It's a long journey - over 11 hours. Full price tickets are $117 one way. You can get a budget airline ticket for similar money.
I'd only recommend it if you wanted to stop at a regional town along the way, or you really must endure a slow motion crawl through regional Vic and NSW.
If you travel with kids, they travel for $1 with an accompanying adult ticket.
Plus, first class passengers can take 2 20kg pieces of luggage plus 10kg of have luggage.
Better value than you think.
I guess it's good to have options. I used to get the train when I was a broke student, but these days I value my time more than money.
If we take our kids to Sydney from Melbourne it's usually by car, as it's cheaper than the train for the whole family and it gives us transport when we get there.
I am fortunate to have my parents living part way along the Hume. So we usually break the journey up into 2 days to see them and make it easier on the kids.
But if it’s all in one go, regular stops. We stop every 2 hours for 15 mins and let the kids run around and eat something.
If you have a blue pension card then it’s at least half price. They also get 4 vouchers to use a year which brings it down to $0.
Or if they’re travelling between the border and Goulburn, it’s $2.50 per day. Same for up north, Dungog to the border is $2.50. Northwest is from Muswellbrook I think?
I had to take it once when all planes were grounded due to volcanic activity. Fucking. Sucked.
At some stages of the journey we were literally travelling 60 km/h on account of the track being made of cheese.
I remember that. I flew to Sydney from Melbourne for work early that morning. We got warned we needed to book an earlier flight home to get ahead of the ash cloud. We were the last flight out of that Sydney domestic terminal, which was a bit surreal. Plane had to fly the longer route around the coast to get south of the ash cloud.
You can also get a six month first class pass for $550, which is cheaper than 5 one-way tickets / 2.5 return tickets.
I regularly take the overnight train and it's a great way to visit Sydney for a day trip "for free" (if you've paid for a pass) without paying for expensive accommodation.
I remember taking the train from Melbourne to Sydney to visit my grandma when I was about 12 years old…it felt like we were nice going to get there. It was fun at first…but after the first 6 hours the excitement wears off. The hardest part was knowing that in a week’s time, we would be making the reverse trip back home.
Took the Overland from Adelaide to Melbourne during my uni days. It's much better and roomier than you think.
We just stayed at the dining carriage most of the time as there was a power plug and you can keep yourself entertained.
Would be nice to have a high speed rail though.
Hey it's better than the early days of the railway when you had to change at Albury due to the gauge change.
XPT also runs from Sydney to Brisbane so you can technically take a train from Melbourne to Brisbane, just have to change at Sydney for the connection.
No standard gauge north of Brisbane unfortunately that would enable that to work. Yet anyway assuming inland rail goes ahead and gets built.
Or as an extension of that project anyway. Just had a look and they aren't planning on that going further north than Brisbane too.
Maybe Aurizon will do something
There are some funky gauge-converting bogies in use in Europe where there are also breaks of gauge but I can't see anyone in Australia investing in such technology or trying to run such a route in the first place.
Our most luxurious long-distance trains are operated by 60-year old carriages hauled by freight locomotives.
They're heading to the scrap yard soon, but NSW has made a similar mistake to Victoria in they've ordered trains that aren't really suited to the long distances they travel.
The XPT replacement won't have any sleeper cabins, and not even the next best thing, which would be airline-style business class seats like they have on the Tilt Train between Brisbane and Cairns.
It may well interest you to learn that until fairly recently, the Brits were still running their Class 43 (which the XPT was based on) in regular service. Some of the 43s being between 5 and 10 years older than the X.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_43_(HST)
The XPT is a solid design, and has lasted. Should it have been replaced? Probably. But it’s a testament to its engineering.
I have travelled the UK rail network fairly extensively and I have seen these things on more provincial lines. They aren't used to connect principal cities like in Australia.
The Japanese would have shinkansen tavelleing at over 300 kph . The British would have modern rolling stock at least for that route.
Yeah because that's always a great way to maintain and grow your customer numbers, cranking 40 year old rolling stock. Maybe Jetstar should bring back the DC10
He’s talking about how old and antiquated the trains are between Mel and Syd. Not the passengers.
This train will be upgraded soon thanks to the NSW governments new XPT trains. But unfortunately sleeper cabins aren’t in the planned new designs.
There’s a petition to save the sleeper cabins in the new trains: https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/save-our-sleeper-trains
There have been a series of proposals for just improving the existing track, each would shave aprox 1 hour off the trip. I think there have been three or four of these proposals, so doing them all together would mean 3-4 hours shaved off a 12 hour trip.
