Hey Rory, I feel that a-lot of the information in this video isn’t exactly true. The sleepers and dining Cars were removed in 2015 due to ageing M-Class Stock. The train stock had been removed because it was nearly 60 Years old. The L class Carriages currently operate the service and They are nearly 50 Years old too. It wasn’t removed due to decreased demand. It was a popular service, especially for those who were older. There is currently a Business case to replace the carriages with brand new ones. Replacement carriages have been planned since 2015, however the Liberal Party of Queensland have constantly blocked this idea. I suspect that it the replacement goes ahead, the train will consist of Engine/Power Car, 2 Twin and Single Sleepers, 1 Club Car, and 2 Sitters. Whether this happens or not is to be decided. Additionally, there is currently a By-pass tunnel being constructed for trains underneath Toowoomba, despite being built for Freight, this tunnel will likely also carry Passengers too, this will shorten the 17 hour trip to about 15 Hours. I dont know where you got the Statistic of it taking half the time to travel that distance, it is impossible for a car to Travel 777 Kilometres in 8.5 Hours without significant rests. I have been on the westlander twice, both times i will admit that without the service its pretty bad. But please Rory, remember that these trains are not designed for an entire trip between Brisbane and Charleville. They are designed for services from Towns in between Brisbane and Charleville. Alot of customers travel from Toowoomba to Roma. Not the full trip. Your review is not wrong, however you are missing alot of info from this trip.
Hi thank you for your comment, just one question on the popularity, the 2016 figure shows that the estimated number of passengers carried in 2016 was 3677, the train runs twice weekly from both directions, 3677/52/4= 17 passengers on each service. Did the popularity of this train grow over the last 5 years?
@@RoryDing The popularity of it has grown quite significantly, but nothing groundbreaking. Its mainly used for Trips inbetween towns. The government has kept the service open because its the right thing to do for people who need to travel inbetween regional towns.
The demand increased greatly in 2020 as airline services were cut back to Roma and Charleville. Also there have been record tourism numbers throughout western Queensland in the last 2 years and not just grey nomads either. The westlander is essentially an overnight service to connect people living west of Roma with Toowoomba and Brisbane. Half of the customers only use it from the west to Toowoomba. The slow section is Toowoomba to Brisbane. The trip from Toowoomba to Roma is not that much slower than the bus. after Roma it is slower than the bus due to 60kph track limit and jointed rail.
I am so happy Labor is in power in Queensland so the business case for new carriages can be advanced. F*ck the Liberal Party and their anti-rail shit. The Queensland Labor Government is working on a business case to build brand new carriages for the Westlander (and the Inlander and Spirit of Outback too). And even better - the new carriages will be manufactured in Queensland. Transport Minister Mark Bailey, 16 June 2021: “We’ve also got a $1 million for a business case to build replacement carriages for the iconic Westlander, Inlander and Spirit of the Outback long-distance services right here in Queensland.”
Great stuff. I always love hearing how respectful and kind you are to the staff on these services. It shouldn’t matter but it does. Always good to be nice
Hi Rory. When I saw a few weeks back that you were traveling on the Westlander, I was really excited. You see, in 2008, after finishing 6 months chemo, I travelled on it from Brisbane to Roma, overnight, and then back again, a week later. At the time I stayed in the sleeper cabin, and , because I had just finished my chemo, they upgraded me to single occupancy. Back then , the dining car served hot meals for dinner and breakfast. As well as snack, drinks , and alcohol. I remember it as a wonderful relaxing trip , and met many happy passengers, which help while away my evenings. I was really saddened to see what the service has been reduced too. I agree with you, that staff should be providing a bit more service, with at least the options for passengers to buy more food/drinks. Some service reduction can be understood due to covid, but such a lack of service, especially for customers doing the "longer" trip from further west, is appalling. I admit if I need to got to Toowoomba, it's faster and cheaper to drive....but if I wanted to go further west, I doubt now I would uses that train, with the lack of customer service or amenities on board. So sad really. It's such a lovely route, especially the climb up or down the range, in foggy weather. Thanks for the informative video.
Hi Rory I've only recently discovered your excellent expose of Australia railway transport and enjoyed your frank and honest assessments of each of your journeys please accept my gratitude and thanks for your great videos and commentaries of your journeys and encouragement to continue and hopefully gain more attention and following of your trips around this great country. Many thanks Andrew McKenzie
There is something about using the facilities on a train. Thanks Rory, have driven from Toowoomba to Brisbane, won't probably train it. Listening with buds, old mates cough sounds bad. (at the end) 😆 🤣 😂
I live along with route, so I can definitely shed some more light on why the rail is like this these days. The tunnels between Laidley and Grandchester (Little Liverpool Range) are all single track with no way to upgrade them to more lanes. At the moment this is a major bottleneck in the rail system, those tunnels are the originals, and trains have to stop either side to let each other through. Considering this is the only route west, it’s pretty bad. As traffic on the line as increased, goods have moved to road instead because of this. These tunnels are also why electric trains stop at Rosewood, before electrification, the trains would run all the way through to Helidon and Toowoomba. A “Railbus” still runs between Rosewood and Helidon today following the old route by road. To solve this, the new Inland Rail Project will replace this entire line over the next decade, providing a rail route from Brisbane to Toowoomba with a significantly better grade and a gauge that will let trains travel all the way to Melbourne. Almost none of the original line will be reused, taking a route much closer to the Warrego Highway and the new Toowoomba bypass you mentioned. However the current Inland rail has no plans to allow a passenger service (freight only), so unless something changes, it will most likely mean the death of this service if it still exists then. It’s sad to see, but it’s no surprise this service is dying a slow death. There are several private bus lines the run between Toowoomba and Brisbane, straight from Roma Street station and stopping along the highway at towns. It’s faster, more regular and stops more often than the train. There is also the problem that once you get out west, unless you have a car, there is nowhere to go. If you are in the hurry, you can also fly out of Toowoomba fairly easily these days as well.
What I would suggest: -terminate the Charleville service at Toowoomba running daily -return the Sleeper Cars and a better restaurant to the Westlander vehicle -run a twice daily (9am and 7pm) faster battery electric train from Toowoomba down to Brisbane and back -timetable the services from Charleville to reach Toowoomba 30mins before the Toowoomba-Brisbane interurban departs. Users of the services in the west will be upset about having to change trains to complete their journey, but they would still be saving about 2 hours from Toowoomba and get a daily service, plus Toowoomba probably has more people than the entire rest of the western corridor combined, and I think you can run a more effective efficient service doing this anyway.
I love the fact that you kept the person coughing in the background in the video a minute from the end, to let us know what you thought about this experience. That sound alone would make me not want to use the service.
