairns, my wife, daughter, and I fell sound asleep. Still jet-lagged and too much clickity-clacking and rocking I guess. Out like a light. I understand there was some snoring involved. For about 30 minutes our 8-year-old son was the only family member awake. He thought this was hilarious! Fifteen years later at age 23, he still finds it funny.

 

[rmgreenesq]

Thanks for the info guys!

I've got a visa interview for a "problem child" in Sydney. Continental (A member of the Skyteam Alliance) flies to Cairns and I'm a frequent flyer with NWA. I'm looking for the miles and thought I could fly into CNS and feed the railfan with a train ride to Sydeny.

It appears that the train ride is a two day journey, and Mr. PRR if you think the plane ride to Sydney was long, you should see this routing (BOS-IAH-NRT-GUM-CNS). I'm not sure this is doable given the four days on the train and four day plane ride for a one day appearance in the US Consulate in Sydney.

And PRR, your story sounds like a trip I took to Epcot Center. My wife and I flew the red-eye to MCO from LAX, and went straight to Epcot from the airport. After not sleeping a wink on the flight, at about 8 pm EST, we found our way into the movie theater of the France Pavilion. As the lights went down so did our eyelids. Not sure how many showings of the France movie we slept through, but we woke up at the end of one of the showings, left the park, went to the hotel, and crashed.

Rick

 

[battalion51]

Rick you sure you wouldn't rather earn some Delta miles for me, I've got a friend in Kentucky dying to see me. B)

 

[jamesontheroad]

The XPT is an Acela-like train but diesel powered. Sleepers are available. Meals are cafe, eat at seat or room.

The XPT actually has its roots a lot further away than the Acela. The locomotive units in use today are based very closely on the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train (HST). As GNER in the UK begin to refit their HST fleet with new engines, it's safe to say there's still some mileage in these old trains.

There's lots of XPT info here.

*j*