Spirit of Queensland Tilt Train Townsville to Cairns in Premium Economy | Rail Travel in Australia
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- Опубликовано: 21 июл 2024
- Welcome to Queensland! Today, I'm travelling on Queensland Rail's flagship train: "Spirit of Queensland" from Townsville in North Queensland to Cairns in Far North Queensland. Spirit of Queensland is a really modern Tilt train with onboard shower facilities for everyone! It is a great alternative if you don't want to fly or drive!
0:00 Intro
0:43 Train arriving
1:47 Premium Economy Class
3:47 Breakfast - Bistro/Galley Car
4:57 In-seat Entertainment Screen
5:33 Shower Room
6:44 Lunch - Bistro/Galley Car
8:13 Railbed Sleeper Class
9:25 Summary
9:55 Arriving Cairns
This video was filmed on 26 July 2020
Train type: The Spirit of Queensland Tilt Train.
Max Speed: 160km/h (99mph)
From Townsville Station to Cairns Station
Distance: 340km
Travel time: 6h37m
Seat: G 43
Class: Premium Economy Seat
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160 kmh......OMG.....thats a snail train 😨😨😨
You have to talk about the average speed, Paris Gare du Nord to Amsterdam Centraal is about 515km apart, takes the Thalys train 3.5hrs to get there, average speed 147km/h, soo that’s also a snail train?
@@RoryDing yes.... in china the 350 km/h Fuxing Train takes 4h18m to travel 1318 kms between Beijing and Xangai
I know and I’ve been on that train, truly amazing, but do you know that’s the only high speed rail line in China that’s profitable? The rest of the lines are highly subsidised by the government, the money made in Lanzhou to Urumqi line in china’s north west cannot even pay for the line’s electric bills. Yeah it’s cool for them just build tens of thousands of kilometres of bullet train lines each year, but as time goes they will become China’s greatest financial burden in the future. China Railway, the state-owned company that runs all trains in China, their debt increased from 1.89 trillion yuan at the end of 2010 to 5.28 trillion yuan (1.3trillion dollars) at the end of September 2018, each year, the number will only get bigger.
I’ve travelled on almost all the bullet trains around the world, from the Tgv in Morocco, ice, Eurostar, ave, sapsan, to Fuxing, Shinkansen, you name it, I’ve been on them, yes they’re fast, but they won’t be economically viable for Australia to have them, so for the time being I don’t mind catching the snail train, have a cuppa and enjoy the scenery of this beautiful country along the way.
I highly doubt people catching this train from Townsville to Cairns are in a hurry.
thats fast for Australias rail infastructure. we have fallen behind in modernising our public and long haul rail infastructure
I've traveled between Cairns and Brisbane on the Spirit of Queensland multiple times over the years. A person can sit back relax and watch a movie, eat, sleep and take a shower if need be. I love train travel.
I love that the station at tully had all those pot plants and hanging baskets. It was a very country cute touch!
You realise that Tully isn't a city right?
Great Video!! I’m a Townvillian, live by the train tracks, you went right past my house at the 3rd crossing, I’m moving to Cairns in the not too distant future. My daughter lives in Brisbane and is considering coming up to the ‘Ville’ soon by train with my 3yr old Grandson who loves Trains 🚂 so I shared your video with her 😊
Thank you!! Glad you enjoyed my video ☺️
I recently moved from Cairns to Townsville ahaha, better lifestyle here I find but good luck
This looks like the best train Australia has to offer.
It’s really not. We once had a beautiful train that ran this route. Gorgeous sleeper cabins, incredible dining car. They scrapped it for this monstrosity. Cabins replaced with airline style seating with no privacy. Economy seats replaced with hard, uncomfortable leather seats that hurt after just a couple of hours of sitting, it’s a disgrace we gave up what we had for this crap. I adore train travel, but when it comes to doing the journey down the Queensland east coast I opt to fly instead.
@@joshtalbot9717 The Sunlander was good, but The carriages were literally falling apart. The Steel frame was rusting and couldn’t be used safely anymore. The Spirit of Qld is cheaper, more environmentally friendly and faster. Get over it.