I will be visiting Toowoomba soon. Initially I was excited thinking I could ride this train to Brisbane. I now need a bit of convincing. Perhaps I will just take the coach. Anyway, thanks Rory for this review. Hopefully in time to come they will put in updated and newer train cars.
Did this trip on the Westlander once, back in 1992 when the old man put us on it at Charleville to get back home to Brisbane - worse day of my life LOL!! I was 19 and had my 3 younger brothers with me and it was a frikken nightmare rattling and bumping away back in the cheapest economy seats, and yes I remember how painfully, mind-numbingly boring that part from Toowoomba to Brisbane was. It's probably what turned me off ever getting on a train again - but for some reason, now that I'm nearly 49, I've been binge-watching your train videos the past 3 days LOL!! Now trying to decide how to convince the missus we should do one of these trips (not the bloody Westlander though!!)
Thanks for your insightful video Rory. I agree with all your comments on the video. Interestingly, Helidon (more or less at the bottom of the Toowoomba Range, and the far west end of the flattish land to the West of Brisbane,) gets extremely hot especially in Summer. For a laugh, road drivers often call Helidon, "Hell with the Lid On" for obvious heat & humidity reasons.
Meanwhile in Victoria I can get from Bendigo to Melbourne, a greater distance in less than half the time. Wow. What a disappointing derive. Great video as usual though! Thanks Rory!
Hey Rory, Great vid mate. I think it is a joke that there are only 2 services weekly from Toowoomba to Brisbane. That really makes no sense. Looking forward to watching more of your vids.
Well the train takes way longer than the coaches (greyhound Murray’s) therefore most people chooses to catch the coach. I was the only one getting on at Toowoomba 😅
Wonderful views from the train but the speed is the main problem. In 17 hours you can go from Perth to London on a Qantas B787. As for the cleaning issues on the train, if the toilets are clean but the tray tables and carriage floor dirty, it probably means that hard working cleaners are not being given enough hours to clean thoroughly so they prioritise.
Thanks for the review - another great review. I like the history you research and provide in your reviews. Very informative. Thank you and happy travels!
I really like his commentary. Informative and good analysis. The data he puts up about each city or town is helpful. The man coughing at the end was most unpleasant. The commentator is very cute.
Thank you for this! That train appeared to be in a neglected state, very dirty and staff weren't good. It's a shame to see this service dying. Oh well, at least you made the most of it! Btw, that person's coughing at the end didn't sound too healthy.
It really is so unfortunate that they've let the service go like that. There does need to be a bit of a push for convincing people to take the trains rather than drive, which is made much more attractive with the sleepers (in my opinion). Just being that we're at such a point with destroying the environment there needs to be more work done on getting people to go back to more efficient (ie. steel on steel) pooled transport. Oh, I'm going off on a rant, aren't I? Seems like it's getting to be a forgotten route, but that view did look amazing! For the anecdote about that line, I have family from up that way. Apparently back in the 50's when they used to have to travel Brisbane to Toowoomba, they'd get off the train at the bottom of the range and take a bus up as it was faster than staying on the train 😆
😂😂 yeah Well even if they did improve the track condition the train will still take a lot longer than driving unfortunately. It takes the train almost an hour to get from Roma street to Ipswich!
Thanks for another great review Rory. I agree that this service seems to be in a death spiral and not long for this world. That will be a shame, but given the low population density I guess even a flashy new set of carriages would not be enough to save it. How sad for such a historic and gracious station like that in Toowoomba to only see 2 trains a week....and soon it will probably be none :(
It's not fun taking this train all the way to Charleville sitting up. It used to have a sleeping car, but QR withdrew it because the carriage was getting too old, and the government couldn't be bothered to pay for a new one to be built.
That’s completely false. The government has been wanting to build new carriages for this train for years, however Politicians (Mainly Liberal) have blocked it time and time again. There is currently a business case to replace them, likely due to be handed down this year or next.
I have done it end to end at least 4 times. if you are prepared its not too bad but you must bring additional food and drinks for the trip and comfort things like a proper pillow to get some "sleep". Also try to request a seat in the middle of the car as its darker and try to get in car B as you get more space. However the train needs upgrading not cancelling.
@@endoftheline774 When you attack "Liberal" politicians can you name them for the record? The Queensland Liberal and National parties merged into the LNP in 2008. Are you writing about pre-2008 politicians, or are you unaware of the name of the opposition party in the Queensland Parliament? And how can a party that has been out of power since February 2015 be responsible for the QR Westlander's current condition? Having a go against politicians may be fun, but in fairness Annastacia Palaszczuk is the person responsible for Queensland Rail today.
@@Jon.Morimoto I am fully aware that they merged. As to how this exactly is relevant is beyond me. All I'm saying is that the "lander" trains were dismantled by the previous government and not replaced. Admittedly, labour could have already built them, but the business case is still more effort that the lnp did
@@endoftheline774 Words matter, or at least they should. You posted the phrase "mainly Liberal." So I thought "Oh, that means not old Jeff Seeney, the ex-National. Good for him." But of course you're conflating LNP and Liberal for state politicians, which is sloppy and therefore cheapens your credibility. See my other post for why the new carriages will not likely eventuate. Until Labor discovers a magic money tree, hard decisions have to be made and they'll favour urban and suburban areas where Labor has a chance to win.
The Westie is a by product of a different era in a different state to the rest of Australia. Queensland was pretty much an agrarian-socialist place until the late 20th century, and the railways served as movements of people and freight to the busier centres. The roads were terrible back then, so the train took people, mail and freight to and from the big smoke (Brisbane). Now the train isn't to take people from Toowoomba down the range, it's just there to get mobility-challenged (no car) folks from their small place near the line to a larger town or city. People in those tiny places vote which also helps keep what's left of the train in service. It still runs pretty much the same timetable as the steam-era version.
I loved the guy having some kind of chest cough / troubles at the end. I hope he was wearing a mask? Oh and yes one day we might choose to fly in a plane vs a space craft around the globe yet being slower!
Well done and a fair objective review of this train. Given the overall logistics I don’t understand why the train continues and hasn’t been replaced by buses. I know at one point there were plans to electrify from Rosewood to Toowoomba and introduce fast commuter services to Brisbane, which figures with Brisbane’s western development corridor. As for the current service and travel conditions, I think that man’s long and guttural cough as you arrive in Central, says it all!