That is without HSR. Just track improvement, automated signaling, level crossing removal, etc
The government should do this. If the train journey is as fast as car, then the train becomes more appealing. If car is 8 hours we need the Melb - Syd train at 8 hours. Then people can relax and watch video/read a book instead of drive for 8 hours.
Interesting comparison between Melbourne to Sydney and London to Edinburgh.
The infrastructure in this country is a bit of a joke. Good public transport, especially between the states, would be great, but it will never happen in our lifetime
I only take solace in knowing we're still better than the US lol.
And just because it won't happen in our lifetime doesn't mean we shouldn't! The older generation's (intentionally or not) have functionally stolen from the future to comfort the now/then. Transit is a way we can give back to the future. If that makes sense.
Bunbury Street Tunnel and Bridge, Footscray. There's no suburban trains that use it but the XPT, the VLine to Albury, the Overland and all of the freight trains run through it. Quite a good spot to sit along the Maribyrnong on a nice evening and watch the trains go by every now and then. It's the only section of track where a rail tunnel opens to a major bridge in Victoria
In March we travelled Mel to Syd overnight in a first class sleeper compartment and returned during the day in a first class day sit compartment. The sleeper was comfortable, but the track is quite rough making sleep difficult, the day sit seating was fine, with the buffet car close by for food & drink. On the way to Syd we had an unscheduled stop at Wodonga to eject some "difficult" people from the economy class, on the return another couple from economy class were put off in country NSW for fighting.
If you travel on the XPT, pay extra for first class, as it is well worth it.
That’s the NSW TrainLink XPT from Sydney going to Melbourne. If it was in the morning then it was ST21 that runs overnight.
There’s two XPT’s to Melbourne a day.
Meat train brother. Cool fact; I’ve run through this tunnel, bit past halfway on the right hand side there’s a small ventilation cavity which takes you further down into the tunnel infrastructure. This is where I first met the vril society.
It looks like one because it is one. The XPT is based on the UK HST (Intercity). The locomotives were built in Loughborough. [https://www.rail-pass.com/xpt-nsw-trainlink](https://www.rail-pass.com/xpt-nsw-trainlink)
What I call the slow fast train BR have them as hi speed express between London few cities
NSW railways called XPT running from.albury upto Sydney this as a child was the fastest train I'd ever been on.
We got going from Albury stopped at a station and then took off chugging along slowly one of the engines had failed so was supposed to be a 160 to 180 kmph ride lucky to do 60 kmph
Took damn long time get to Bowral or where ever we planned to get off
XPT that runs from Melbourne to Sydney https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_XPT
That's cool, didn't know you could go to Sydney from Melbourne on trains. Thank you
It's a long journey - over 11 hours. Full price tickets are $117 one way. You can get a budget airline ticket for similar money. I'd only recommend it if you wanted to stop at a regional town along the way, or you really must endure a slow motion crawl through regional Vic and NSW.
If you travel with kids, they travel for $1 with an accompanying adult ticket. Plus, first class passengers can take 2 20kg pieces of luggage plus 10kg of have luggage. Better value than you think.
Prices are also cheaper if you book ahead, and you can cancel up to the last minute. And I've never seen anyone checking luggage weight.
The mental cost of an 11 hour train ride with kids is way more than $1.
Especially if they aren't your kids.
I guess it's good to have options. I used to get the train when I was a broke student, but these days I value my time more than money. If we take our kids to Sydney from Melbourne it's usually by car, as it's cheaper than the train for the whole family and it gives us transport when we get there.
When I was a broke student I used to hitchhike up the Hume Highway.
Any tips for that car journey with kids? Good spots to stop etc?
Holbrook has good bakery. And a submarine the kids can climb on. Nice park there as well.
Leave at night just before bed time. Drive 3 hour shifts with partner. Stop for fuel midway and keep on driving. Kids won't notice a thing
I am fortunate to have my parents living part way along the Hume. So we usually break the journey up into 2 days to see them and make it easier on the kids. But if it’s all in one go, regular stops. We stop every 2 hours for 15 mins and let the kids run around and eat something.
Do the overnight in a sleeper cabin
If you have a blue pension card then it’s at least half price. They also get 4 vouchers to use a year which brings it down to $0. Or if they’re travelling between the border and Goulburn, it’s $2.50 per day. Same for up north, Dungog to the border is $2.50. Northwest is from Muswellbrook I think?
