We really need a better service. This is expensive, slow, and terrible quality for a developed country. Some people say there is no demand for them here but every single XPT I have seen over the past year has been almost full. There definetly is a desire for better long distance rail, just no political will.
@@Charlizziethe irony is that the airlines would be the biggest beneficiaries of HSR as they can run more profitable long haul flights and eliminate the short haul flights
I dont get why they want to get rid of sleeper trains with the new fleet. With High speed rail so expensive to build, I think we should really look at creating a seperate train that serves as a sleeper service. This would be very convient competition against the airlines. What I mean is although 11 hours is long between sydney and melbourne, its perfect for overnight runs where you have dinner in sydney, board the train, go to sleep and wake up and have breakfast on the train just as you pull into melbourne nice and refreshed for the morning. Some business travellers would probably like this option as it means you dont have to get up ridiculously early for a flight and sleeper trains can come with daily essentials and utilities to allow you to be ready when you arrive into your destination. If the government is too reluctant to invest in high speed rail, then they should at least invest into decent sleeper trains between Sydney and Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and Melbourne and Adelaide. When I mean sleeper trains, I do not mean the touristy ones like the ghan, but one that more serves locals traveling intercity, business travelers and that. Tourists can also use it too. Another thing we need to is for the sleeper services to have low ticket prices.
They need to increase the speed I think the max speed is 160/100mph. It should be faster. I think they had a lot of trouble building it on the Victorian side
@@jamesaustralian9829 For the plane ride, don't forget the hours taken getting to and from the airport and then the time spent getting checked in and through security. Flying is currently quicker overall but a high speed train would be faster and more convenient.
@@jamesaustralian9829 melb-sydney flights are often much more than 150. Plus you need to add 50 dollars at each end for taxi/uber fares, plus travel time to the airport, waiting around for 1 or 2 hours before the flight leaves, lost luggage, etc. And the train is full despite how slow it is. People don't enjoy flying between sydney and melbourne, they do it because it's the least crappy option.
@@jamesaustralian9829how much is air travel being effectively subsidised by not paying the full environmental cost of all that carbon, noise pollution…?
Unfortunately, the plane ticket is not under $150 when booking 2 days in advance. European night trains can compete against $20 flights, so I see no reason why this shouldn't be possible in Australia. There is a market for people who want to avoid the airport, travel from city center to city center without all the airport hassle, and effectively teleport to their destination overnight.
I think it is absolutely stupid there will be no sleeping carriages on the replacement XPT. I remember travelling to Melbourne on the Southern Aurora, that was glorious train travel. Sitting at a table with a white table cloth eating dinner as you pull out of Central station.
Okay, the best 😘 💕 and sleep I ever had was on a Sydney to Melbourne sleeper (I’m being polite here), but I will always remember those 4 stations, 5 tunnels and 6 viaducts … okay, I only remember the 😘 💕. But I do remember going to sleep 💤 with a smile 😊 on my face, to the gentle clickety clack sound of the train. And then waking in the morning to 😘 💕, and then showering 🚿 to more 😘 💕. My partner was impressed by all of this … I mean the overnight train 🚆 service. Most people, if they can afford it, want to arrive overnight feeling well-rested … something that’s hard to do in an upright 💺.
You are quite correct. Years ago, when I was in management, i would get on board the train in Melbourne, and have a pleasant evening meal. Then to bed. Before arriving in Sydney, I would shower and enjoy a cooked breakfast. Then off at Central and straight into my meeting in Sydney.By far the best way to travel in those circumstances.
I’ve done it a few times, even with the sleeper carriage the constant movement and rocking of the train means you never truly get a good night sleep and you share a room with a stranger (except for the one time I was lucky and my room partner didn’t show) It’s an experience and I’m glad I did it but I wouldn’t do it again
@@davidpurdue6684 I actually found the rocking motion and the sound of the train on the tracks extremely relaxing ! Climbing up to the top bunk was part of the fun , and I remember the blue night light which enhanced the setting . This experience perhaps could only be surpassed by sleeping in a beachfront cabin on the Central Coast , and being lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves breaking on the beach ! ( However , many years later I dreamt that I was in one of these cabins and the waves were crashing against the windows , but since no damage was done , it wasn't really a nightmare .
"New South Wales is pretty much destroying their entire long-distance regional network and the overnight train service for the sake of a unified fleet" - couldn't have said it better. It's even worse when you realise the XPT was originally only designed for 3-8 hour trips (Canberra, Albury, Armidale, Dubbo etc) in a time when we had (for the time) incredibly luxurious (but slow) loco-hauled interstate trains. The XPTs took over when the railways were split up and apart from a couple of shunters all locos were sold off to freight operators.
@@johannessamuelsson6578 fully agree ... especially since we already have a train like that in Queensland with that option (Google Queensland Tilt Train).
It makes sense that the replacement trains were the cheapest available option, ordered by a conservative government whose members have never taken public transport in their lives. This is the same government (not the current one in NSW) that ordered ferries that can't handle normal conditions on the Manly run, and have had a litany of mechanical and quality problems when used elsewhere on the Harbour.
@@johannessamuelsson6578 You don't even have to go to China for those. Queensland Rail have the railbeds on the Brisbane-Cairns and v.v service. And agree. Could have put a couple of carriages of these as part of the new train consists. But of course they just couldn't be faffed. "It's just too hard" seems to quite a common go to when it comes to night trains for many operators. Even JR East in Japan just cancelled all their night trains in 2015 when the rolling stock got old then just used the excuse of there's shinkansens so we don't need night trains anymore, which is def not the case, and their night trains were still popular and well-booked even at the time of the services being xxld.
The NSW Govt is completely incapable of knowing how to run intercity trains. Completely agree with everything you said. The new trains not having sleeper carriages when demand is always so high is just crazy.
You're wrong about being incapable. Very deliberate, I assume. Established business- airlines, would be responsible. I'm not too knowledgeable on it but Syd to Melb is the most frequent flight path in the world? And nsw govt love bending over for business.
I agree BUT don't just hit the NSW Govt. It's an Oz wide issue. All Governments! Would love to see a 420kph service Sydney/Melbourne to Perth and everywhere else for that matter...
Thanks for an honest review of our very poor interstate rail travel services. Everything is done on the cheap, from the seating to the food. It’s incredibly bad. Hard to believe that the replacement for the XPT looks like it will be an even worse offering. Only here in Australia do we do things this half-arsed.
Fully agree with all your comments Simon. The XPT was a train built in the 80s (based on the British HST). It runs on rails built for steam trains over a hundred years ago - hence the slow speed. I am not sure if its Spanish-built replacement will be much of an improvement - considering there will be no sleeper car - as you correctly point out on a very popular route. This needs a Very Fast Train replacement or at the very least a tilt train to improve the travel time. Such a shame as the potential is there to make this a world-class train experience.
Unless you build a whole new line or make the track 4 wide it maybe difficult to significantly up the speed. The are bound to be lots of standard speed local and freight trains making it difficult to find a high speed path between cities.
@@ATH_Berkshire trust me there aren't local trains anywhere except for syd and melb on this route. As for freight trains, chuck them in a siding. Boom fixed.
@@ATH_BerkshireAustralia needs to build infrastructure for now not try to keep utilizing old infrastructure unfit for today. There’s plenty of room. Upgrade!
Decades behind other countries. I would happily do the Mel / Syd route all the time by train instead of plane if we had fast and comfortable European style options.
You have to share a room with a stranger also a shower and toilet. They used to run a train with proper sleeper cars until 1993 and was replaced by the XPT, the Sydney/ Melbourne Express was the two overnight trains combined Spirit of Progress and Southern Aurora
Oh...have a look at the waiting list for trains like the privately operated tourist trains...the Ghan, Kuranda Scenic, Indian Pacific, Great southern, etc.
I really have no idea where we were travelling but I have childhood memories from the 70’s of travelling on sleeper trains, going up and down to the dining car, and having to call the porter to use his key to open the top locker, which was a small fold down bed where a child (me) could sleep
I dont get why they want to get rid of sleeper trains with the new fleet. With High speed rail so expensive to build, I think we should really look at creating a seperate train that serves as a sleeper service. This would be very convient competition against the airlines. What I mean is although 11 hours is long between sydney and melbourne, its perfect for overnight runs where you have dinner in sydney, board the train, go to sleep and wake up and have breakfast on the train just as you pull into melbourne nice and refreshed for the morning. Some business travellers would probably like this option as it means you dont have to get up ridiculously early for a flight and sleeper trains can come with daily essentials and utilities to allow you to be ready when you arrive into your destination. If the government is too reluctant to invest in high speed rail, then they should at least invest into decent sleeper trains between Sydney and Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and Melbourne and Adelaide. When I mean sleeper trains, I do not mean the touristy ones like the ghan, but one that more serves locals traveling intercity, business travelers and that. Tourists can also use it too. Another thing we need to is for the sleeper services to have low ticket prices.
>Some business travellers would probably like this option Business travellers don't really get to pick how they get there. Corporate negotiates a cheap option and that's how they get there. And generally, corporate picks the fastest (for value) option because time is money.
Competition against the airlines. Halarious. What dickhead pays hundreds of dollars to travel for 10 hours plus, when you can pay 120 or less and be there within an hour and a half ✈️
I travel for business and I purposefully book the sleeper in advance, and its exactly as you described. I am able to have dinner in Sydney, sleep on train, wake up and get ready for work and arrive in Melbourne refreshed (vice versa). Sometimes I even do a day trip, with the train capping both days. I am not exhausted compared to plane travel. The new trains are a disappointment and should reconsider investing in sleeper cars and better seats for long distance travel.
I take this train regularly but I'm starting to reassess the situation. If the train runs, even if it is a little late I still enjoy the ride. The seats are comfortable, big windows and there is plenty of space to do a little work (pity there is no power points), read, listen to my pod casts etc. I always take it during the day as it is too difficult to get a sleeper as you've pointed out. I can't stand sitting up all night. However, I'm describing it as a train service and that seems misleading. I'm so regularly bumped off the train on to a bus that I now refer to it as a bus service with occasional train replacements. Track work, blockage from other trains, someone walks on to the track etc. etc. It is amazing how many people still catch it. It is always near full every time I'm on it. BTW I'm impressed that it was only 35 minutes late. That is very good for the XPT. Is there a worse rail service between two major cities in the rest of the world? About every 10 years there is talk of a very fast train but they just need an NSB (not so bad) service. Yes, sleepers, yes 2-3 hours faster, yes a couple of power points. We are not asking for the world here. I gather the airlines just do not want it.