There are already two daily bus services between Brisbane and Charleville. however buses and westlander carry similar numbers but the buses service the areas between Roma and Brisbane better due to daylight or early evening running times. unlike the train where its early hours of the morning
Legacy services like the Westlander are basically Government outreach. When you look into studies on replacing these sort of services with coaches, typically the societal benefits are found to completely fall off as a result. So while it is cheaper to run, the whole purpose of running it at all suffers greatly. This makes a seemingly obvious cost cutting decision much more complicated. Remember that Government's aren't businesses trying to make money, they're role is to provide optimised societal outcomes based on society's collective values. As long as QLD society believes in spending state funds to support the disadvantaged, fully removing services like the Westlander becomes a very messy proposition.
We just did the Westlander from Charleville to Toowoomba and had a few days there then Toowoomba to Brisbane Everyone in the Outback town kept saying they were sad when the Sleepers / Restaurant cars were taken away have been on the Spirit of the Outback I can appreciate why. But, the seats are large, they are well space so heaps of leg room, and the little fold down foot rest for us shorter folk are a help. It would have been nice for some USB ports. Luckily we had a power bank battery and had already download videos so had entertainment sorted, noise cancelling ear buds worked well for me as there was a small child who was enjoying the trip and very restless. Once the lights were turned off around 9:00 pm the cabin settled. Surprisingly comfortable. The shower and toilets were clean. Food was brought around by the staff and it was adequate, I'd suggest holding onto the apple as it was a good breath freshener in the morning. The trip from Toowoomba to Roma Street was blissful and the sights going down the Toowoomba Range made it very enjoyable. We got to see stuff you'd never see in a car or bus. It was ANZAC so a public holiday, we had almost and express trip no stops, which meant we arrived early into Brisbane only to be forced to wait for inner city train traffic to clear which put us back on schedule into Roma Street. Thanks for the tip about the back door, the view was fabulous, unfortunately I couldn't time the tunnels but it was great to go through them.
Hi Rory, what an amazing review of a most pathetic train. This train is an embarrassment and there is no excuse for the lack of cleanliness especially during these days of Covid. I would think a day train would be interesting on that service so passengers can appreciate the countryside. I love train travel but this service would be a stretch even for me. Thanks Rory and I hope you are safe at home and editing more content for us.
I agree, Aussie John. Without sleeper cars, it's not attractive to travel end-to-end. I would still like to get up there into QLD ands try some of these train services, nonetheless at least for part jouneys
Hi Rory I'm lead to believe that the 2/1 seating configuration carriage where 1st class on the Sunlander and put into the Westlander, Inlander and Spirit of the Outback when the sleepers where taken off 2 of these trains Love watching your travels and look forward to more soon
Rory, I agree with all your comments. I drive from Brisbane to Charleville and return at least three times every year, and can generally complete one way in 9 hours, with comfort stops and meals. keep up the great work, I enjoy all your videos
That's a great bit of history and review, Rory. I have just finished booking train trips from Melbourne and Brisbane, then a return train from Brisbane to Charleville. I lived in Charleville as a child in the early 60s. Train travel was a big deal then. I have indelible memories of greeting family and friends arriving by train and seeing them off. When we saw people off the thing to do was to run back to our car and drive along side the train as far as we could, everyone waving like crazy. Ostensibly it was done for us kids, but really the adults were right into it. My mother, sister and I used to travel to Brisbane for school holidays and stay with family there. We usually had a sleeper with three bunks. (It was usually half full with our excess luggage including my mother's hat box. I remember she was "furious" when a conductor commented that we had a lot of luggage for three people). The fittings were beautiful - upholstered in a kind of green. There was a wash basin that you would pull down out of the wall - this, and the other openings and closings fitted so beautifully. So I see from your video that my train trip to Charleville isn't going to fully satisfy my childish nostalgia, but I am looking forward to it. I am going to relive the sleeper experience in my Sydney to Brisbane trip. And a little bit more: The train coming up to Brisbane used to stop in Toowoomba for lunch. (It must have left later, or the trip was even longer in those days). The passengers would get off and have lunch in the station dining room. I understood the reason for this was to remove and leave the dining car which would be cleaned and replenished for the return train. And a question. The carriage seemed to have hardly anyone in it. Is that right? I am going to watch your other videos now. Good on you.
I spent many years as a child on this train line visiting my grandparents in Forrest Hill. My favorite was going through the tunnels. Thankyou for the updates I now know why trains have not flourished in the region. Hopefully they will reroute the bottle neck area soon.
Someone just posted this vid on Reddit but after commenting I felt like... maybe OP is not you? so just in case I post my comment here also: That was very cool and cute to watch :) good job man. Had no idea something so weird was still working here (admittedly I know nothing about the area I just arrived in Australia recently). I met SO many train enthusiasts like you when I lived in Japan. Have you been there? You would LOVE it. Do you play OpenTTD?! Maybe Im projecting haha. Damn I wish I could live in Toowoomba… Anyway cheers!
This is a wonderful review, even if I though trying to hide the identity of staff was a bit unnecessary. I was planning to take a train ride to Charleville from Brisbane, but after watching this I think that trip is something you'd do out of necessity rather than as an adventure. The "First Class" facilities with the exception of the dining car and food on the Spirit of the Outback was bad enough.
Hi Rory! Just found your channel this week, you are amazing! I was wondering, you've mentioned in a couple of your other train reviews that although online booking does not let you choose a seat, if you book over the phone or in person you can. Is this true for the Westlander?
Thanks so much for your video, it’s weird if the country has more people that the trains have so few passengers because not everyone has a car, anyway nice video and I really like how much information you give.
Thanks for another great review Rory. Interestingly, the inland rail once complete will make such a difference to the track between Toowoomba and Brisbane and with Brisbane getting the 2032 Olympics there is talk of a fast train service between Toowoomba and the capital.
Pity this has been so neglected ! I didn’t realise the history behind it all :) I did like going through those small stations as have driven and seen them before
Been on this train from Toowoomba (my hometown) to Brisbane, slow trip because of the incline of the range, it was 5hrs back then, hopefully it’s quicker now. This train used to be the the Queenslander, from Brisbane to Cairns, which is now the Spirit of Queensland, as the original Westlander was decommissioned due to its age. So I travelled on this train when it was the Queenslander travelling to Mackay.they made a huge mistake taking away the sleepers & the dining car.
I do think that this is quite lacking in some areas, but some areas it's better than driving. The scenery was stunning and I felt like I was inside the majestic forest but the time this train takes to travel 130kms is insane. I do like how there is a shower on the train too but other things make it a worse experience overall.
Great video, couple of minor errors.... pre 2015 there was a food car or griddle car not a dining car. This consisted of a smallish kitchen and serving area with some tables and benches. The rest of the car was sitting. Pre 1994 this was first class sitting. Also the speed between Harlaxton and Murphy's Creek is either 30 or 40 km/hr in both directions.