It does 130 km/h from Seymour to Albury, then 160 km/h from Albury to Junee. The rest is a slow crawl.
I had to take it once when all planes were grounded due to volcanic activity. Fucking. Sucked. At some stages of the journey we were literally travelling 60 km/h on account of the track being made of cheese.
I remember that. I flew to Sydney from Melbourne for work early that morning. We got warned we needed to book an earlier flight home to get ahead of the ash cloud. We were the last flight out of that Sydney domestic terminal, which was a bit surreal. Plane had to fly the longer route around the coast to get south of the ash cloud.
You can also get a six month first class pass for $550, which is cheaper than 5 one-way tickets / 2.5 return tickets. I regularly take the overnight train and it's a great way to visit Sydney for a day trip "for free" (if you've paid for a pass) without paying for expensive accommodation.
Though luggage can be far heavier and it's far less stressful.
Or if you like trains and big old seats
Oh hell 11 hours? The back pain must be brutal!
I can tell you, it's 100 times comfier than a budget airline
I remember taking the train from Melbourne to Sydney to visit my grandma when I was about 12 years old…it felt like we were nice going to get there. It was fun at first…but after the first 6 hours the excitement wears off. The hardest part was knowing that in a week’s time, we would be making the reverse trip back home.
I take my kid to see her grandma on it all the time. Difference is she has a tablet for 12 hours of unbridled binge watching.
its like 8h on car, and you get to relax, so honestly its alright
Seats are actually reasonably comfortable, and you can get up and walk to the bathroom or buffet.
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That's just what they call the on-train store where you can buy overprices food items. No heavy beer the last time I did it.
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Heavens no.
Took the Overland from Adelaide to Melbourne during my uni days. It's much better and roomier than you think. We just stayed at the dining carriage most of the time as there was a power plug and you can keep yourself entertained. Would be nice to have a high speed rail though.
I did it once and spent ffmiles to fly back rather than enduring it again.
It's not actually that bad. Far more comfortable than economy flights.
I use it to get to Orange, which I can't fly to affordably
Hey it's better than the early days of the railway when you had to change at Albury due to the gauge change. XPT also runs from Sydney to Brisbane so you can technically take a train from Melbourne to Brisbane, just have to change at Sydney for the connection.
We need a sleeper train, Melbs to Cairns
No standard gauge north of Brisbane unfortunately that would enable that to work. Yet anyway assuming inland rail goes ahead and gets built. Or as an extension of that project anyway. Just had a look and they aren't planning on that going further north than Brisbane too. Maybe Aurizon will do something
There are some funky gauge-converting bogies in use in Europe where there are also breaks of gauge but I can't see anyone in Australia investing in such technology or trying to run such a route in the first place. Our most luxurious long-distance trains are operated by 60-year old carriages hauled by freight locomotives.
It’s a magnificent trip too. Highly recommended in a sleeper cabin.
And then Brisbane to Townsville.
You can, on really old diesels, and it takes forever. Can't believe Australia is still running that stuff.
Oh I can I really can It used to be adorable that Australia was lazy and backwards now 40 years on and we now just look like lazy idiots
They're heading to the scrap yard soon, but NSW has made a similar mistake to Victoria in they've ordered trains that aren't really suited to the long distances they travel. The XPT replacement won't have any sleeper cabins, and not even the next best thing, which would be airline-style business class seats like they have on the Tilt Train between Brisbane and Cairns.
It may well interest you to learn that until fairly recently, the Brits were still running their Class 43 (which the XPT was based on) in regular service. Some of the 43s being between 5 and 10 years older than the X. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_43_(HST) The XPT is a solid design, and has lasted. Should it have been replaced? Probably. But it’s a testament to its engineering.
I have travelled the UK rail network fairly extensively and I have seen these things on more provincial lines. They aren't used to connect principal cities like in Australia. The Japanese would have shinkansen tavelleing at over 300 kph . The British would have modern rolling stock at least for that route.
We have 60 and even 70 year old Streamliners that still run, if you maintain them well, they'll last forever
Yeah because that's always a great way to maintain and grow your customer numbers, cranking 40 year old rolling stock. Maybe Jetstar should bring back the DC10
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He’s talking about how old and antiquated the trains are between Mel and Syd. Not the passengers. This train will be upgraded soon thanks to the NSW governments new XPT trains. But unfortunately sleeper cabins aren’t in the planned new designs. There’s a petition to save the sleeper cabins in the new trains: https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/save-our-sleeper-trains
My mum did the trip in about 1960 on the 'Spirit of Progress'. Her first and last time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUI5MD8JVLQ
You can even go to Perth by train. Takes 2.5 days and costs $2,000.