@mt-mg7tt the sleeper cabins are converted to sit up first class cabins during the day. The outlets will be available to people who are in those cabins.
@mt-mg7tt these trains are 40+ years old. They didn't think everyone would require power sockets. I guess these days we all demand what use to be only available to the first class passengers. But xpt could easily just install a few 2kwh LFP power banks (25kg each in each carriage)
@@DeSilver215 Indeed, as I said. It's our modern obsession with mobile (cell) phones and computers that makes us obsess about power outlets. Yes, a battery supply could ensure a clean AC power supply with the right equipment. But I imagine better filtering etc could also be applied to a diesel generator (or whatever they use), and it often is. There are many such portable units.
I remember the good old days when I travelled to Melbourne and Brisbane for business in the 80s on proper sleepers, with restaurant and lounge cars, with my car on the back of the train. Left Central late arvo and arrived about 7am. Got to go to Japan or Europe for decent train journeys these days.
Not true, there's the Indian Pacific (Sydney to Perth) & The Ghan (Adelaide to Darwin). It's a luxury train journey through the company Journey Beyond which you can afford for sure.
, mener Du service inde i toget, så som at spise og drikke ved borde i restauranten. For automat mad kan være ret ensformig, tør eller kedelig. Kiosk mad er ikke hyggelig og sund mad, da prisen bestemmer indhold. Fastfood 😼
I was fortunate enough to travel to Sydney from Melbourne several times as a kid in the 70s on the Southern Aurora luxury train. Everything is on the cheap now!
Those new trains are the same train model they use here in the Netherlands as a ''sprinter'', which are used for local/regional journeys. Its not even an intercity or anything close to this
As someone who lives in Wagga, i find the XPT perfect for its designed purpose. Its a fantastic services that allows us regional towns to connect with much larger cities. The twice a day service is crucial for people living in regional towns. In saying that I am looking forward to the upgrade
It's great as a regional train, but terrible for a long-distance overnight train. They really should have gotten a good train to service the regional towns and a proper sleeper for the long trip, instead of this cost-cutting one size fits all nonsense
I couldn't agree more with you. The Sydney Melb (and for that matter Brisbane) should be serviced by quality overnight trains. It cannot be denied that the patronage is not there, as you pointed out it was booked out except for economy.
I’m kinda shocked at the decision to remove any and all beds. This will almost certainly kill the services popularity and will only be used by those that absolutely need to take it. They should move more towards a traditional night train setup where most carriages are sleeper cars and not regular coaches, instead of the opposite way.
Of note is that when the XPT first started doing Sydney - Melbourne and Sydney - Brisbane overnight services, there were no sleeping cars. These came many years later.
My XPT experience is all heading in the opposite direction, save for one trip in 2020 precisely a week before the world caved in which was terminated early at Albury with bus replacement taking me the remainder. I try these days under the guise of saving money to book from Albury, getting a V-Line (Victoria Regional Train) from Melbourne to Albury which is capped at a $10 fare. It leaves an hour prior to the XPT but arrives about 2 hours prior allowing for a walk to McDonald's and back. Meals are generally $11, about what you'd see in a supermarket easy dinner section.
this sounded like a great idea, but I just checked, and the Syd-Mel run (Economy) is $78.16, and Syd-Albury is $68 something. Add the $10 for Albury-Mel, and hey presto, same price... but I liked the idea so much, I *did* go check it out, in case it really was a great deal...
Second Class seat for an 11 hour overnight journey? At this point, even I - who principally refuses to fly apart from intercontinental - would have bought a plane ticket. Respect for taking on that challenge :D
Yes, air tickets are actually no way cheaper than train because budget airlines incl only 7kgs baggages then SkyBus in Melbourne is around AUD23.9 plus Syd train for both Domestic & International have $17.34 surcharge. The staff of XPT are too busy to care how heavy is each baggage and liquid is just as many as you like. Also, Goulburn is the beginning of Opal Network, if whoever needs to take train from Central, save $14 to cut the trip shorter n buy a meal in the highland city.
@@yesbeautyfly Rex typically was cheaper or the same price as taking the XPT (if you were booking last minute and/or simply didn't want to endure 11 hours in a seat and booked sleeper) and included 23kg checked baggage with their cheapest fares. But, since Rex has gone into administration & are no longer flying the 737 routes, Virgin & Jetstar are the only "budget" options now, and yep, they're not actually any cheaper - but they don't take 11 hours, so unless they're hundreds of dollars more (which they typically aren't), they're still a better option unfortunately.
@@biosparkles9442 I have never flown this route when added up all the side costs, unless air ticket is $30 because I cut it short to Goulburn. Opal Cap is wonderful. Goulburn-->Campbelltown/Central/Wollongong/Newcastle/Blue Mountains are the same max price, still cheaper than Ferry from Circular Quay to Parramatta.
Crossed into Victoria, not NSW. The sleeper on the XPT was the worst experience of my life. Firstly they had a wheel flat so the faster the train went the worse the hammering became. I can't really explain how bad it was. Like it was about 100db with the hammering vibrating all the fixtures making everything vibrate including the doors. Then there was this squeaking suspension bush. The squeaking became a scream at speed and was even loud in the next carriage. The heater was stuck on full and the light switch was broken so you couldn't turn off the light - the whole thing was shit. The mattress was really thin too. Put together the heat, the wheel flat, the screaming suspension bush and the interior light on all night and that gives one an idea of the hellishness of the sleeper. It was like gaol cell with the guard torturing the inmate. I could not believe anyone could think that's acceptable. The reason things like this occur is because no could care less - that's our XPT a service that wouldn't be acceptable in India. If you told someone in authority they'd tell you, you're exaggerating. You can't get through to anyone and that's why it's like this.
On behalf of Australia I’d like to apologise for our railways. Years of government cost cutting and neoliberalism have resulted in railways coming out second to our obsession with road transport. I’m impressed you braved Cattle Class on the XPT. I can’t believe the XPT’s are being replaced with rolling stock that doesn’t incorporate sleeping cars. Have these idiots looked at the size of Australia!
Perhaps if we properly taxed our sovereign resources (e.g. gas), we could afford a better rail system. Yet the average Australian seems quite happy to hand over their resources to foreign entities for a song.
Honestly as a fellow Australian Its baffling to me that proper high speed rail is still not a thing , its literally one of the best suited countries for this in the world ! not that many mountain ranges to worry tunneling through , seismic activity is not really a concern , snow and ice is pretty much a non issue and there definitely is enough demand for it not to mention that the landscapes are well worth taking a train instead of a plane to take in !
Just a slight correction for your otherwise excellent video. The 1st Class Seats do have more leg room, but they also recline more. 40 degrees compared to 28 on the economy seats.
I think you are being to gracious in your assessment of the Melb / Sydney train service. I have taken the XPT train from Melbourne / Sydney and return twice now! And I can’t ever imagine using this service again. The train itself is far too slow and, in this day and age, it’s really hard to believe it has no power points or wifi! It really is an outdated, slow, even antiquated (embarrassing) train service in no way comparable to train services overseas. I can’t help thinking that our Australian airline services have played a big part in making sure they have no competition and that these train services have never been updated and never modernised! Thank you for the video!
QLD electrified Brisbane to Rockhampton Line in last century & that electric tilt train still keeps the unbreakable 210km/hour in Australia, on narrow gauge tracks.
The Tilt Train actually only has a maximum service speed of 160 km/h, which is the same as the NSW XPT and Victorian VLocity. It reached 210 km/h during testing while empty on a specially prepared section of track. It might be able to hit 180 km/h during fully loaded service if the driver has the opportunity to floor it. Having said that the Tilt Trains are still by far the best long-distance trains in Australia, they're the only trains that are actually designed to be comfortable for 8-hour trips. First class on the Diesel Tilt Train on the Brisbane-Cairns run was one of the first trains to build each seat as a dedicated lie-flat sleeping pod.
Brisbane to Rockhampton is longer than than Sydney to Albury & Melbourne to Albury is around half of it. QLD has much less people than NSW or VIC but still had done it in last century.
Electric trains have so much benefits over diesel trains, such as but not limited to: 1: Neither emission nor air pollution 2: Low maintenance costs due to no combustion engines. 3: Each carriage has its own motor so elongation to infinity is possible in theory. 4: High energy efficient. 5: Regenerative braking to recharge back the grid.
@@yesbeautyfly Brisbane to Rockhampton is only around 630 kms. Sydney to Melbourne is nearer to 900 kms. Queensland upgraded the line to Rockhampton as part of a Bicentennial Project. The old line twisted and turned like crazy!
@@tobys_transport_videos QLD did it alone. Sydney to Albury is shorter than Brisbane to Rockhampton, then the remaining part for VIC is less than half of either above & importantly VIC is the slowest Australian State of East Coast in terms of electrification but force new residential dwellings to electrify. Clearly is triple standard due to the unsafe air quality of Southern Cross Station caused by diesel engines.
Hi. Just found your vid of Sydney to Melbourne in my feed & have now subscribed. Thankyou for your informative & well presented service. Easy to listen to & very clearly spoken. As one with severe hearing impairment I was thrilled with that. Will look forward to viewing more very soon. We'll done! Kudos to you. Jac
The track isn’t dual gauge except for some very short sections near Southern Cross. South of Seymour there are both broad and standard gauge tracks. North of Seymour on the Victorian side, the track has been converted to standard gauge. One of the two standard gauge tracks goes back to the 1960s and the other is quite recent. The faster of the two tracks has a 130km/h speed limit and the Victorian V/Locity DMUs on the Melbourne-Albury service do indeed sit on that for much of the journey. There are lines good for 160km/h in Victoria with the 160km/h V/Locity rolling stock, but this isn’t one of them. The original Southern Aurora sleeper with its 1960s rolling stock on the 1960s single standard gauge line was apparently a pretty good train at least into the 1980s. Southern Cross Station was named after it.