Due to the current situation I am travelling vicariously through you. I love train travel and when covid kicked in I was about to leave Melbourne for Europe and travel by train. 16 months down the track (so to speak) I'm not sure it will ever happen. Thank you for these vids.
Took the full train ride from brissie to Cairns back in March on Premium Economy. My one regret is not booking the sleeper but other than that you're right. It's well priced and time flies so quickly. Highly recommend the pizza next time :)
Yeah the sleeper is popular!!
I booked my Railbed last week to travel on 1 July, i got the last remaining seat
Great vids man their raw, honest informative, showing us aussies all the shit we never have time to see. keep making videos!
Thank you 😊
Loved the part when the announcer said “just for your info “ and then quickly corrected to “information “.
Very high standard railway in Australia . Fantastic
Super video thanks, made me want to go to Queensland - the only Australian state I haven't been to. The train looks wonderful, I was impressed that the seats and windows actually coincide properly - unlike here in the UK. Finally - meat pies on a train! I have fond memories of the tasty meat pies in Australia and NZ. Brisbane-Cairns is definately on my bucket list.
Nicely appointed train , tempting menus and beautiful scenery. Thanks for posting .
Had a really good experience in the rail bed. Went from Brisbane to Proserpine. It was raining the entire night so I had the most relaxing and comfortable sleep in the bed.
Once again a very impressive and informative vlog! Journey looked very agreeable, thank you for sharing your experience! 😄
Good work as always. Thanks Rory.
Really enjoyed the two spot and the Cairns train too.your doing a great job thankyou.
Very professional video. I live near Cairns and I’ve never been on this train but now I will as some stage . Thankyou 😊💖👌
Very good post. Well done !
Great video!
The spirit of Queensland is my favourite train to travel on
Very interesting resembling a plane trip, so many surprises.
Lovely video, Cairns is on my bucket list, this looks like fun trip too.
Thankyou for sharing your journey, am from NSW but have never been to Queensland and now interested in doing this journey. :)
Excellent Enterprising Travel Endeavour 🎉🙏
nice work Rory Ding....I'll be using this service now
Loved this review! Never knew this route existed but would love to try it. I would totally do the full trip and book a rail bed just for the experience!! Thanks for showing us whats so great about our own Country. 👍
Gong xi fa cai wishing you abundance, happiness and prosperity.
Haha thank you 😂 gong xi fa cai 🧧
Watching your videos makes me impatient for my holiday
One of the best things about train travel; is that you can take in the scenery without having to consentrate on driving -- when you fly, you don't see anything ...
Well when I it’s a different scenery, I love both
Really enjoy your videos..thanks
Hi! So glad you reviewed this train. Been on it quite a few times and I was impressed by this train. I recognised Cairns haha. I used to live there. The streets that were on your video coming into the station was Sheridan Street, Spence Street and then Cairns Central (shopping centre). I was impressed by the showers on the train too. I haven't been to Roma Street station yet in Townsville. Maybe some day. You reviewed this on my birthday ❤
Great video. Thank you very much! 👍
Very informative - thank you
Really enjoyed your video, I made the trip once many years ago before the tilt train - great to see the new rolling stock!
Absolutely love that you share what Australians don’t do as we go to Bali
Bahahaha
@@Alpukat_ 🤣🤣🤣😳😜🙄🥂👍🏻
Speak for yourself! Bali.... Eeek! Went there in 1989...but for a Skydiving Convention. We LANDED on Kuta beach on the sunset jump each day - out the front of our hotels.... but jeez... even then it was full of bogans...lol
@@trooperdgb9722 big deal show off, who would go to a 3rd world country ?
@@coca-colayes1958 For a big convention like that? Hmm....about 450 people from all over the world?
Rory that was and excellent video! You showed pretty well everything there was to show... Well done Sir...:):):)
Another great video thankyou
Looks like fun 👍
Great video Rory.
I have just discovered your channel and this trip report is informative and honest so I have subscribed. I will have to spend some time binge watching in order to catch up and I am looking forward to it. Well done.
Thank you 😊 glad you enjoyed them
Its a great train trip...I've done it many times 🤙
It is almost like an aeroplane, but better!!