I was interested to see this trip. 17 hours to travel 777km ! It's surprising that rail passenger service has lasted that long on this route when it is seriously disadvantaged by an old alignment with many curves and speed restrictions, and patronage appears very light.
Thanks for sharing, Australia is missing a money making goldmine by not having decent train services in rural areas , we lack behind other countries even smaller and less affluent than ours and that's embarrassing...this service would benefit from going back to sleepers & the buffet car plus a very deep clean and staff who are passionate about there job, looking at this video it showed a serious lack of enthusiasm and being way too long on the same job it was cringe worthy how filthy it was...bring back the good old days of rail travel
Yeah, and the long distance trains that are interstate aren’t even electric. Even the US has major rail plans. Eventually this will be sorted but it would be 15 years too late
if Sydney’s central-lithgow *regular service* line exists, why doesn’t toowoomba to Brisbane have a far more regular service even today? it’d be nice to see some sort of regular service come with the inland rail as well as a more defined, promoted and proper public transport system in toowoomba itself to facilitate brisbane commuters (buses or even a tram line through ruthven street) could promote growth and business opportunities in toowoomba, as well as the towns along the existing line (helidon, gatton, laidle/plainland). as someone from Toowoomba, it feels like we are neglected as a city in comparison to the rest of SE QLD, with not-so great public transportation and lacking entertainment, theres not much to do here unless its september (carnival of flowers). hopefully by the time the olympics come around things will be different and better. great video also, loved your explanations
Thanks for the review. I was thinking of taking a train from Ipswich to Toowoomba for the the flower festival, since it’s usually pretty busy on the road during that time. But it looks like this train service isn’t that great. :(
hey mate! wanted to say hello! I saw you out in Perth last night, you were eating pizza with your headphones in on the street so i didn't want to disturb you. anyway, love the content keep it up!
Palaszczuk Labor Government is working on a business case to build brand new carriages for the Westlander (and the Inlander and Spirit of Outback too). And even better - the new carriages will be manufactured in Queensland. Transport Minister Mark Bailey, 16 June 2021: “We’ve also got a $1 million for a business case to build replacement carriages for the iconic Westlander, Inlander and Spirit of the Outback long-distance services right here in Queensland.”
@@roydidlock1867 Good question! In another reply thread, I wrote that the Labor government doesn't have a magic money tree and that the new carriages won't eventuate. I love trains, but if a minister said we can afford electric buses or the Westlander, a new high school or Westlander, new hospital or Westlander, well I'm choosing the project that will serve the most people.
Geez, it seems the staff have it pretty easy lol. I couldn't go 17hrs without being horizontal. Did 10.5hrs sitting upright from Syd to Mel (return) which was bad enough.
Whilst I appreciate this review is of a Queensland train, overall, the passenger trains throughout Australia are an embarrassment and a joke. I can only assume it is because of our small population, distances and the great Australian attribute - apathy. We are no better than third world countries and even some of them have better passenger trains. We only hear about fast trains when the government - state and federal, want to divert our attention from something else. Try getting from Sydney to say, Bathurst or Orange and return in a day. Good to see the apathetic attitude of rail staff is everywhere. Thanks for the review Rory.
Very fast rail is a pipe dream in Australia. I would like to see anybody name a country of the size and very low population density of Australia with very fast rail.
Thanks Rory, hopefully the Queensland government will allocate the funding to upgrrade these three trains. The bloke coughing at the end sounds like he had COVID...he may not be with us any more.
3:18 Have you got a ticket ? Are all passengers asked this question prior to boarding ? Or does he think you are the town's lay- about trying to sneak on board ? Just seemed a rather rude way to welcome the very few passengers they have left on this service.
I was born and raised in little old Toowoomba and I’ve done this trip each way, purely from an experience point of view it’s an amazing journey even if it was 4+hrs long compared to an hour and a half roughly via car. People who haven’t been to Toowoomba don’t understand how steep the great dividing range is hence the slow journey. Definitely hope one day of the government finally doesn’t go back on its word that a better rail connection between Toowoomba, Brisbane and Western QLD 🤞
We need commuter services between Toowoomba and Brisbane considering Toowoomba will be hosting events at the 2032 Olympics but the Great Dividing Range makes that expensive
Hey Rory, I feel that a-lot of the information in this video isn’t exactly true. The sleepers and dining Cars were removed in 2015 due to ageing M-Class Stock. The train stock had been removed because it was nearly 60 Years old. The L class Carriages currently operate the service and They are nearly 50 Years old too. It wasn’t removed due to decreased demand. It was a popular service, especially for those who were older. There is currently a Business case to replace the carriages with brand new ones.
Replacement carriages have been planned since 2015, however the Liberal Party of Queensland have constantly blocked this idea. I suspect that it the replacement goes ahead, the train will consist of Engine/Power Car, 2 Twin and Single Sleepers, 1 Club Car, and 2 Sitters. Whether this happens or not is to be decided.
Additionally, there is currently a By-pass tunnel being constructed for trains underneath Toowoomba, despite being built for Freight, this tunnel will likely also carry Passengers too, this will shorten the 17 hour trip to about 15 Hours. I dont know where you got the Statistic of it taking half the time to travel that distance, it is impossible for a car to Travel 777 Kilometres in 8.5 Hours without significant rests. I have been on the westlander twice, both times i will admit that without the service its pretty bad. But please Rory, remember that these trains are not designed for an entire trip between Brisbane and Charleville. They are designed for services from Towns in between Brisbane and Charleville. Alot of customers travel from Toowoomba to Roma. Not the full trip.
Your review is not wrong, however you are missing alot of info from this trip.
Hi thank you for your comment, just one question on the popularity, the 2016 figure shows that the estimated number of passengers carried in 2016 was 3677, the train runs twice weekly from both directions, 3677/52/4= 17 passengers on each service.
Did the popularity of this train grow over the last 5 years?
@@RoryDing The popularity of it has grown quite significantly, but nothing groundbreaking. Its mainly used for Trips inbetween towns. The government has kept the service open because its the right thing to do for people who need to travel inbetween regional towns.
That’s interesting to know thank your so much for your information!
The demand increased greatly in 2020 as airline services were cut back to Roma and Charleville. Also there have been record tourism numbers throughout western Queensland in the last 2 years and not just grey nomads either. The westlander is essentially an overnight service to connect people living west of Roma with Toowoomba and Brisbane. Half of the customers only use it from the west to Toowoomba. The slow section is Toowoomba to Brisbane. The trip from Toowoomba to Roma is not that much slower than the bus. after Roma it is slower than the bus due to 60kph track limit and jointed rail.
I am so happy Labor is in power in Queensland so the business case for new carriages can be advanced. F*ck the Liberal Party and their anti-rail shit.