Pro tip to not completely obliterate your phone’s battery with no power outlets. Put your phone in airplane mode. You can almost never get service anyway and constantly trying to connect to weak signals will kill the battery so fast.
One thing I don't see mentioned about these trains is the lack of mobile reception, the carriages themselves seem to block signals and I was barely able to get any usable speeds on 4g or 5g even in the middle of Sydney. I wish they had wifi or at least a 4g booster on board, even if it only worked around towns.
This has been the case for many years! I won't travel on the XPT anymore, but I have friends who have, and they said it was quite horrific. It can take 10 minutes to get a simple text message in or out, and Facebook messages are just as bad. This train is a Must to Avoid!
I really liked your report on the XPT. Sydney to Melbourne, 11 hours at an average speed of 86kph... We have just come back from Japan. The Shinkansen (Bullet Train) makes the XPT look embarrassing. Tokyo to Hiroshima, 860ks in just under 5 hours (our trip took 4h20m) averaging 290kph and occasionally hitting 310kph. Exactly on time all the way. A train timetable to envy. One departing every 10 to 20 mins. Not just one service, overnight. We also got a train from London to Edinburgh. Similar deal, 4 hours. Australia is so behind the rest of the world. In Victoria we can't even organise a train from the city to the airport.
Australia has so much potential for better railways, yet they continue to make strange decisions on how to run the systems they already have. I’m glad you enjoyed the video!
The train announcement as we were leaving Melbourne went: "We do not provide wifi or phone charging points. This is a very old train that receives very little funding"
I find it interesting that the XPTs have separate bins for used needles in the toilets. Although they are quite unusual for trains, i think that they are a nice feature considering that it makes the work of the cleaning staff safer.
As a young fellow, I had to spend one week a month doing my vocational training in Sydney, (A trip from home of about 400km). I would leave home at 8pm, settled into a sleeper car at 9pm , woken by the conductor at 6am with a cup of tea. Arrive Central at 7am and head straight to the refreshment room for a delicious breakfast before heading to the training school. How I long for the old days.
8:49 they're only bi-mode on the NSW network. Not Qld or Victoria. The line needs to be straightened. There's been multiple reports saying that the trip could be reduced to around 6 hours without a huge capital outlay. This would be a major improvement and make it competitive with flying when you factor in the pre & post flight time at the airport and the airport to-from CBD connections. You also need to be able to choose your seat rather than copping whatever their algorithm chooses for you. WiFi & power to every seat is a must (hopefully included in the new trains). And air outlet in the seat would be nice, and mandating the closing of curtains overnight (like planes do) to remove the bright lights at stations and level crossings en route. The lights in the vestibules should be dimmed too - having bright lights in your eyes all night kills any chance of sleeping. Food was good (tho ordering a hot meal if you get on at Campbelltown or Benalla was not offered cos they'd already done the announcement) and I didn't realise until they called for collection! They were clean and comfortable allowing for the comments above.
yeah they could get Canberra Sydney down to 3 hours by fixing the slow parts of the track. There is wifi and power in the new R Set, which will actually make it palatable to business users. If you have to go to somewhere for the week, you can afford to use the train and get work done on there uninterrupted vs the go to the lounge for an hour then board the plane, then do another hour of work on the plane than get off and get to destination, quicker but probably wasting more of your time.
Re dual-mode; can they not use the overhead wires in Melbourne? Sydney and Melbourne both use 1.5 KV. Brisbane uses 25KV so is probably impossible to use.
As someone who rides the XPT (albeit for a short trip) most days, I can tell you right now it's quite a busy service yet the train is pretty garbage and the crew knows. unfortunately the amount of delays and delays with the replacements has made it worse and often times we see passengers will catch a VLocity to ABX and then jump on the XPT into NSW to avoid both the ticket cost and the train quality of the TrainLink service
The train itself is not slow. The track conditions and other train traffic is the reason the Sydney=Melbourne journey is slow. The new trains will not make the journey any quicker.
@@tomnewham1269 Yes, you are right. The track alignment is from the 19th Century. Winding up and down and charging customers a premium lol. That wont change anytime soon. It would not suprise me if journey times would increase, even with the new trains. Oh well, we can wait a few decades and see what happens 🤣
I took the daytime train Melb to Syd but I was in the sleeper carriage in "seat" config. It was disgusting. Barely a surface that wasn't chipped, worn or dirty. The toilet was from the stone age (stainless steel age perhaps). And the ride comfort on the NSW section is terrible. Never again.
I used to catch the “ overlander” train from Adelaide to Melbourne regularly in the 70’s. Usually with a parent or grand parent but occasionally by myself or with my cousins with the oldest one charged with looking after the younger ones. It had a canteen and bar (I think, I was too young), and ice cold water dispensers with tiny paper cups. The toilets emptied onto the track so you weren’t allowed to use them in the stations. The beach seats swiveled too so we could spin one around and create our own little space to sleep in or play games etc. the journey took about 12 hours I think, and stopped in towns along the way to pick up and drop off passengers and freight. They had sleeper cabins too but we could never afford one of them. I’m pretty sure the train ran both ways every night in those days. Now everyone flies I guess. Good times 😎 PS: apologies for the self indulgence
A trick for tourists to save some budget is to take Southern Highland Line to Goulburn first which is the end of Opal Network. The savings would be more than enough to buy a roasted chicken plus some drinks from Woolworths nearby. Time gap can be used to walk around along the main street.
@@Terrilliser2024OZ South of Macarthur Station has not yet electrified. XPT, XPLORER & Endeavour are all diesel trains. Moss Vale has Rail Coach/Bus to Wollongong.
I'm a Melbourner that's been to Sydney many times by Air and Car, had no idea we even had a Train. And I love overnight train travel between cities overseas...shows how insane our collective consciousness is about train travel in Australia.
I have been on that train in both directions and found it quite nice.It is slow but you want that with a sleeping train otherwise you're not going to have enough time to sleep but there's a good argument for speeding up the daytime services.It also is always pretty full so could do with more carriages on it.
The XPT is a good train but is not used in accordance with its original HST design. It was never intended for >500 mile trips at ~50 mph. It was intended for ~200 mile trips at ~100 mph. The hint is in the original names of InterCity 125 and InterCity XPT.
A sleeper ticket is pretty much the only thing that would convince me to try an overnight train in Australia. And you're telling me they're getting rid of them? Good lord...
I tried the oven slow cooked food but UNFORTUNATELY NOT from microwave. As a result, the food I bought had burnt bottom with melted plastic. My suggestions for 20:42 Sydney Central train is to eat BUFFET first before boarding. Many choices nearby. Or go to Goulburn by Opal Card to eat at a proper restaurant first.
The XPT to Brisbane has a terrible timetable. Departing at 2:40pm and arrives Brisbane at 5am. However in the summer months it arrives 4am as Queensland doesn't observe daylight savings. The buffet car with the accessible seats is technically what I'd call "Hybrid class". They have the same leg room as economy seats but the recline is that of first class and the accessible seats are charged at economy fares - 28 degrees in economy vs 40 degrees in 1st class.
Australia really needs a national carrier, like Amtrak or ViaRail to run these long inter-state lines. Seems like NSW is doing most of the heavy lifting.
While on the surface a national carrier makes sense, I think NSW TrainLink effectively fills that because they run the main interstate services. I really do believe we should have proper passenger rail (not a tourist experience) Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth, but as long as the main interstate routes start or terminate in Sydney with NSW rolling stock, it's not a huge deal.
Public transport of all kinds is a state responsibility, except for the bus network in Brisbane CC. The feds explicitly don't want to be involved and until recently didn't touch public transport funding directly unless it involved aviation (a federal responsibility).
Thank you for adding your voice to those who consider the new trains - over budget and late as not yet even in revenue service - will be worse than the aged XPTs. It's a tribute to our hopeless politicians and bureaucrats that there's no sleeping car accommodation. Even the union (Rail Tram and Bus Union) did not protest about the loss of the sleeping car. We could have gone for European-style couchettes and sleepers, allowing every passenger to lie flat and night and be reasonably comfortable by day, but instead, there's only so-called 'ironing board' seats like on some UK railcars ('units'). Our politicians could have started 40 years ago to build a true high speed rail network between Brisbane and Melbourne via Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney and Canberra to Melbourne, but instead have just produced a number of voluminous reports. Finally we have a High Speed Rail Authority but it's yet to lay a single centimetre of new track, and sadly the Liberal-Nationals Federal Opposition has never said whether it supports high speed rail. Nor has the Federal Labor government definitely funded the start of construction. Of course the airline duopoly (Qantas and subsidiary Jetstar, and competitor Virgin Australia) vigorously oppose high speed rail and lobby politicians, and smooch them with access to the Qantas Chairman's Club and Virgin Oz equivalent. Nothing a quiet word in a pollie's ear won't solve! Meanwhile unpunctuality and cancellations by the airlines between Sydney and Melbourne, and Sydney and Brisbane are high, as are fares, especially if one wants to travel at peak business times or when there's sport such as AFL (Australian Rules football) matches scheduled. Hardly any politicians in Australia ever travel by rail and it shows.
Bowning, Binalong, Wallendbeen and Table Top stations should definitely be considered for reopening as request stops like Harden, The Rock etc. However, this would be more effective for the daytime XPT service. You’re quite correct there are plenty things wrong with the service. I still personally prefer to take the train over flying though. My main issue, especially in the sleeper carriage, is that the air is always unbearably hot and stuffy.
After travelling on the Shinkansens in Japan, Australian long distance trains seem like a consolation prize. Most of the time flying is a cheaper and obviously faster
@@katrinabryceJapan has a large population, of about 120 million people, in a relatively small area of 378,000.sq km. NSW and Victoria's population combined is 15.5 million people, covering an area of 1 million sq km. The cost to provide fast rail between these two states would be enormous. Low population density is our main problem. It would be nice to have fast rail between our two major cities at some time in the future. The costing, at present, is about 200 billion dollars.Every taxpayer in Australia would have to subsidise this rail line.
I remember when I was 10 and took this train. Sleeping was such a struggle that I found sleeping on the floor was much more comfortable than sleeping on the seat. Even though my legs sticking out of my seat could trip over people.