Great to see the Diesel Tilt train reviewed, I've been considering taking the Spirit of QLD after taking the electric tilt train back from Bundy a few days after your trip!
Yeah the view was great and the seat was comfortable but it is a bit slow, the average speed is only around 70km/h
I used to love that trip. I've taken that route from Bowen to Brisbane since I was six, way back in 1991 on The Queenslander. We've always had showers in Economy. It was great. Though after a while the day and a half trip does wear you down. Especially when you're three hours behind schedule, and we were always, always, hours behind schedule.
I watched and found your video very enjoyable. I've done that train trip many times. I found it very informative.
Thank you 😊
@@RoryDing I enjoy all your video's 😀
Bro thanks for sharing... love your vids
Thank you 😊
I really am looking forward to when NSW gets new trains.
Queensland is absolutely ahead of us in many ways when it comes to trains.
Even the Sydney trains need some love. They all seem so tired and old.
The light rail in Sydney isn’t awful, especially the new lines.
Your videos are always interesting and I was particularly glad to see our favourite swimming hole Harveys Creek on this video before you came into Cairns. Looking forward to seeing more trips you make
Thank you! That’s swimming hole looks beautiful!
Where is the Harvey’s Creek Video? I can’t find it
@@heatherhall3452 He shows it quickly as he crosses over the railway bridge just before coming into Cairns.
It’s at 9:28
Good review
Gimmie the RailJet or ICE any day...Looks fun here though and the entertainment system is a nice touch. The Railbed setup is pretty cool. ManI haven't visited Townsville or Cairns since 1976, I can't imagine what those towns look like today..they were pretty hokey places when I was last there...very regional, very quaint.
This train is a great train to go on, I personally have been on it. If there’s vegetarian Lasagna on the menu for dinner, I’d recommend having that. It is delicious
Hi, my first time but liked the video so I subscribed. Train journeys are so interesting and this train was really a good one.
Thank you so much!!!
I’ll travel on this train, in Railbed from cairns to Brisbane in July 😊
love this train been on it a few times
Hope to see you feature the amtrak lines 😍
Awesome video.
Thank you!
Nice one! I really need to try this train trip. Looks great
Indeed!! And the price was really reasonable compare to Indian-Pacific and the Ghan etc. I really wanna try Spirit of the outback to longreach one day!!
@@RoryDing Yeah I have been looking at taking the train from Brisbane to Longreach. Long 26 hour journey
The train station would have more platforms if Queensland Rail would build more lines to more destinations haha.. great video! love Townsville
Haha thank you!
I love Townsville beautiful beaches and it’s always sunny 😎
Qld had rail going all over the state already most of it wasn't viable so it was de commissioned. If you go to many towns in qld the old rail way lines and stations are still there.
@@jac4423 Exactly. People SAY they want rail...but don't use it enough to make it viable.
Wow didn't know a local train could be so nice
Love Townsville
Hey Rory i have been on the tilt train it is lots of fun. when they go round corner they tilt
Townsville!!! Much mure exiting than Cairns. This recent exile from B. loves it. i LOVE oz.
2:40 cool PA announcement tone!
Hey Rory, great video man - I'm actually looking at doing this trip in the next week or 2 so this gives me a heads up on what to expect. Just a note - Kerrys voice sounds like a flight attendants voice - very monotonic but looking forward to the trip nonetheless!
Next time I go to Australia/Cairns/Townsville I'm going to do this instead of Greyhound Coach. Thanks
I like you videos excellent
Thank you 😊
I got the train back from Townsville to Brisbane instead of a plane I had a lot of luggage and it just would have been insane to fly. This was years ago the train was not nearly as nice. But thanks to QR’s unlimited luggage policy at the time I was able to get a lot of my stuff back to Brisbane for a very minimal fee which I appreciated at the time. Wish it had been one of these lovely trains back then but maybe not so cheap 🤷♀️
If you going from one end to the other end of the journey I highly recommend a rail bed I have see the rail bed in nighttime and daytime positions and also the thing about tall is that to don’t hav much clearance above your head on the train also I’d recommend greyhound it’s a bus service and is got some nice things on board but only has a four hour travel area from Cairns to Townsville and back
Cool
I’m planning to try the Railbed in June or April!