The Queensland Labor Government is working on a business case to build brand new carriages for the Westlander (and the Inlander and Spirit of Outback too). And even better - the new carriages will be manufactured in Queensland.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey, 16 June 2021:
“We’ve also got a $1 million for a business case to build replacement carriages for the iconic Westlander, Inlander and Spirit of the Outback long-distance services right here in Queensland.”
This is a mixture of nostalgia and sad. Travelled on this train many times as a kid with my mum and sister. Sad to see it in this state.
Great stuff. I always love hearing how respectful and kind you are to the staff on these services. It shouldn’t matter but it does. Always good to be nice
Hi Rory.
When I saw a few weeks back that you were traveling on the Westlander, I was really excited.
You see, in 2008, after finishing 6 months chemo, I travelled on it from Brisbane to Roma, overnight, and then back again, a week later.
At the time I stayed in the sleeper cabin, and , because I had just finished my chemo, they upgraded me to single occupancy.
Back then , the dining car served hot meals for dinner and breakfast. As well as snack, drinks , and alcohol. I remember it as a wonderful relaxing trip , and met many happy passengers, which help while away my evenings.
I was really saddened to see what the service has been reduced too.
I agree with you, that staff should be providing a bit more service, with at least the options for passengers to buy more food/drinks.
Some service reduction can be understood due to covid, but such a lack of service, especially for customers doing the "longer" trip from further west, is appalling.
I admit if I need to got to Toowoomba, it's faster and cheaper to drive....but if I wanted to go further west, I doubt now I would uses that train, with the lack of customer service or amenities on board.
So sad really. It's such a lovely route, especially the climb up or down the range, in foggy weather.
Thanks for the informative video.
Hi Rory
I've only recently discovered your excellent expose of Australia railway transport and enjoyed your frank and honest assessments of each of your journeys please accept my gratitude and thanks for your great videos and commentaries of your journeys and encouragement to continue and hopefully gain more attention and following of your trips around this great country.
Many thanks
Andrew McKenzie
Thank you for letting us know what the train was like before 2016. Hopefully Qld gov would invest in new rolling stocks one day!!
Thank you Andrew ☺️☺️
There is something about using the facilities on a train. Thanks Rory, have driven from Toowoomba to Brisbane, won't probably train it. Listening with buds, old mates cough sounds bad. (at the end) 😆 🤣 😂
Came to say the same. Old mate sounded a bit rough there. With the old Rona around it would put the wind up ya!
@@supergran62 I reckon!
Old mate at the end, man, idk how he even was allowed onboard.
Was probably Chinese but sounded Australian
@@MitchellBPYao Mate how can you possibly tell someone’s nationality from his cough, don’t be racist.
Best chill laid back videos everrr!!!!! Keep up the awesome vids 👍
Thank You Rory for my virtual train ride, as usual a wonderful, magical trip 💞🙋🏻♀️
Love the content, best Aussie RUclipsr.
Agree
Absolutely
I'm offended...
Thank you 😊
A nice comprehensive coverage, as per usual. 🙂 It can't have been exactly fun having that person cough up a lung in your carriage. 🤮
Great video! I look forward to watching your new videos. 👍🏽👍🏽
I live along with route, so I can definitely shed some more light on why the rail is like this these days. The tunnels between Laidley and Grandchester (Little Liverpool Range) are all single track with no way to upgrade them to more lanes. At the moment this is a major bottleneck in the rail system, those tunnels are the originals, and trains have to stop either side to let each other through. Considering this is the only route west, it’s pretty bad. As traffic on the line as increased, goods have moved to road instead because of this. These tunnels are also why electric trains stop at Rosewood, before electrification, the trains would run all the way through to Helidon and Toowoomba. A “Railbus” still runs between Rosewood and Helidon today following the old route by road.
To solve this, the new Inland Rail Project will replace this entire line over the next decade, providing a rail route from Brisbane to Toowoomba with a significantly better grade and a gauge that will let trains travel all the way to Melbourne. Almost none of the original line will be reused, taking a route much closer to the Warrego Highway and the new Toowoomba bypass you mentioned. However the current Inland rail has no plans to allow a passenger service (freight only), so unless something changes, it will most likely mean the death of this service if it still exists then.
It’s sad to see, but it’s no surprise this service is dying a slow death. There are several private bus lines the run between Toowoomba and Brisbane, straight from Roma Street station and stopping along the highway at towns. It’s faster, more regular and stops more often than the train. There is also the problem that once you get out west, unless you have a car, there is nowhere to go. If you are in the hurry, you can also fly out of Toowoomba fairly easily these days as well.
What I would suggest:
-terminate the Charleville service at Toowoomba running daily
-return the Sleeper Cars and a better restaurant to the Westlander vehicle
-run a twice daily (9am and 7pm) faster battery electric train from Toowoomba down to Brisbane and back
-timetable the services from Charleville to reach Toowoomba 30mins before the Toowoomba-Brisbane interurban departs.
Users of the services in the west will be upset about having to change trains to complete their journey, but they would still be saving about 2 hours from Toowoomba and get a daily service, plus Toowoomba probably has more people than the entire rest of the western corridor combined, and I think you can run a more effective efficient service doing this anyway.
Toowoomba is a lovely place to visit. Thank you for sharing this!
I've been by bus, but next time I'll try this 😃😃
I love the fact that you kept the person coughing in the background in the video a minute from the end, to let us know what you thought about this experience. That sound alone would make me not want to use the service.
He actually did cough for that long a minute before the train arrived 😅
Love your work mate, your production is very entertaining and your knowledge is well studied, excellent job mate, from brissy, 👍
I will be visiting Toowoomba soon. Initially I was excited thinking I could ride this train to Brisbane. I now need a bit of convincing. Perhaps I will just take the coach. Anyway, thanks Rory for this review. Hopefully in time to come they will put in updated and newer train cars.
Hi Richard!
I think coach is cheaper and definitely better value 😊
Did this trip on the Westlander once, back in 1992 when the old man put us on it at Charleville to get back home to Brisbane - worse day of my life LOL!! I was 19 and had my 3 younger brothers with me and it was a frikken nightmare rattling and bumping away back in the cheapest economy seats, and yes I remember how painfully, mind-numbingly boring that part from Toowoomba to Brisbane was. It's probably what turned me off ever getting on a train again - but for some reason, now that I'm nearly 49, I've been binge-watching your train videos the past 3 days LOL!! Now trying to decide how to convince the missus we should do one of these trips (not the bloody Westlander though!!)