So hear me out, I used to travel to Wollongong on a weekly basis using the inter city trains. Took roughly 3 hours each way. I always questioned why is a high speed network from Wollongong thru Sydney to new castle never heavily considered. In comparison the japan bullet train can get u between the 3 major cities in Japan within an hour or two. If high speed rail was cheap and frequent there wouldn’t be need for everyone to live and work in Sydney. U could live in Wollongong or new castle and still commute to Sydney if it took half an hour or an hour.
The trip from Wollongong to Sydney is now marginally slower than the steam service in 1954. Australia is becoming a third world country. The inasane Sinophobia means our corrupt (Qantas) political class will never build a VFT network. Anywhere.
I am still an occasional traveller on that route and have done so since 1964 when it was a steam train. It now takes 1 hour 35 minutes each way and slightly less on the express version. This can be verified with the TfNSW Trip Plannner As for a VFT...forget it. The ecarpment is pockmarked with mine portals from behind Dapto through to Helensburgh. Even the main road down the escarpment is regularly subject to slippage. Yes a tunnel could be built from the coastal plain to near Waterfall but not while there has been such an expenditure on the new Metro. A VFT was proposed from Brisbane to Melbourne through Sydney but it was mostly inland with connection via lines such as the Moss Vale to Unanderra line did.
@@flamingfrancis The fact tht the Illawarra electorates were strong ALP for so long is a major reason for the poor condition and antiquated state of the line. It is still a single line track at Coalcliff. Basically the per way hasnt be upgraded or reconstructed in a 100 years.
As someone who is a massive train fan and likes the XPTs, it almost physically hurts hearing you tell me to be excited they are being replaced. I do like the new trains, but they just aren't the same. And before anyone tells me that I should ride them overnight to see what it's like, I already did. I went first class from Sydney to Melbourne and although I only got about 2.5 hours of sleep, I'm totally fine with that and absolutely loved it.
Definitely. Unfortunately, in many European sleeper trains, the trend for seating cars goes away from compartment and towards open coach seats with lights on.
I did this trip some years ago when we went to the Melbourne GP. On the way down we got a sleeper cab which honestly was awful. Having your own bathroom was nice, and it was good to have a quick shower in the morning but the actual toilet was awful and just folded out from the wall and the toilet paper was awful too. Unfortunately sleeping was almost impossible as we were right near a bogey and it was noisy all night long. Clunk clunk bang knock knock it was terrible, and getting close to Melbourne we were absolutely thrown all over the place. We got first class on the way home and actually slept from Melbourne to about Albury and then to about Goulburn. My children took the trip recently to see the tennis with their grandmother in summer and there was no ac working in their carriage.
As a person from the UK very familiar with the InterCity 125 (HST) and comparing the two different trains, I think the economy seats actually look very good and I think the legroom is more generous than would be found on airline style seating in an InterCiry 125 although most seats on the InterCity 125 were bays of 4 around a full size table. The idea of seats rotating to face the direction of travel does not exist in the UK. Although personally I prefer a seat facing the direction of travel there are many people who prefer travelling with their back to the direction of travel. 1st class though is another matter. 2 X 2 seating is unacceptable in 1st class on a long distance train. 1st class seating on the InterCity 125 was always 2 X 1, usually in a bay of 2 or 4 again around a full size table. However, in the UK, the InterCity 125 was not used on overnight services and average journey times much shorter with even the very longest journey, such as London - Aberdeen, being shorter than this. One interesting question though is what market sector does this train cater to in respect of passengers making the through journey from Sydney to Melbourne? I can't see very many business travellers being interested in spending almost 11 hours trying to sleep in one of those seats so I can only conclude that this service caters mainly to leisure travellers looking to travel at relatively low cost. This train is also shorter than the InterCity 125. A typical InterCity 125 unit would have had 8 seating coaches, 2 1st Class, 5 2nd class and a combined buffer car/kitchen and 1st class seating car, the seats in this coach, until the late 1990's, often being used as a full service restaurant car with table linen, real china and chef cooked meals served silver service style by highly trained stewards, the sort of restaurant car found in Australia on trains such as the Indian Pacific but more impressive due to the silver service. The sleeping car may be a good product and could be attractive to business travellers, especially if a high fare could be weighed against the cost of an air ticket and a night in a hotel. However, all the sleeping compartments are 2 berth requiring the passenger to either pay for both berths or share with a stranger, which these days is much less acceptable than in the past. In the UK 1st class sleeping compartments have always been single berth (2nd class are 2 berth) which would be much more attractive to the business traveller. However, the apparent need to book long in advance due to the small number of sleeping compartments would be a problem. Based on what I have seen in other videos, the buffet car seems OK. I have noticed that sandwiches on Australian trains seem to be made using white bread (which I like) and passengers are not forced to eat brown bread sandwiches as in the UK. I also like the idea of the hot pies. Those microwave meals are adequate I suppose but do not impress in any way.
The Sydney-Melbourne journey isn't a non stop journey as it stops at the major regional centres along the route. Also there are regional bus services that connect from outlining towns with the XPT at the major stops along the way. Before COVID, most passengers would be backpackers, pensioners and other low economic people who would use the service and would use the part of the route with very few passengers doing the whole journey. Hence why there is an economy class and only one sleeper compartment. Since COVID, a surprisingly more people are doing the whole route hence why the train is packed. Before the Sydney-Melbourne XPT service, the route was serviced by a train called the Southern Aurora which would was a traditional night time service with proper sleeper cabins, restaurent etc. That service ceased I think in 1993 and was replaced by the XPT service. The XPT was originally designed for short regional services but because the Southern Aurora was losing patronage to the airlines, the XPT Sydney-Albury service was extended to Melbourne and the SA ended. The SA carriages still exist and a private company uses them as a tourist train. The biggest problem with the Sydney-Melbourne XPT is not the train itself, but the train line that it runs on. For a start the line is not dual track all along the route and the route has a lot of freight movement as Sydney and Melbourne are our two largest cities. Plus there is always seem to be track work being carried out. The main differences between the XPT and the HST is that the XPT has extra cooling for the engines and is speed limited to 160km/h. The reason for that is that the 3 routes that the XPT operate on all have steep climbs. In fact the Sydney=Melbourne XPT on its return journey from Melbourne has to go through a spiral at Bethungra.
@@tomnewham1269 The Sydney - Melbourne XPT stops BRIEFLY at the various stations. Usually just enough time to let passengers board/alight and maybe stretch their legs (though that is met with impatience). There isn't enough time to get food elsewhere. Yes to what you said re tracks. Incremental improvements would be cheaper than trying to go straight to HST and would at least speed things up a bit in the meantime. At one stage a few years ago, the condition of one section near Goulburn was so bad that drivers refused to travel faster than 10-15km/h. Thankfully i was fixed and is fine now.
@@Boababa-fn3mr How so? The XPTs had sleepers added, the original batch of 2-car VLocitys had a middle carriage added. It's not unheard of to add carriages later.
I just watched a gentleman take a 250 km trip on a Chinese fast train travelling around 350 km cruise speed , very nice seats that electrically motor down in to a 6 foot 6 sleeping position, and it was in sort of a cubicle with just about everything you need , it was fantastic. It makes our trains look like horse and cart days . And sadly , our trains look like they will stay that way.
Yeah, I agree with much of what you say. You could have a really competitive service with just some minor improvements to the existing line, reliability, and rolling stock that makes sense for the service. High-speed rail would be great, but that's a massive investment that would take at least 10-20 years to get going. The other improvements could be done in the short to medium term at much lower costs.
Seems like a very confused service which doesn't really know what it wants to achieve. More sleeper cabins would be highly beneficial for the longest trips. A late night service/Early morning service in the smaller towns on route is helpful and normal seats can probably work for that, though modernisation would definitely be good. A half way option, perhaps something like an a business class plane seat, ideally flatbed style, could be provided in some carriages too for those not travelling the full route but who would still benefit from a bit of sleep or just for those on a tighter budget but who don't want to spend 11 hours in a standard seat.
The new fleet you showed pictures of aren't replacing the XPT's - they are replacing the existing V-sets for the intercity routes from Central such as Newcastle, Blue Mountains and Wollongongs. They're not going to Melbourne.
Ah no! They look very similar to the D-sets which I think you are talking about. They are in fact different! On the inside however, they won't be unfortunately. They'll have the comfort of a prison cell with a park bench for a seat most likely.
No those are the D-sets which are similar looking but not the same trains. What i showed is the new CAF civity or New South Wales R set. Have a look here, they will be replacing the XPT's Xplorer and Endeavour trains so they will be going to places like Dubbo and Melbourne en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_R_set
“It has one sleeper, which often sells out months in advance.” Government bureaucrat: “Better not add more. We might need to run more trains. Here’s an idea. Let’s get rid of it, and then it’s problem solved for everyone.”
Hello World 😊. Let this experience herein be your introduction to travel in Australia. Whether it be on a train, or via a plane, or on a bus, Australian travel providers are totally about themselves and of the attitude of their service and staff. Australian travel providers would not last 5 minutes in an international market. We are a big island so basically they know they all have the market. Expect nothing when you pay for your travel, no smile etc, then you won't be disappointed. If you do score any sort of recognition for parting with your money then consider yourself blessed 😊🙏
You’re probably lucky that you didn’t get the sleeper car. I did the overnight trip from Brisbane to Sydney (13 hours) and it was an ORDEAL. The sleeper car was at the front of the train… right behind the diesel locomotive. I hope there was something wrong, because the cabin was basically filled with diesel fumes the entire time :/ Doesn’t look like it’s changed much in the time since.
If NSW is going to stop running the sleeper entirely I wonder if V/Line (the Victorian operator) might step up, given the demand is so obviously there. They’re building a standard gauge variant of their VLocity DMU for the service to Albury - surely it would be possible to add a sleeper variant.
@@davidblowe9096 yeah terrible design that was forced on the Albury line. They cant even have more than 6 cars (two 3 cars hooked together) conductor can only operate one car set at time. The buffet is only open on one carset at a time (when it is working... number of time there is no buffet due to issues on a new trainset is ridiculous). No way they can do a sleeper variant. Seats facing backwards is terrible (I get motion sick in those).