I live here in townsville and enjoy catching the tilt train.. but the other train is a siding for other trains to pass the tilt while at the station..
Another great video, keep em coming!
Great video. I've travelled by road between Townsville and Cairns many times but not by rail, so it was interesting to see. My Mum used to travel between the two cities on her annual trip up north, and I can see why she looked forward to it. I've watched several of your recent Aussie adventures, you made this one while we were all locked down in Melbourne, when we were restricted to a 5km radius of home! By the way (and this is no criticism as learning a second language is very hard), the plural of aircraft is aircraft, no added s like most plurals. Why? who knows... Sorry, can't help it, that's the teacher in me!
Thank you for correcting me!! I wasn’t sure if the plural form was aircraft or aircrafts. Now I’ll make sure to say it correctly in the future!!
The train was good but I’d prefer to drive cuz it’s a lot faster haha
And thanks again for watching my videos! Appreciate your support! 🤗
@@RoryDing it’s because aircraft is a collective noun and hence is already pluralised. Adding an s pluralises it twice which is unnecessary. Non native speakers seem to have a lot of trouble with collective nouns. An example would be “furniture” : There is a lot of furniture in the room. Not furnitures. You could say “there are many pieces of furniture in the room” too.
Once Covid is done, I will definitely take a trip on this service.
Yeah you should!
If you watch one of this guys videos please subscribe. He’s detail of everything is amazing.
if you hav a car mate the rego of your car gets added and it’s contact free the but first 3 hours are free and then you have to pay to leave after 3 hours if still there at the time
Very good work mate .what editing software you use for your videos? Cheers 👍🏽.
I would actually recommend booking at LEAST 60 days before travelling if you're wanting a railebd. I travelled Cairns- Brisbane last September, booked in July but even with little travelling happening & no school holidays couldn't get a railbed. Being short I actually found the seats in premium economy rather uncomfortable & couldn't quite get comfy all the way home :( .
That’s fair enough
I would definitely do Railbed if I had to travel cns - bne
Two stops between T'ville and Cairns....Tully and ?
I used to drive this route once a month for 5 years
Usually averaged 4 hours! The Tilt ain't real fast!
Thank god State of Origin isn’t decided by train travel - if so the poor Blues would never win😢
What a great experience for 6.5 hours!
I took this journey and i wasn't impressed with the railbeds as much as i thought i would be. Can't beat your own personal space in a berth like on the XPT, The Ghan or Indian Pacific.
That’s true but the Railbed is a lot more affordable than the Ghan and Indian Pacific. I would love to try spirit of the outback one day, I think there’s single/twin berth on that train.
i this trip in the same class for my birthday back in 2018
wow i live in cairns and been on the train cairns to brisbane and brisbane to cairns
Would you consider filming a review in the Rail Bed class on Spirit of Queensland? I would love to hear your comparison to the older Spirit of the Outback which you have already reviewed and which one might be better for elderly passengers.
Yes in July! 😊 Cairns to Brisbane!! I’m very excited!!
@@RoryDing very excited to see your review! Keep up your great videos Rory!
You missed the USB charging point in the side of the seat. Also, the Premium Economy seat you had is a LOT more comfortable than the Railbeds in 'seat configuration' (the Railbeds aren't great as beds either) The Railbeds have no privacy for you, or security for your belongings, at night unfortunately.
You can save a bit more on the fare you quoted if you get a 'Coastal Stop-Over Fare', which is $329. You have to leave the train at least once between Brisbane and Cairns, but it's good for 12 months. We did a couple of nights in Townsville with a trip to Magnetic Island.
Love your reviews thank you and I agree that it is a great relaxing service (if you're not time poor). Just a quick note - this is not a tilt train - the QLD tilt train runs Brisbane - Rockhampton
Thank you!
It is a diesel powered tilt train
The Brisbane - rocky ones are electrical
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt_Train
@@RoryDing Thank you - I'll stand corrected
@@peterembury2963 I think there used to be separate "old rattler" Spirit of Queensland and Tilt services, until a few years ago. Looks like they've kept the old branding but it's a renovated Tilt doing the service. Probably makes sense, I'm guessing before the Tilt had the usual short-haul configuration which gives customers two crappy choices, but this is one excellent choice.