Thanks for your insightful video Rory. I agree with all your comments on the video. Interestingly, Helidon (more or less at the bottom of the Toowoomba Range, and the far west end of the flattish land to the West of Brisbane,) gets extremely hot especially in Summer. For a laugh, road drivers often call Helidon, "Hell with the Lid On" for obvious heat & humidity reasons.
I remember I went to Toowoomba last year, was a very nice place
That train goes past my house I can see is some early mornings. Thank you it's great to know the history about the train.
This doesn’t look like a very pleasant journey. But as always, you did a nice job showing everything.
Meanwhile in Victoria I can get from Bendigo to Melbourne, a greater distance in less than half the time. Wow. What a disappointing derive. Great video as usual though! Thanks Rory!
Hey Rory, Great vid mate. I think it is a joke that there are only 2 services weekly from Toowoomba to Brisbane. That really makes no sense. Looking forward to watching more of your vids.
Well the train takes way longer than the coaches (greyhound Murray’s) therefore most people chooses to catch the coach. I was the only one getting on at Toowoomba 😅
Wonderful views from the train but the speed is the main problem. In 17 hours you can go from Perth to London on a Qantas B787. As for the cleaning issues on the train, if the toilets are clean but the tray tables and carriage floor dirty, it probably means that hard working cleaners are not being given enough hours to clean thoroughly so they prioritise.
Loved the video keep them coming. 😊
Thanks for the review - another great review. I like the history you research and provide in your reviews. Very informative. Thank you and happy travels!
I really like his commentary. Informative and good analysis. The data he puts up about each city or town is helpful.
The man coughing at the end was most unpleasant.
The commentator is very cute.
Thank you for this! That train appeared to be in a neglected state, very dirty and staff weren't good. It's a shame to see this service dying. Oh well, at least you made the most of it! Btw, that person's coughing at the end didn't sound too healthy.
I think ol' mate who was coughing, has COPD.
The coughing guy definitely had something wrong with them. I can't believe they let them on the train.
I bet the whole train was staring, was he front or back
I was waiting for this I knew this was coming
It really is so unfortunate that they've let the service go like that. There does need to be a bit of a push for convincing people to take the trains rather than drive, which is made much more attractive with the sleepers (in my opinion). Just being that we're at such a point with destroying the environment there needs to be more work done on getting people to go back to more efficient (ie. steel on steel) pooled transport. Oh, I'm going off on a rant, aren't I?
Seems like it's getting to be a forgotten route, but that view did look amazing!
For the anecdote about that line, I have family from up that way. Apparently back in the 50's when they used to have to travel Brisbane to Toowoomba, they'd get off the train at the bottom of the range and take a bus up as it was faster than staying on the train 😆
😂😂 yeah
Well even if they did improve the track condition the train will still take a lot longer than driving unfortunately. It takes the train almost an hour to get from Roma street to Ipswich!
Thank you for a great review and video! 🙂👍 you certainly do a great job!
a new video Glad to see you're back after your one week break :)
Thanks for another great review Rory. I agree that this service seems to be in a death spiral and not long for this world. That will be a shame, but given the low population density I guess even a flashy new set of carriages would not be enough to save it. How sad for such a historic and gracious station like that in Toowoomba to only see 2 trains a week....and soon it will probably be none :(
Nicely Done, I have been beyond Rosewood several times by Steam Trains, But I have also done the Westlander to Charleville and Return!
Yay, finally. Great review, Rory!
That was Great Rory. Look forward to more.
It's not fun taking this train all the way to Charleville sitting up. It used to have a sleeping car, but QR withdrew it because the carriage was getting too old, and the government couldn't be bothered to pay for a new one to be built.
That’s completely false. The government has been wanting to build new carriages for this train for years, however Politicians (Mainly Liberal) have blocked it time and time again. There is currently a business case to replace them, likely due to be handed down this year or next.
I have done it end to end at least 4 times. if you are prepared its not too bad but you must bring additional food and drinks for the trip and comfort things like a proper pillow to get some "sleep". Also try to request a seat in the middle of the car as its darker and try to get in car B as you get more space. However the train needs upgrading not cancelling.
@@endoftheline774 When you attack "Liberal" politicians can you name them for the record? The Queensland Liberal and National parties merged into the LNP in 2008. Are you writing about pre-2008 politicians, or are you unaware of the name of the opposition party in the Queensland Parliament? And how can a party that has been out of power since February 2015 be responsible for the QR Westlander's current condition? Having a go against politicians may be fun, but in fairness Annastacia Palaszczuk is the person responsible for Queensland Rail today.
@@Jon.Morimoto I am fully aware that they merged. As to how this exactly is relevant is beyond me. All I'm saying is that the "lander" trains were dismantled by the previous government and not replaced. Admittedly, labour could have already built them, but the business case is still more effort that the lnp did
@@endoftheline774 Words matter, or at least they should. You posted the phrase "mainly Liberal." So I thought "Oh, that means not old Jeff Seeney, the ex-National. Good for him." But of course you're conflating LNP and Liberal for state politicians, which is sloppy and therefore cheapens your credibility. See my other post for why the new carriages will not likely eventuate. Until Labor discovers a magic money tree, hard decisions have to be made and they'll favour urban and suburban areas where Labor has a chance to win.
New video!!! So exciting!!!
Also, first!
The Westie is a by product of a different era in a different state to the rest of Australia. Queensland was pretty much an agrarian-socialist place until the late 20th century, and the railways served as movements of people and freight to the busier centres. The roads were terrible back then, so the train took people, mail and freight to and from the big smoke (Brisbane). Now the train isn't to take people from Toowoomba down the range, it's just there to get mobility-challenged (no car) folks from their small place near the line to a larger town or city. People in those tiny places vote which also helps keep what's left of the train in service. It still runs pretty much the same timetable as the steam-era version.
I loved the guy having some kind of chest cough / troubles at the end. I hope he was wearing a mask? Oh and yes one day we might choose to fly in a plane vs a space craft around the globe yet being slower!
Great review loved the bit about the tunnels
That cough though 😷😷
Its sad they removed the sleeping car would be nice to travel to Charleville. Lovely review as always.
Well done and a fair objective review of this train. Given the overall logistics I don’t understand why the train continues and hasn’t been replaced by buses. I know at one point there were plans to electrify from Rosewood to Toowoomba and introduce fast commuter services to Brisbane, which figures with Brisbane’s western development corridor.
As for the current service and travel conditions, I think that man’s long and guttural cough as you arrive in Central, says it all!
There are already two daily bus services between Brisbane and Charleville. however buses and westlander carry similar numbers but the buses service the areas between Roma and Brisbane better due to daylight or early evening running times. unlike the train where its early hours of the morning
They haven’t suspended the service, because its the right thing to do for those who live in rural communities.