@@Gnrnrvids by Tallarook I’m over it, Avinel it’s unbearable and some people want these on inter capital services 🤦🏼♂️ They could have updated rolling stock to 21st century standards and given the N’s an overhaul.
@@Gnrnrvids I was told they will only run a single 3 car set on the Warrnambool line, if that’s the case then I expect it will be regular standing room only from Colac.
I rode this train ONCE and would never do it again.. There was light rain so ofcourse the train speed was reduced to 60kmh…. The train was completely full with no spare seats at all. I figured the best I can do is sleep the day away so I put my headphones in and closed my eyes. About half hour into the trip I got a tap on my arm from the man in the seat next to me and he said “Do you know about Jesus?” ….
So as someone who worked on these trains I can tell you why this happened the way it did. The XPT's weren't designed to be an overnight serive, they where designed to do regional nsw runs. Theres been a push from staff for years to get these upgraded but theres no political will. The long journey isnt even the biggest problem, the lack of wifi and sleeping accomodation and the poor track condition from albury to campbelltown is attrocious. The new regional trains wont match this comfort and wont have sleepers though there is a big push to have them brought back.
The track south of Albury has apparently been finally fixed now. It was indeed terrible, so much so that most who could drove to Seymour and caught the broad gauge service to Melbourne from there. It’s said that the conversion to standard gauge, which involved slipping in new sleepers/ties using the same rails and ballast, left the track prone to water damage.
@francisernens1795 that section has been like that since it was built even on the broad gauge it was always susceptible to mud holes. The main from Albury to Melbourne for the last 4 years has been in better condition then the nsw part. Vic Labor gov invested in it to bring it up to quality for their velocity services.
@@soph_the_great_Aus The Vlocity trains are so inappropriate for the run between Melbourne to Albury. they were designed for Melbourne to Geelong or Melbourne to Bendigo for which they are excellent,, one car set run frequently. Albury they have to run two cars sets and not frequently.
@Gnrnrvids what makes them inappropriate exactly? It's a 3.5hr run 4 at Max. I do agree that making them 2 x 3car sets was dumb and they should have both buffets open
I'm very surprised. The train should have at least 3 sleepers and 2 sitting, that's 11 hours after all. And the idea to get rid of the sleepers altogether is daft. Plus 80 km per hour in the XXI century is a joke. Weird business decision process.
Speed is not important for night trains. It's a mistake people often make when talking about night trains. What counts for night trains is the efficiency of travel time i.e. You board at night at your origin, you get to sleep, and then wake up at your destination, without a) having to fly and pay for a night at a hotel or b) get up at a ridiculous time early morning to get out to an airport for an early flight. But yes, there should be at least 3 sleeper carriages. And probs a couple of couchettes like those that are popular in Europe allowing a lie-flat sleeping experience but at a more affordable rate.
@@yasukiwi What are you even on about ? Speed isn't important? LOL! This isn't just a "night train", this train runs during the day too and only has a tiny handful of beds. The rest of the train sit in a seat, no one is getting proper sleep in a seat, do you really think this is a replacement for a hotel!? LOL.
It is the slowing down, stopping and then getting back up to speed that screws the average. The trains run at around 130km/h once going. Kill the stops ion between and the average will come up nicely, but the people at those stops dont really have other alternatives aside from the car. there is no flights out in the regions bar Albury and Albury to Sydney return is around $500-$800. no flights to Melbourne from Albury.
The good news is that the current NSW Labor government is considering keeping night trains on, so they might order a new sleeper train in future. But once again, they should have ordered sleepers in the first place. Those trains have been at capacity for years now, and they've just decided not to capitalise on the new demand for rail?
I dont get why they want to get rid of sleeper trains with the new fleet. With High speed rail so expensive to build, I think we should really look at creating a seperate train that serves as a sleeper service. This would be very convient competition against the airlines. What I mean is although 11 hours is long between sydney and melbourne, its perfect for overnight runs where you have dinner in sydney, board the train, go to sleep and wake up and have breakfast on the train just as you pull into melbourne nice and refreshed for the morning. Some business travellers would probably like this option as it means you dont have to get up ridiculously early for a flight and sleeper trains can come with daily essentials and utilities to allow you to be ready when you arrive into your destination. If the government is too reluctant to invest in high speed rail, then they should at least invest into decent sleeper trains between Sydney and Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and Melbourne and Adelaide. When I mean sleeper trains, I do not mean the touristy ones like the ghan, but one that more serves locals traveling intercity, business travelers and that. Tourists can also use it too. Another thing we need to is for the sleeper services to have low ticket prices. I also think to promote more competition in australias skies, I think we should grant two international airlines contracts to operate flights on the golden triangle under open skies agreements. 2 Highest bidding airlines get 21 flights a week (if evened out, that would be one flight a day on mel-syd, one flight a day on mel - bne and one flight a day on syd - bne for that airline. if we add the other airline, this could create up to 42 extra flights a week, challenging the qantas/jetstar and virgin australia monopoly, whilst not posing any threat to our airlines, which still operate more flights and sell more seats.
@@electro_sykes I caught the Southern Aurora back in the 70's , a fully sleeper train with dining and lounge cars. Lovely train and did the meal on the train before heading to my sleeper for the night. But sleep? NO! Noisy from the undergear and rough riding . Night trains were still popular then as the airline industry was nothing compared to today and the Hume Highway was a poor and unsafe, especially at night. I believe most XPT passengers are using subsidised fares so if you want a new modern sleeper service then much higher fares will have to be charged to make it viable.
Lei China build high speed train in here Australia. Look what they did for Indonesia high speed train , awesome ! Cost effective. No delay of project. 300+ speed. Great value. Beneficial to everyone.
It's a joke that was there will be no Sleeper carriages on new XPTs. They need a bloody good reason why there is not. The current Sleepers are ok. Bed is comfortable. But cabins definitely needed better layout. They don't need a combined toilet & shower for every 2 Cabins. They need separate shower & toilet at each end of Carriage. So cabins can be bigger. On return trip from Albury my seat was facing backwards. Not a fan of that.
I used to catch this train every couple of months when I was a kid. This was before the airlines started making this space more competitive. I find it so hard to believe the train is basically the same today as it was 25 years ago. Get it together fam, Australia needs a quality East Coast rail service
yeah they are for the cleaner's vaccuums to plug into. Use with caution as the power can be very dirty (spikes and poor regulation) or even disabled if they remember to do so.
I went on this train recently which was my first mistake and my second was forking out extra for first class which had nothing first class about it and was what I’d expect for economy and I’ve generally had better flights on planes in economy. It was a long and horrendous journey that I swore I would never do again.
"All seats rotate to face direction of travel" a HUGE advantge of older trains. Sadly that fearture appears to be long forgotten when new trains are built. BTW, one challege for the XPT locos was heat in Australia and is part of reason for lower max speed (as well as no point going the extra effort since no tracks support higher speeds).
i went on this though i was in a sleeper cabin. Not going to lie, I absolutely loved it. The sleeper cabin is a huge must. it was spacious and comfortable. I'd prefer if they kept this train or put sleeper cabins on the new one.
![Megan Thee Stallion - Bigger In Texas [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QxTkZTLWdo4/mqdefault.jpg)
We really need a better service. This is expensive, slow, and terrible quality for a developed country. Some people say there is no demand for them here but every single XPT I have seen over the past year has been almost full. There definetly is a desire for better long distance rail, just no political will.
Well, like I said, airlines in Australia are huge lobbyists. Their claim is that they will never make stations that "serve a few people".
@@Charlizziethe irony is that the airlines would be the biggest beneficiaries of HSR as they can run more profitable long haul flights and eliminate the short haul flights
I dont get why they want to get rid of sleeper trains with the new fleet. With High speed rail so expensive to build, I think we should really look at creating a seperate train that serves as a sleeper service. This would be very convient competition against the airlines. What I mean is although 11 hours is long between sydney and melbourne, its perfect for overnight runs where you have dinner in sydney, board the train, go to sleep and wake up and have breakfast on the train just as you pull into melbourne nice and refreshed for the morning. Some business travellers would probably like this option as it means you dont have to get up ridiculously early for a flight and sleeper trains can come with daily essentials and utilities to allow you to be ready when you arrive into your destination. If the government is too reluctant to invest in high speed rail, then they should at least invest into decent sleeper trains between Sydney and Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and Melbourne and Adelaide. When I mean sleeper trains, I do not mean the touristy ones like the ghan, but one that more serves locals traveling intercity, business travelers and that. Tourists can also use it too. Another thing we need to is for the sleeper services to have low ticket prices.
They need to increase the speed I think the max speed is 160/100mph. It should be faster. I think they had a lot of trouble building it on the Victorian side
It’s a reasonable price
Your story shows the power the airlines have over the politicians and rail management improving rail systems in Australia
No, it's the market. Who choses to spend hundreds of dollars to travel for 10 hours or more uncomfortably, when a hour odd plane ride costs under 150
@@jamesaustralian9829 For the plane ride, don't forget the hours taken getting to and from the airport and then the time spent getting checked in and through security. Flying is currently quicker overall but a high speed train would be faster and more convenient.
@@jamesaustralian9829 melb-sydney flights are often much more than 150. Plus you need to add 50 dollars at each end for taxi/uber fares, plus travel time to the airport, waiting around for 1 or 2 hours before the flight leaves, lost luggage, etc. And the train is full despite how slow it is. People don't enjoy flying between sydney and melbourne, they do it because it's the least crappy option.
@@jamesaustralian9829how much is air travel being effectively subsidised by not paying the full environmental cost of all that carbon, noise pollution…?
Unfortunately, the plane ticket is not under $150 when booking 2 days in advance. European night trains can compete against $20 flights, so I see no reason why this shouldn't be possible in Australia. There is a market for people who want to avoid the airport, travel from city center to city center without all the airport hassle, and effectively teleport to their destination overnight.
I think it is absolutely stupid there will be no sleeping carriages on the replacement XPT. I remember travelling to Melbourne on the Southern Aurora, that was glorious train travel. Sitting at a table with a white table cloth eating dinner as you pull out of Central station.