Yeah you should give the Railbed a try! Have you got plans to do so?
Maybe one day! I did the spirit of the outback instead in November because the spirit of the outback was having a 50% discount plus their first class cabin is more private than spirit of Queensland’s rail bed
But I’ll probably do it one day when I go to far north qld again
This got recommended when im on one lmao
I live in Townsville.
Beautiful city! It’s always sunny!! 😎
Nice video. Does the water fountain to refill water bottles work on this train ? Ie, in covid times.
I don’t really remember sorry 😅 but when I travel again in June/July I can check it out for ya
@@RoryDing Thanks !
Great vid Sir. Can any smoker tell me when or if you get time to have one ? I saw Tully station and heard the announcement, pretty much is a given in this state that you have to get out to smoke,I saw a fence and a paddock I can b line over and spark up. I can go without but to smokers it's a genuine question, so non smokers spare me the lecture.
I’m not a smoker so I can’t answer you haha
Hopefully someone would see your comment 😅
this train is much better than XPT!
But the average speed of the whole journey is slower than the XPT unfortunately
Have you thought of reviewing the New Zealand long distance trains? After the Covid lockdowns of course :)
Booked a flight to Auckland 5 months ago to travel on 19 nov
Canned ofc :(
@@RoryDing what is the speedometer app you use in your videos??
@@RoryDing hopefully you can make it here in the future. It will be interesting how our trains compare to Aussie
@@jc_mac712 From what I have watched, trains in NZ compare pretty poorly to other railway systems since most of the lines are touristy sightseeing trains
just give you some idea this is what the new XPT would look like from 2024
What a lovely train. Very well appointed
The female announcer sounded soooo bored though
Hi Rory, are towels provided for the shower in both railbed and economy seating?
Hi towels are only provided in Railbed 😊
@@RoryDing Thanks Rory - do you think we’ll need a blanket in economy?
Townsville is not Rule and not a small town ..it is Australia’s largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast with a population over 185,000 for 2020
Couple of informations are missing.
1 how much the whole trip cost.
2 distance from townsville to cairns station. When is the best time to visit.
Hi this is a review of the premium economy seat, or you can call it a personal experience and a walk through of the train. Information like the cost of the trip, the distance between the stations can be easily found on Queensland rails website.
Furthermore I’m not sponsored by Queensland rail therefore I don’t think I should include the price or do a free advertisement in my review.
Hmm been a while since I travelled up there but last time I caught train up that way they switch from electric to diesel at Rockhampton.. don't run electric lines from there to Cairns due to cyclones... May have changed.. but see how it's a tilt train with a diesel engine?
Yeah that makes sense!
They don't run electrics to Cairns because electrification isn't seen as viable - nothing to do with cyclones. There's simply not enough freight (let alone passenger numbers) to justify electrifying beyond Rocky.
Is this train still running out of Brisbane?
I believe so! Brisbane to Cairns!
Did you go from Brisbane to Townsville the day before?
Unfortunately I didn’t
I flew Cairns to Townsville with regional express a few days before, I had a video about that too
I’d love to do Cairns Brisbane in business one day tho
@@RoryDing nice!! I'll watch that now
Can you please go from cairns to Brisbane really appreciate 🙏
I was gonna do that but qld rail only sells 25% of their seats so I couldn’t get the ticket
I flew cairns to Brisbane with QantasLink before tho
Ok but if you are please let me know 🙏
Sorry for this reply but can you please go from Cairns to Brisbane on the sprit of Queensland I know it’s to do with Coronavirus but is it possible you could book a ticket please cause I am a big fan of Spirit of Queensland🙏
Well maybe in the future
I’m from Canberra your premier doesn’t even let us in now haha 😂
ruclips.net/video/zhBvK29UN78/видео.html
Does the train ever become crowded?
It's good the government finds it necessary to link various towns despite most preferring to drive.
They were fully booked on my service qld rail only sells 66% of their seats due to social distancing
If you want a Railbed you have to book a month in advance
@@RoryDing Hey Rory, thanks for your complete answer. Safe travels.
And the next to that train is Kuranda train
i like elestra train rory