Legacy services like the Westlander are basically Government outreach. When you look into studies on replacing these sort of services with coaches, typically the societal benefits are found to completely fall off as a result. So while it is cheaper to run, the whole purpose of running it at all suffers greatly. This makes a seemingly obvious cost cutting decision much more complicated. Remember that Government's aren't businesses trying to make money, they're role is to provide optimised societal outcomes based on society's collective values. As long as QLD society believes in spending state funds to support the disadvantaged, fully removing services like the Westlander becomes a very messy proposition.
Loving the video!
IT's note fair. you get to travel to most places us Aussies dream of, and eating all that gorgeous food. Someone's lucky.
Another great review Rory and an honest review to.
We just did the Westlander from Charleville to Toowoomba and had a few days there then Toowoomba to Brisbane
Everyone in the Outback town kept saying they were sad when the Sleepers / Restaurant cars were taken away have been on the Spirit of the Outback I can appreciate why.
But, the seats are large, they are well space so heaps of leg room, and the little fold down foot rest for us shorter folk are a help.
It would have been nice for some USB ports. Luckily we had a power bank battery and had already download videos so had entertainment sorted, noise cancelling ear buds worked well for me as there was a small child who was enjoying the trip and very restless. Once the lights were turned off around 9:00 pm the cabin settled. Surprisingly comfortable. The shower and toilets were clean. Food was brought around by the staff and it was adequate, I'd suggest holding onto the apple as it was a good breath freshener in the morning.
The trip from Toowoomba to Roma Street was blissful and the sights going down the Toowoomba Range made it very enjoyable. We got to see stuff you'd never see in a car or bus. It was ANZAC so a public holiday, we had almost and express trip no stops, which meant we arrived early into Brisbane only to be forced to wait for inner city train traffic to clear which put us back on schedule into Roma Street.
Thanks for the tip about the back door, the view was fabulous, unfortunately I couldn't time the tunnels but it was great to go through them.
Hi Rory, what an amazing review of a most pathetic train. This train is an embarrassment and there is no excuse for the lack of cleanliness especially during these days of Covid. I would think a day train would be interesting on that service so passengers can appreciate the countryside. I love train travel but this service would be a stretch even for me. Thanks Rory and I hope you are safe at home and editing more content for us.
I agree, Aussie John. Without sleeper cars, it's not attractive to travel end-to-end. I would still like to get up there into QLD ands try some of these train services, nonetheless at least for part jouneys
Hi Rory I'm lead to believe that the 2/1 seating configuration carriage where 1st class on the Sunlander and put into the Westlander, Inlander and Spirit of the Outback when the sleepers where taken off 2 of these trains
Love watching your travels and look forward to more soon
Rory, I agree with all your comments. I drive from Brisbane to Charleville and return at least three times every year, and can generally complete one way in 9 hours, with comfort stops and meals. keep up the great work, I enjoy all your videos
Love your commentary, good work, cheers, ❤️🦘🦘🦘
Thank you for the coverage. I have enjoyed watching it as I only travel by car and would like to do what you do by taking the train.👍
Well done Rory
That's a great bit of history and review, Rory. I have just finished booking train trips from Melbourne and Brisbane, then a return train from Brisbane to Charleville.
I lived in Charleville as a child in the early 60s. Train travel was a big deal then. I have indelible memories of greeting family and friends arriving by train and seeing them off. When we saw people off the thing to do was to run back to our car and drive along side the train as far as we could, everyone waving like crazy. Ostensibly it was done for us kids, but really the adults were right into it.
My mother, sister and I used to travel to Brisbane for school holidays and stay with family there. We usually had a sleeper with three bunks. (It was usually half full with our excess luggage including my mother's hat box. I remember she was "furious" when a conductor commented that we had a lot of luggage for three people). The fittings were beautiful - upholstered in a kind of green. There was a wash basin that you would pull down out of the wall - this, and the other openings and closings fitted so beautifully.
So I see from your video that my train trip to Charleville isn't going to fully satisfy my childish nostalgia, but I am looking forward to it. I am going to relive the sleeper experience in my Sydney to Brisbane trip.
And a little bit more: The train coming up to Brisbane used to stop in Toowoomba for lunch. (It must have left later, or the trip was even longer in those days). The passengers would get off and have lunch in the station dining room. I understood the reason for this was to remove and leave the dining car which would be cleaned and replenished for the return train.
And a question. The carriage seemed to have hardly anyone in it. Is that right?
I am going to watch your other videos now. Good on you.
Yay, another train vid!
Interesting. Thanks Rory
Good job on calling out the crappy service
I spent many years as a child on this train line visiting my grandparents in Forrest Hill. My favorite was going through the tunnels. Thankyou for the updates I now know why trains have not flourished in the region. Hopefully they will reroute the bottle neck area soon.
Great video Rory, looks like the bus is the best option other than driving for Brisbane to Toowoomba and vv
Loved the video
Great film, best wishes from Laidley. The Westländer is a joke since they removed the additional carriages.
Someone just posted this vid on Reddit but after commenting I felt like... maybe OP is not you? so just in case I post my comment here also: That was very cool and cute to watch :) good job man. Had no idea something so weird was still working here (admittedly I know nothing about the area I just arrived in Australia recently). I met SO many train enthusiasts like you when I lived in Japan. Have you been there? You would LOVE it. Do you play OpenTTD?! Maybe Im projecting haha. Damn I wish I could live in Toowoomba… Anyway cheers!
This is a wonderful review, even if I though trying to hide the identity of staff was a bit unnecessary. I was planning to take a train ride to Charleville from Brisbane, but after watching this I think that trip is something you'd do out of necessity rather than as an adventure. The "First Class" facilities with the exception of the dining car and food on the Spirit of the Outback was bad enough.
That was a great review. Thank you!
Great video Rory
Hi Rory! Just found your channel this week, you are amazing! I was wondering, you've mentioned in a couple of your other train reviews that although online booking does not let you choose a seat, if you book over the phone or in person you can. Is this true for the Westlander?
Hi Thomas, Yes you can do that for any queensland rail travel services
(Inalnder, Westlander, Tit train, spirit of Queensland, spirit of the outback)
Those 50yo old seats are so much more comfortable than the tilt train in my opinion 😂
awesome video mate
Rory will you review the project sunrise from Sydney to JFK when it starts
Waiting for the Hotel Review.....I need something to watch Hurrryyyyy 😁😁
Thanks so much for your video, it’s weird if the country has more people that the trains have so few passengers because not everyone has a car, anyway nice video and I really like how much information you give.
Thanks for another great review Rory. Interestingly, the inland rail once complete will make such a difference to the track between Toowoomba and Brisbane and with Brisbane getting the 2032 Olympics there is talk of a fast train service between Toowoomba and the capital.