Okay, the best 😘 💕 and sleep I ever had was on a Sydney to Melbourne sleeper (I’m being polite here), but I will always remember those 4 stations, 5 tunnels and 6 viaducts … okay, I only remember the 😘 💕. But I do remember going to sleep 💤 with a smile 😊 on my face, to the gentle clickety clack sound of the train. And then waking in the morning to 😘 💕, and then showering 🚿 to more 😘 💕.
My partner was impressed by all of this … I mean the overnight train 🚆 service.
Most people, if they can afford it, want to arrive overnight feeling well-rested … something that’s hard to do in an upright 💺.
You are quite correct. Years ago, when I was in management, i would get on board the train in Melbourne, and have a pleasant evening meal. Then to bed. Before arriving in Sydney, I would shower and enjoy a cooked breakfast. Then off at Central and straight into my meeting in Sydney.By far the best way to travel in those circumstances.
Right? If only more people could experience this, i think it would be really popular on this corridor.
I’ve done it a few times, even with the sleeper carriage the constant movement and rocking of the train means you never truly get a good night sleep and you share a room with a stranger (except for the one time I was lucky and my room partner didn’t show)
It’s an experience and I’m glad I did it but I wouldn’t do it again
Yes, I remember the Southern Aurora. A train much older than the XPT (I think it dated to the 1950s) yet it provided a much more pleasant trip.
@@davidpurdue6684 I actually found the rocking motion and the sound of the train on the tracks extremely relaxing ! Climbing up to the top bunk was part of the fun , and I remember the blue night light which enhanced the setting . This experience perhaps could only be surpassed by sleeping in a beachfront cabin on the Central Coast , and being lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves breaking on the beach ! ( However , many years later I dreamt that I was in one of these cabins and the waves were crashing against the windows , but since no damage was done , it wasn't really a nightmare .
"New South Wales is pretty much destroying their entire long-distance regional network and the overnight train service for the sake of a unified fleet" - couldn't have said it better. It's even worse when you realise the XPT was originally only designed for 3-8 hour trips (Canberra, Albury, Armidale, Dubbo etc) in a time when we had (for the time) incredibly luxurious (but slow) loco-hauled interstate trains. The XPTs took over when the railways were split up and apart from a couple of shunters all locos were sold off to freight operators.
And the XPTs originally did NOT have sleeping cabins. Passenger dissatisfaction led to their introduction.
They didn't have much choice when the spirit and southern were cancelled.
@@DaleDix Could have, I don't know, not cancelled the spirit and southern aroura in the first place.
@@mt-mg7ttreally?
@@stepha5926 Yes, really.
See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_XPT
Someone at NSW really thought it was a good idea to remove beds on their new night trains. Like, what kinda sense does that make?
They could at least do like China with airline style lie-flat suites, which China Railways have in their overnight service multiple units.
@@johannessamuelsson6578DAMN
@@johannessamuelsson6578 fully agree ... especially since we already have a train like that in Queensland with that option (Google Queensland Tilt Train).
It makes sense that the replacement trains were the cheapest available option, ordered by a conservative government whose members have never taken public transport in their lives.
This is the same government (not the current one in NSW) that ordered ferries that can't handle normal conditions on the Manly run, and have had a litany of mechanical and quality problems when used elsewhere on the Harbour.
@@johannessamuelsson6578 You don't even have to go to China for those. Queensland Rail have the railbeds on the Brisbane-Cairns and v.v service. And agree. Could have put a couple of carriages of these as part of the new train consists. But of course they just couldn't be faffed. "It's just too hard" seems to quite a common go to when it comes to night trains for many operators. Even JR East in Japan just cancelled all their night trains in 2015 when the rolling stock got old then just used the excuse of there's shinkansens so we don't need night trains anymore, which is def not the case, and their night trains were still popular and well-booked even at the time of the services being xxld.
The seats in the new trains look like they will be as soft as a wooden bench. Lovely.
The NSW Govt is completely incapable of knowing how to run intercity trains. Completely agree with everything you said. The new trains not having sleeper carriages when demand is always so high is just crazy.
Ha, try going to SA or Qld if you think NSW has crap trains...
@@jamesaustralian9829 At least Qld has wifi on their trains!
You're wrong about being incapable. Very deliberate, I assume. Established business- airlines, would be responsible. I'm not too knowledgeable on it but Syd to Melb is the most frequent flight path in the world? And nsw govt love bending over for business.
They are incapable of running anything.
I agree BUT don't just hit the NSW Govt. It's an Oz wide issue. All Governments! Would love to see a 420kph service Sydney/Melbourne to Perth and everywhere else for that matter...
Thanks for an honest review of our very poor interstate rail travel services. Everything is done on the cheap, from the seating to the food. It’s incredibly bad. Hard to believe that the replacement for the XPT looks like it will be an even worse offering. Only here in Australia do we do things this half-arsed.
You haven't seen my country of Canada.
@@haweater1555 Fair enough 😊
Fully agree with all your comments Simon. The XPT was a train built in the 80s (based on the British HST). It runs on rails built for steam trains over a hundred years ago - hence the slow speed. I am not sure if its Spanish-built replacement will be much of an improvement - considering there will be no sleeper car - as you correctly point out on a very popular route. This needs a Very Fast Train replacement or at the very least a tilt train to improve the travel time. Such a shame as the potential is there to make this a world-class train experience.
Unless you build a whole new line or make the track 4 wide it maybe difficult to significantly up the speed. The are bound to be lots of standard speed local and freight trains making it difficult to find a high speed path between cities.
@@ATH_Berkshireit's not that you don't have the room for it in Oz 🤷🤔
@@ATH_Berkshirejust abandon it and build new HSR lines
@@ATH_Berkshire trust me there aren't local trains anywhere except for syd and melb on this route. As for freight trains, chuck them in a siding. Boom fixed.
@@ATH_BerkshireAustralia needs to build infrastructure for now not try to keep utilizing old infrastructure unfit for today. There’s plenty of room. Upgrade!
Decades behind other countries. I would happily do the Mel / Syd route all the time by train instead of plane if we had fast and comfortable European style options.
As long asour politicians are in the service of Qantas and their major shareholders that is never going to happen.
You have to share a room with a stranger also a shower and toilet. They used to run a train with proper sleeper cars until 1993 and was replaced by the XPT, the Sydney/ Melbourne Express was the two overnight trains combined Spirit of Progress and Southern Aurora
For some reason Australia has no idea how to attract tourists by providing decent trains. Still living in the 70s
In the 1970's it did provide decent trains!
Oh...have a look at the waiting list for trains like the privately operated tourist trains...the Ghan, Kuranda Scenic, Indian Pacific, Great southern, etc.
The train to Melbourne from Sydney was so much better in the 70 and 80s..... from memory, I think there were 2 sleeper carriages, not one..
Did we still have the break of gauge between Sydney and broad gauge back then?
I really have no idea where we were travelling but I have childhood memories from the 70’s of travelling on sleeper trains, going up and down to the dining car, and having to call the porter to use his key to open the top locker, which was a small fold down bed where a child (me) could sleep
I dont get why they want to get rid of sleeper trains with the new fleet. With High speed rail so expensive to build, I think we should really look at creating a seperate train that serves as a sleeper service. This would be very convient competition against the airlines. What I mean is although 11 hours is long between sydney and melbourne, its perfect for overnight runs where you have dinner in sydney, board the train, go to sleep and wake up and have breakfast on the train just as you pull into melbourne nice and refreshed for the morning. Some business travellers would probably like this option as it means you dont have to get up ridiculously early for a flight and sleeper trains can come with daily essentials and utilities to allow you to be ready when you arrive into your destination. If the government is too reluctant to invest in high speed rail, then they should at least invest into decent sleeper trains between Sydney and Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and Melbourne and Adelaide. When I mean sleeper trains, I do not mean the touristy ones like the ghan, but one that more serves locals traveling intercity, business travelers and that. Tourists can also use it too. Another thing we need to is for the sleeper services to have low ticket prices.
We used to have such a train - the Southern Aurora.
>Some business travellers would probably like this option
Business travellers don't really get to pick how they get there. Corporate negotiates a cheap option and that's how they get there. And generally, corporate picks the fastest (for value) option because time is money.
There seems to be a market here for an Open Access operation of a small amount of stock of a specific kind.
Competition against the airlines. Halarious. What dickhead pays hundreds of dollars to travel for 10 hours plus, when you can pay 120 or less and be there within an hour and a half ✈️
I travel for business and I purposefully book the sleeper in advance, and its exactly as you described. I am able to have dinner in Sydney, sleep on train, wake up and get ready for work and arrive in Melbourne refreshed (vice versa). Sometimes I even do a day trip, with the train capping both days. I am not exhausted compared to plane travel.
The new trains are a disappointment and should reconsider investing in sleeper cars and better seats for long distance travel.
I take this train regularly but I'm starting to reassess the situation. If the train runs, even if it is a little late I still enjoy the ride. The seats are comfortable, big windows and there is plenty of space to do a little work (pity there is no power points), read, listen to my pod casts etc. I always take it during the day as it is too difficult to get a sleeper as you've pointed out. I can't stand sitting up all night. However, I'm describing it as a train service and that seems misleading. I'm so regularly bumped off the train on to a bus that I now refer to it as a bus service with occasional train replacements. Track work, blockage from other trains, someone walks on to the track etc. etc. It is amazing how many people still catch it. It is always near full every time I'm on it. BTW I'm impressed that it was only 35 minutes late. That is very good for the XPT.
Is there a worse rail service between two major cities in the rest of the world? About every 10 years there is talk of a very fast train but they just need an NSB (not so bad) service. Yes, sleepers, yes 2-3 hours faster, yes a couple of power points. We are not asking for the world here. I gather the airlines just do not want it.
I believe the sleeper cabins have power points
@@DeSilver215 I didn't know that. If they do, those outlets are effectively unavailable to other passengers.
@mt-mg7tt the sleeper cabins are converted to sit up first class cabins during the day. The outlets will be available to people who are in those cabins.