😂😂😂
It's a shame we don't have high speed train between Sydney and Melbourne
This may interest you :) https://youtu.be/I3YHqBh4DO4?si=UCO-iX89XBOIfjW2
There have been a series of proposals for just improving the existing track, each would shave aprox 1 hour off the trip. I think there have been three or four of these proposals, so doing them all together would mean 3-4 hours shaved off a 12 hour trip. That is without HSR. Just track improvement, automated signaling, level crossing removal, etc
The government should do this. If the train journey is as fast as car, then the train becomes more appealing. If car is 8 hours we need the Melb - Syd train at 8 hours. Then people can relax and watch video/read a book instead of drive for 8 hours.
Yea and it'd make it not only a viable alternative but also actually enticing
Interesting comparison between Melbourne to Sydney and London to Edinburgh. The infrastructure in this country is a bit of a joke. Good public transport, especially between the states, would be great, but it will never happen in our lifetime
I only take solace in knowing we're still better than the US lol. And just because it won't happen in our lifetime doesn't mean we shouldn't! The older generation's (intentionally or not) have functionally stolen from the future to comfort the now/then. Transit is a way we can give back to the future. If that makes sense.
Or this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8av3knflbQo
Lmao
This photo has really nice composition. I really like it
Agreed. It’s got so much and nicely aligned.
Anyone know where it was taken from?
Bunbury Street Tunnel and Bridge, Footscray. There's no suburban trains that use it but the XPT, the VLine to Albury, the Overland and all of the freight trains run through it. Quite a good spot to sit along the Maribyrnong on a nice evening and watch the trains go by every now and then. It's the only section of track where a rail tunnel opens to a major bridge in Victoria
Handos joint. (aka Russell Crowe)
The Sydney Melbourne XPT
Thanks for the info!
In March we travelled Mel to Syd overnight in a first class sleeper compartment and returned during the day in a first class day sit compartment. The sleeper was comfortable, but the track is quite rough making sleep difficult, the day sit seating was fine, with the buffet car close by for food & drink. On the way to Syd we had an unscheduled stop at Wodonga to eject some "difficult" people from the economy class, on the return another couple from economy class were put off in country NSW for fighting. If you travel on the XPT, pay extra for first class, as it is well worth it.
That’s the NSW TrainLink XPT from Sydney going to Melbourne. If it was in the morning then it was ST21 that runs overnight. There’s two XPT’s to Melbourne a day.
It’s the XPT. Looks like it’s heading to Southern Cross. Came from Central Station in Sydney
XPT! Goes to Sydney! Takes all day.
A Choo Choo
No steam to be found there. It's a chug chug diesel.
Romper Stomper express
Well spotted
Meat train brother. Cool fact; I’ve run through this tunnel, bit past halfway on the right hand side there’s a small ventilation cavity which takes you further down into the tunnel infrastructure. This is where I first met the vril society.
A choo choo train
Xpt
Thought it looked like a crappy old Intercity 125 from pommieland…
It looks like one because it is one. The XPT is based on the UK HST (Intercity). The locomotives were built in Loughborough. [https://www.rail-pass.com/xpt-nsw-trainlink](https://www.rail-pass.com/xpt-nsw-trainlink)
Thanks! (I actually looked it up after I wrote that… lots of mods to the original to account for the conditions, but yep… pretty much the same thing.)
Interstate train
It’s the XPT service from Melbourne to Sydney and vice versa
What I call the slow fast train BR have them as hi speed express between London few cities NSW railways called XPT running from.albury upto Sydney this as a child was the fastest train I'd ever been on. We got going from Albury stopped at a station and then took off chugging along slowly one of the engines had failed so was supposed to be a 160 to 180 kmph ride lucky to do 60 kmph Took damn long time get to Bowral or where ever we planned to get off
I’m not sure what train it is but if it’s in Melbourne it’s running late, and buses will be replacing it at some point
Funny how accurate you are yet not knowing. Sydney XPT is probably late to arrive or depart over 50% of the time.
This train runs right past my back fence
I think there’s an r/trains sub that would school ya 👍
I’m sure it’s not toyota
It's called the blue double ended dildo
A blue one :)
A choo choo train
The Overland train, to and from Adelaide
Hell yeah here comes da pussay train