Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Melbourne - Sydney train

Hi,

I'm possibly going to travel on the overnight train from Melbourne to Sydney next month, in F but not in a berth. I can see fares online of about $175 (single) which seems good but will I be able to get the same price on a walk-up fare on the day?

Also, what sort of food/drink/breakfast/etc can I expect on board? Any other information about the journey would be great too.

TIA.

This might assist. http://www.countrylink.info/travelling_with_us/onboard_facilities

Having travelled in Economy from Brisbane to Coffs Habour on CountryLink's XPT service, I can say the seats are comfortable, but no where near as good as QR's Tilt Train. I'm not sure I could have continued onto SYD though...

Food onboard was you standard sandwiches, cakes, hot chicken rolls, soft drinks, flavoured milk etc - can't remember prices, but I believe they may have been reasonable to expensive.

Fellow FT member thadocta should be able to give some more information on this matter...

Having travelled in Economy from Brisbane to Coffs Habour on CountryLink's XPT service, I can say the seats are comfortable, but no where near as good as QR's Tilt Train. I'm not sure I could have continued onto SYD though...

Food onboard was you standard sandwiches, cakes, hot chicken rolls, soft drinks, flavoured milk etc - can't remember prices, but I believe they may have been reasonable to expensive.Just for something different, I took the daytime train first class from Melbourne to Yass recently. I can tell you, it was the most relaxing travel experience I've had in many years, compared to flying or driving. And so refreshing to hear announcements in genuine unaffected Aussie accents. As for the food, definitely on the expensive side, and served in conditions that are certainly glamour-free, but heck ... it tastes good if you're hungry enough. You can also get beer and wine.

I would travel by rail more often, even in Australia's antiquated trains, if I had the time.

Thanks for the intro, QF NB.

I myself would not do SYD-MEL-SYD on the overnight train unless in a sleeper. The seats themselves are comfortable enough, and certainly better than you will get on QF, JQ or DJ, but on the XPT you are in them for around 11 hours, which is about 9.5 hours longer than the airlines.

The problem with the seats is a result of the way that the trains are utilised - the day service turns around in MEL to form the overnight return, whilst the overnight service down turns around to form the day service back.

Seating in trains optimised for overnight travel ten to have different features to trains intended for daytime travel. As an example, the best seats for day travel have firmer lumbar support, which is something you don't need - in fact, you would rather not have - for night travel.

When designing the seats on the XPT, the designers attempted to create a seat which would suit the differing needs of both the daytime traveller and the night time traveller. IMNSHO, they created something which doesn't really suit either.

Having said that though, the seating in both Y and F is more than adequate for day time travel, and I thoroughly recommend the daylight service as a way of getting a good look at the Australian countryside, which will be extremely varied throughout the trip.

As far as the overnight trip goes, one of the issues I have with the way this service operates (and you will see this phenomena a LOT as you travel around Australia) is that the train operates to convenience the staff.

The train (on SYD-MEL and return) arrives at each end somewhat early (around 0700). The Senior Passenger Attendant, who is responsible for the buffet contents and the cash on board, travels on the train for the entire trip. The buffet therefore closes around an hour prior to arrival to enable stocktake and cash reconciliation to take place. This means that the internal carriage lighting is turned on around 0500, and PA (tannoy) announcements are made advising those who wish to purchase breakfast to do so fairly soon.

I don't know about you, but I don't like being woken around 0500 at the best of times, let alone being woken by bright lights and loud PA announcements. At least in the sleeper you have a volume control for the PA, and you don't get woken by bright lights.

The food is quite reasonable, the lasagna is absolutely DELICIOUS, and I buy it every time it is on the menu. The drinks selection is a bit woeful (they actually have Fosters in the beer range, something NOBODY with an Australian passport will drink if there is an alternative) but some of the wines can be quite pleasant.

Any further queries, feel free to PM me.

Dave

Cheers for the advice thus far. I'll be flying CBR - MEL, spending a few days in MEL then getting the train to SYD so I'll only be getting a single ticket. The on-board service stuff sounds about what I was expecting.

Can anyone advise on if I can see fares online of about $175 (single) which seem good but will I be able to get the same price on a walk-up fare on the day?

Not sure as to the prices of last minute fares, but your best bet would be to contact CountryLink to find out (email):

CountryLink - Travel from Overseas (Bookings@countrylink.nsw.gov.au)

Haven't heard of CL offering last minute walk-up fares, but as you would be purchasing a full adult fare, perhaps they do offer a discounted ticket for such people.

Cheers

Actually, you have a much better chance of securing a cheaper fare by pre-purchasing an advvance purchase ticket. But at the moment, these can't be purchased online, only in person or over the phone. They are subject to change restrictions however.

Dave

The drinks selection is a bit woeful (they actually have Fosters in the beer range, something NOBODY with an Australian passport will drink if there is an alternative) but some of the wines can be quite pleasant.

How true! I have taken the Explorer (XPL) service SYD-CBR and it's not bad. Great to be able to walk around freely but for an 11 hour trip, I would need the sleeper.

If you get a sale fare, wouldn't be cheaper just to fly?

You may want to consider a Rail Pass:

http://www.railaustralia.com.au/rail_passes.htm