@mt-mg7tt these trains are 40+ years old. They didn't think everyone would require power sockets. I guess these days we all demand what use to be only available to the first class passengers. But xpt could easily just install a few 2kwh LFP power banks (25kg each in each carriage)
@@DeSilver215 Indeed, as I said. It's our modern obsession with mobile (cell) phones and computers that makes us obsess about power outlets. Yes, a battery supply could ensure a clean AC power supply with the right equipment. But I imagine better filtering etc could also be applied to a diesel generator (or whatever they use), and it often is. There are many such portable units.
I remember the good old days when I travelled to Melbourne and Brisbane for business in the 80s on proper sleepers, with restaurant and lounge cars, with my car on the back of the train. Left Central late arvo and arrived about 7am. Got to go to Japan or Europe for decent train journeys these days.
Not true, there's the Indian Pacific (Sydney to Perth) & The Ghan (Adelaide to Darwin). It's a luxury train journey through the company Journey Beyond which you can afford for sure.
A long distance train service worse than Amtrak and Via, that’s impressive
Define worse. At least our services usually run on time.
@@johnlang4198 not on the South (Sydney to Melbourne) they don't
I've been catching the XPT between Melbourne and Sydney regularly over the last 30 years, and I have only been late twice. That's pretty reliable.
, mener Du service inde i toget, så som at spise og drikke ved borde i restauranten.
For automat mad kan være ret ensformig, tør eller kedelig.
Kiosk mad er ikke hyggelig og sund mad, da prisen bestemmer indhold.
Fastfood 😼
@@johnlang4198I’ve travelled on Via rail in Canada. Far superior than this rubbish.
"So, for entertainment, we can instead go and check out the toilets..." :D
I was fortunate enough to travel to Sydney from Melbourne several times as a kid in the 70s on the Southern Aurora luxury train. Everything is on the cheap now!
If you think the SA was a "luxury" train you should look up the luxurious appointments of the Vctorian built 1937 Spirit of Progress.
@@flamingfrancis I'm fully aware of the Spirit. By the 70s that was the earlier train to Sydney. But by then it was second fiddle and tired.
Those new trains are the same train model they use here in the Netherlands as a ''sprinter'', which are used for local/regional journeys. Its not even an intercity or anything close to this
As someone who lives in Wagga, i find the XPT perfect for its designed purpose. Its a fantastic services that allows us regional towns to connect with much larger cities. The twice a day service is crucial for people living in regional towns. In saying that I am looking forward to the upgrade
It's great as a regional train, but terrible for a long-distance overnight train. They really should have gotten a good train to service the regional towns and a proper sleeper for the long trip, instead of this cost-cutting one size fits all nonsense
I couldn't agree more with you. The Sydney Melb (and for that matter Brisbane) should be serviced by quality overnight trains. It cannot be denied that the patronage is not there, as you pointed out it was booked out except for economy.
I’m kinda shocked at the decision to remove any and all beds. This will almost certainly kill the services popularity and will only be used by those that absolutely need to take it. They should move more towards a traditional night train setup where most carriages are sleeper cars and not regular coaches, instead of the opposite way.
Of note is that when the XPT first started doing Sydney - Melbourne and Sydney - Brisbane overnight services, there were no sleeping cars. These came many years later.
My XPT experience is all heading in the opposite direction, save for one trip in 2020 precisely a week before the world caved in which was terminated early at Albury with bus replacement taking me the remainder.
I try these days under the guise of saving money to book from Albury, getting a V-Line (Victoria Regional Train) from Melbourne to Albury which is capped at a $10 fare. It leaves an hour prior to the XPT but arrives about 2 hours prior allowing for a walk to McDonald's and back.
Meals are generally $11, about what you'd see in a supermarket easy dinner section.
this sounded like a great idea, but I just checked, and the Syd-Mel run (Economy) is $78.16, and Syd-Albury is $68 something. Add the $10 for Albury-Mel, and hey presto, same price... but I liked the idea so much, I *did* go check it out, in case it really was a great deal...
Second Class seat for an 11 hour overnight journey? At this point, even I - who principally refuses to fly apart from intercontinental - would have bought a plane ticket. Respect for taking on that challenge :D
Most people do fly unless travelling between intermediate points with no convenient or cheap flights
Yes, air tickets are actually no way cheaper than train because budget airlines incl only 7kgs baggages then SkyBus in Melbourne is around AUD23.9 plus Syd train for both Domestic & International have $17.34 surcharge. The staff of XPT are too busy to care how heavy is each baggage and liquid is just as many as you like. Also, Goulburn is the beginning of Opal Network, if whoever needs to take train from Central, save $14 to cut the trip shorter n buy a meal in the highland city.
I dont get to go to Australia often, gotta do what you gotta do to get a review in.
@@yesbeautyfly Rex typically was cheaper or the same price as taking the XPT (if you were booking last minute and/or simply didn't want to endure 11 hours in a seat and booked sleeper) and included 23kg checked baggage with their cheapest fares. But, since Rex has gone into administration & are no longer flying the 737 routes, Virgin & Jetstar are the only "budget" options now, and yep, they're not actually any cheaper - but they don't take 11 hours, so unless they're hundreds of dollars more (which they typically aren't), they're still a better option unfortunately.
@@biosparkles9442
I have never flown this route when added up all the side costs, unless air ticket is $30 because I cut it short to Goulburn. Opal Cap is wonderful. Goulburn-->Campbelltown/Central/Wollongong/Newcastle/Blue Mountains are the same max price, still cheaper than Ferry from Circular Quay to Parramatta.
Crossed into Victoria, not NSW.
The sleeper on the XPT was the worst experience of my life. Firstly they had a wheel flat so the faster the train went the worse the hammering became. I can't really explain how bad it was. Like it was about 100db with the hammering vibrating all the fixtures making everything vibrate including the doors. Then there was this squeaking suspension bush. The squeaking became a scream at speed and was even loud in the next carriage.
The heater was stuck on full and the light switch was broken so you couldn't turn off the light - the whole thing was shit. The mattress was really thin too. Put together the heat, the wheel flat, the screaming suspension bush and the interior light on all night and that gives one an idea of the hellishness of the sleeper. It was like gaol cell with the guard torturing the inmate.
I could not believe anyone could think that's acceptable. The reason things like this occur is because no could care less - that's our XPT a service that wouldn't be acceptable in India. If you told someone in authority they'd tell you, you're exaggerating.
You can't get through to anyone and that's why it's like this.
Such a shame; it could be a great service with a minor investment in a proper train and small upgrades to the existing line.
It's not going to make the airline donors happy if they have a great train service.
On behalf of Australia I’d like to apologise for our railways. Years of government cost cutting and neoliberalism have resulted in railways coming out second to our obsession with road transport. I’m impressed you braved Cattle Class on the XPT. I can’t believe the XPT’s are being replaced with rolling stock that doesn’t incorporate sleeping cars. Have these idiots looked at the size of Australia!
Perhaps if we properly taxed our sovereign resources (e.g. gas), we could afford a better rail system. Yet the average Australian seems quite happy to hand over their resources to foreign entities for a song.
Don't underestimate Quantas' ability to bribe the government....oh sorry, I meant 'lobby' the government.
@@andrewthomas695 brother, PREACH.
@@andrewthomas695Tax the rich foreign corporations? That’s too woke!
Honestly as a fellow Australian Its baffling to me that proper high speed rail is still not a thing , its literally one of the best suited countries for this in the world ! not that many mountain ranges to worry tunneling through , seismic activity is not really a concern , snow and ice is pretty much a non issue and there definitely is enough demand for it not to mention that the landscapes are well worth taking a train instead of a plane to take in !
Just a slight correction for your otherwise excellent video. The 1st Class Seats do have more leg room, but they also recline more. 40 degrees compared to 28 on the economy seats.
Ah must have missed that in my research. Thanks!
Wagga Wagga has got to be the coolest name
Nah fam the Aussies literally dedicated a station after Dwayne Johnson after Wagga Wagga 😂
don't forget ✨yass ✨
I'd say it's The Rock
Pronounced WOG-uh WOG-uh, although mostly people just say one WOG-uh.
It means place of many crows lol
I think you are being to gracious in your assessment of the Melb / Sydney train service. I have taken the XPT train from Melbourne / Sydney and return twice now! And I can’t ever imagine using this service again. The train itself is far too slow and, in this day and age, it’s really hard to believe it has no power points or wifi! It really is an outdated, slow, even antiquated (embarrassing) train service in no way comparable to train services overseas. I can’t help thinking that our Australian airline services have played a big part in making sure they have no competition and that these train services have never been updated and never modernised! Thank you for the video!
QLD electrified Brisbane to Rockhampton Line in last century & that electric tilt train still keeps the unbreakable 210km/hour in Australia, on narrow gauge tracks.
The Tilt Train actually only has a maximum service speed of 160 km/h, which is the same as the NSW XPT and Victorian VLocity. It reached 210 km/h during testing while empty on a specially prepared section of track. It might be able to hit 180 km/h during fully loaded service if the driver has the opportunity to floor it.
Having said that the Tilt Trains are still by far the best long-distance trains in Australia, they're the only trains that are actually designed to be comfortable for 8-hour trips. First class on the Diesel Tilt Train on the Brisbane-Cairns run was one of the first trains to build each seat as a dedicated lie-flat sleeping pod.
Brisbane to Rockhampton is longer than than Sydney to Albury & Melbourne to Albury is around half of it.
QLD has much less people than NSW or VIC but still had done it in last century.
Electric trains have so much benefits over diesel trains, such as but not limited to:
1: Neither emission nor air pollution
2: Low maintenance costs due to no combustion engines.
3: Each carriage has its own motor so elongation to infinity is possible in theory.
4: High energy efficient.
5: Regenerative braking to recharge back the grid.
@@yesbeautyfly Brisbane to Rockhampton is only around 630 kms. Sydney to Melbourne is nearer to 900 kms. Queensland upgraded the line to Rockhampton as part of a Bicentennial Project. The old line twisted and turned like crazy!
@@tobys_transport_videos
QLD did it alone. Sydney to Albury is shorter than Brisbane to Rockhampton, then the remaining part for VIC is less than half of either above & importantly VIC is the slowest Australian State of East Coast in terms of electrification but force new residential dwellings to electrify. Clearly is triple standard due to the unsafe air quality of Southern Cross Station caused by diesel engines.