Awaited, train video😍😍
Pity this has been so neglected ! I didn’t realise the history behind it all :) I did like going through those small stations as have driven and seen them before
Been on this train from Toowoomba (my hometown) to Brisbane, slow trip because of the incline of the range, it was 5hrs back then, hopefully it’s quicker now. This train used to be the the Queenslander, from Brisbane to Cairns, which is now the Spirit of Queensland, as the original Westlander was decommissioned due to its age. So I travelled on this train when it was the Queenslander travelling to Mackay.they made a huge mistake taking away the sleepers & the dining car.
I do think that this is quite lacking in some areas, but some areas it's better than driving. The scenery was stunning and I felt like I was inside the majestic forest but the time this train takes to travel 130kms is insane. I do like how there is a shower on the train too but other things make it a worse experience overall.
Damned with faint praise...Qld Rail should really try to make this a better experience, if they want more backsides on seats.
Hi Rory, great video. I get the impression they're trying to close it down, if they improved the service, they might get more custom
Great video, couple of minor errors.... pre 2015 there was a food car or griddle car not a dining car. This consisted of a smallish kitchen and serving area with some tables and benches. The rest of the car was sitting. Pre 1994 this was first class sitting. Also the speed between Harlaxton and Murphy's Creek is either 30 or 40 km/hr in both directions.
Thank you for the corrections. 😊
I was interested to see this trip. 17 hours to travel 777km ! It's surprising that rail passenger service has lasted that long on this route when it is seriously disadvantaged by an old alignment with many curves and speed restrictions, and patronage appears very light.
After I came across your channel thanks foe not just being honest but how homesick for QLd iam right now in n lockdown in Sydney
Nice one mate! Looks like a trip to maybe avoid unless they bring back the sleepers!
Thanks for sharing, Australia is missing a money making goldmine by not having decent train services in rural areas , we lack behind other countries even smaller and less affluent than ours and that's embarrassing...this service would benefit from going back to sleepers & the buffet car plus a very deep clean and staff who are passionate about there job, looking at this video it showed a serious lack of enthusiasm and being way too long on the same job it was cringe worthy how filthy it was...bring back the good old days of rail travel
Great video
You gave me lots of confidence to make train blogs Keep up the good work 😀
Most long distance trains in Australia are an embarrassment.
Yeah, and the long distance trains that are interstate aren’t even electric. Even the US has major rail plans. Eventually this will be sorted but it would be 15 years too late
if Sydney’s central-lithgow *regular service* line exists, why doesn’t toowoomba to Brisbane have a far more regular service even today? it’d be nice to see some sort of regular service come with the inland rail as well as a more defined, promoted and proper public transport system in toowoomba itself to facilitate brisbane commuters (buses or even a tram line through ruthven street) could promote growth and business opportunities in toowoomba, as well as the towns along the existing line (helidon, gatton, laidle/plainland). as someone from Toowoomba, it feels like we are neglected as a city in comparison to the rest of SE QLD, with not-so great public transportation and lacking entertainment, theres not much to do here unless its september (carnival of flowers). hopefully by the time the olympics come around things will be different and better. great video also, loved your explanations
Thanks for the review. I was thinking of taking a train from Ipswich to Toowoomba for the the flower festival, since it’s usually pretty busy on the road during that time. But it looks like this train service isn’t that great. :(
Great review byt geez the carriages needs to be refurb. The dude coughing at the end was probably dying for a ciggie.
hey mate! wanted to say hello! I saw you out in Perth last night, you were eating pizza with your headphones in on the street so i didn't want to disturb you. anyway, love the content keep it up!
Wow! that sure is me! next time please feel free to stop me and say hi! I believe I’m quite friendly 😁😁
Palaszczuk Labor Government is working on a business case to build brand new carriages for the Westlander (and the Inlander and Spirit of Outback too). And even better - the new carriages will be manufactured in Queensland.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey, 16 June 2021:
“We’ve also got a $1 million for a business case to build replacement carriages for the iconic Westlander, Inlander and Spirit of the Outback long-distance services right here in Queensland.”
How many million due they actually have for the carriages?.
@@roydidlock1867 Good question! In another reply thread, I wrote that the Labor government doesn't have a magic money tree and that the new carriages won't eventuate. I love trains, but if a minister said we can afford electric buses or the Westlander, a new high school or Westlander, new hospital or Westlander, well I'm choosing the project that will serve the most people.
That's mad. $4000 subsidy per passenger.
I live in Toowoomba and I catch the west lander out to Roma But I haven’t stayed in the overnight carriage yet
Yay another video :)
I love that at 20:00 The Train passes right by Roma Street then does a Full Loop around the Suburbs just to Arrive back at Roma Street.
Geez, it seems the staff have it pretty easy lol. I couldn't go 17hrs without being horizontal. Did 10.5hrs sitting upright from Syd to Mel (return) which was bad enough.
Whilst I appreciate this review is of a Queensland train, overall, the passenger trains throughout Australia are an embarrassment and a joke. I can only assume it is because of our small population, distances and the great Australian attribute - apathy. We are no better than third world countries and even some of them have better passenger trains. We only hear about fast trains when the government - state and federal, want to divert our attention from something else. Try getting from Sydney to say, Bathurst or Orange and return in a day. Good to see the apathetic attitude of rail staff is everywhere. Thanks for the review Rory.
It's is an absolute shame that longer haul train service is so bad, especially given the state of the environmental disaster we refuse to deal with.
Very fast rail is a pipe dream in Australia. I would like to see anybody name a country of the size and very low population density of Australia with very fast rail.
Thanks Rory, hopefully the Queensland government will allocate the funding to upgrrade these three trains. The bloke coughing at the end sounds like he had COVID...he may not be with us any more.
3:18 Have you got a ticket ? Are all passengers asked this question prior to boarding ? Or does he think you are the town's lay- about trying to sneak on board ? Just seemed a rather rude way to welcome the very few passengers they have left on this service.
I have to say the staff on this service were definitely not the best
I’ve met many friendlier and more passionate Queensland rail staff
I was born and raised in little old Toowoomba and I’ve done this trip each way, purely from an experience point of view it’s an amazing journey even if it was 4+hrs long compared to an hour and a half roughly via car. People who haven’t been to Toowoomba don’t understand how steep the great dividing range is hence the slow journey. Definitely hope one day of the government finally doesn’t go back on its word that a better rail connection between Toowoomba, Brisbane and Western QLD 🤞
We need commuter services between Toowoomba and Brisbane considering Toowoomba will be hosting events at the 2032 Olympics but the Great Dividing Range makes that expensive