Hi. Just found your vid of Sydney to Melbourne in my feed & have now subscribed. Thankyou for your informative & well presented service. Easy to listen to & very clearly spoken. As one with severe hearing impairment I was thrilled with that. Will look forward to viewing more very soon. We'll done! Kudos to you. Jac
Thank you! Love reading comments like this. Best Simon
The track isn’t dual gauge except for some very short sections near Southern Cross. South of Seymour there are both broad and standard gauge tracks. North of Seymour on the Victorian side, the track has been converted to standard gauge. One of the two standard gauge tracks goes back to the 1960s and the other is quite recent. The faster of the two tracks has a 130km/h speed limit and the Victorian V/Locity DMUs on the Melbourne-Albury service do indeed sit on that for much of the journey.
There are lines good for 160km/h in Victoria with the 160km/h V/Locity rolling stock, but this isn’t one of them.
The original Southern Aurora sleeper with its 1960s rolling stock on the 1960s single standard gauge line was apparently a pretty good train at least into the 1980s. Southern Cross Station was named after it.
I remember taking that exact same train as a kid to go to summer camp in 1993. It looks like it hasn't changed even a bit since then!
thats because it probably has not !
Pro tip to not completely obliterate your phone’s battery with no power outlets. Put your phone in airplane mode. You can almost never get service anyway and constantly trying to connect to weak signals will kill the battery so fast.
One thing I don't see mentioned about these trains is the lack of mobile reception, the carriages themselves seem to block signals and I was barely able to get any usable speeds on 4g or 5g even in the middle of Sydney. I wish they had wifi or at least a 4g booster on board, even if it only worked around towns.
This has been the case for many years! I won't travel on the XPT anymore, but I have friends who have, and they said it was quite horrific. It can take 10 minutes to get a simple text message in or out, and Facebook messages are just as bad. This train is a Must to Avoid!
I really liked your report on the XPT. Sydney to Melbourne, 11 hours at an average speed of 86kph... We have just come back from Japan. The Shinkansen (Bullet Train) makes the XPT look embarrassing. Tokyo to Hiroshima, 860ks in just under 5 hours (our trip took 4h20m) averaging 290kph and occasionally hitting 310kph. Exactly on time all the way. A train timetable to envy. One departing every 10 to 20 mins. Not just one service, overnight. We also got a train from London to Edinburgh. Similar deal, 4 hours. Australia is so behind the rest of the world. In Victoria we can't even organise a train from the city to the airport.
Australia has so much potential for better railways, yet they continue to make strange decisions on how to run the systems they already have. I’m glad you enjoyed the video!
From Wagga to Sydney the train is in the great deviding ranges all the way to Sydney and the same all the way to Brisbane as well!
The train announcement as we were leaving Melbourne went:
"We do not provide wifi or phone charging points. This is a very old train that receives very little funding"
I find it interesting that the XPTs have separate bins for used needles in the toilets. Although they are quite unusual for trains, i think that they are a nice feature considering that it makes the work of the cleaning staff safer.
Because the only people who ride trains are boomers, Asian uni students and crackheads.
As a young fellow, I had to spend one week a month doing my vocational training in Sydney, (A trip from home of about 400km). I would leave home at 8pm, settled into a sleeper car at 9pm , woken by the conductor at 6am with a cup of tea. Arrive Central at 7am and head straight to the refreshment room for a delicious breakfast before heading to the training school. How I long for the old days.
8:49 they're only bi-mode on the NSW network. Not Qld or Victoria.
The line needs to be straightened. There's been multiple reports saying that the trip could be reduced to around 6 hours without a huge capital outlay. This would be a major improvement and make it competitive with flying when you factor in the pre & post flight time at the airport and the airport to-from CBD connections. You also need to be able to choose your seat rather than copping whatever their algorithm chooses for you. WiFi & power to every seat is a must (hopefully included in the new trains).
And air outlet in the seat would be nice, and mandating the closing of curtains overnight (like planes do) to remove the bright lights at stations and level crossings en route. The lights in the vestibules should be dimmed too - having bright lights in your eyes all night kills any chance of sleeping.
Food was good (tho ordering a hot meal if you get on at Campbelltown or Benalla was not offered cos they'd already done the announcement) and I didn't realise until they called for collection! They were clean and comfortable allowing for the comments above.
yeah they could get Canberra Sydney down to 3 hours by fixing the slow parts of the track. There is wifi and power in the new R Set, which will actually make it palatable to business users. If you have to go to somewhere for the week, you can afford to use the train and get work done on there uninterrupted vs the go to the lounge for an hour then board the plane, then do another hour of work on the plane than get off and get to destination, quicker but probably wasting more of your time.
Re dual-mode; can they not use the overhead wires in Melbourne? Sydney and Melbourne both use 1.5 KV. Brisbane uses 25KV so is probably impossible to use.
As someone who rides the XPT (albeit for a short trip) most days, I can tell you right now it's quite a busy service yet the train is pretty garbage and the crew knows. unfortunately the amount of delays and delays with the replacements has made it worse and often times we see passengers will catch a VLocity to ABX and then jump on the XPT into NSW to avoid both the ticket cost and the train quality of the TrainLink service
It is expensive and time-consuming for not much value. Compared to trains in Europe and Asia, this train belongs in a museum.
nar scrap metal
Agree it's embarrassing
The train itself is not slow. The track conditions and other train traffic is the reason the Sydney=Melbourne journey is slow. The new trains will not make the journey any quicker.
@@tomnewham1269 Yes, you are right. The track alignment is from the 19th Century. Winding up and down and charging customers a premium lol. That wont change anytime soon. It would not suprise me if journey times would increase, even with the new trains. Oh well, we can wait a few decades and see what happens 🤣
I once went on an xpt sometime last year, the train was delayed by 4 hours but we got free hot drinks and light snacks as compensation
I took the daytime train Melb to Syd but I was in the sleeper carriage in "seat" config. It was disgusting. Barely a surface that wasn't chipped, worn or dirty. The toilet was from the stone age (stainless steel age perhaps). And the ride comfort on the NSW section is terrible. Never again.
I used to catch the “ overlander” train from Adelaide to Melbourne regularly in the 70’s.
Usually with a parent or grand parent but occasionally by myself or with my cousins with the oldest one charged with looking after the younger ones.
It had a canteen and bar (I think, I was too young), and ice cold water dispensers with tiny paper cups.
The toilets emptied onto the track so you weren’t allowed to use them in the stations.
The beach seats swiveled too so we could spin one around and create our own little space to sleep in or play games etc.
the journey took about 12 hours I think, and stopped in towns along the way to pick up and drop off passengers and freight.
They had sleeper cabins too but we could never afford one of them.
I’m pretty sure the train ran both ways every night in those days.
Now everyone flies I guess.
Good times 😎
PS: apologies for the self indulgence
Sounds like fun memories, reminds me a lot of current night trains in the Balkans! But yeah in Australia the planes have taken over :P
A trick for tourists to save some budget is to take Southern Highland Line to Goulburn first which is the end of Opal Network. The savings would be more than enough to buy a roasted chicken plus some drinks from Woolworths nearby. Time gap can be used to walk around along the main street.
I've done exactly that!. Moss Vale is where the diesel train terminates. Sometimes it can be Goulburn.
@@Terrilliser2024OZ
South of Macarthur Station has not yet electrified. XPT, XPLORER & Endeavour are all diesel trains. Moss Vale has Rail Coach/Bus to Wollongong.
@@yesbeautyfly Yes, you've further explained what I already knew but didn't put into my reply. Good Job!
I'm a Melbourner that's been to Sydney many times by Air and Car, had no idea we even had a Train. And I love overnight train travel between cities overseas...shows how insane our collective consciousness is about train travel in Australia.
Still looks the same as when I travelled with my kids 30yrs ago to Sydney. I thought these trains would be upgraded with nice sleeping cabins.
Unfortunatly not :(
I have been on that train in both directions and found it quite nice.It is slow but you want that with a sleeping train otherwise you're not going to have enough time to sleep but there's a good argument for speeding up the daytime services.It also is always pretty full so could do with more carriages on it.
The XPT is a good train but is not used in accordance with its original HST design. It was never intended for >500 mile trips at ~50 mph. It was intended for ~200 mile trips at ~100 mph. The hint is in the original names of InterCity 125 and InterCity XPT.
A sleeper ticket is pretty much the only thing that would convince me to try an overnight train in Australia. And you're telling me they're getting rid of them? Good lord...
Yeah, so if you want to try it because it becomes completly impossible, gotta act soonish :P
I tried the oven slow cooked food but UNFORTUNATELY NOT from microwave. As a result, the food I bought had burnt bottom with melted plastic. My suggestions for 20:42 Sydney Central train is to eat BUFFET first before boarding. Many choices nearby. Or go to Goulburn by Opal Card to eat at a proper restaurant first.
If you can help it I would avoid getting a power bank from a vending machine. I have had a dud from one before
The XPT to Brisbane has a terrible timetable. Departing at 2:40pm and arrives Brisbane at 5am. However in the summer months it arrives 4am as Queensland doesn't observe daylight savings.
The buffet car with the accessible seats is technically what I'd call "Hybrid class". They have the same leg room as economy seats but the recline is that of first class and the accessible seats are charged at economy fares - 28 degrees in economy vs 40 degrees in 1st class.
It’s really sad that the replacement units from CAF solve no current issues of the XPT while also being flawed in many more ways.
Australia really needs a national carrier, like Amtrak or ViaRail to run these long inter-state lines. Seems like NSW is doing most of the heavy lifting.
Yeah, it’s pretty much only NSW and private companies running interstate services..
Because Amtrak has such a great reputation?
While on the surface a national carrier makes sense, I think NSW TrainLink effectively fills that because they run the main interstate services. I really do believe we should have proper passenger rail (not a tourist experience) Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth, but as long as the main interstate routes start or terminate in Sydney with NSW rolling stock, it's not a huge deal.
There are national carriers. SCT, Pacific National, Aurizon... But they all do freight.
Public transport of all kinds is a state responsibility, except for the bus network in Brisbane CC. The feds explicitly don't want to be involved and until recently didn't touch public transport funding directly unless it involved aviation (a federal responsibility).
Intersting night train route between two big city in Australia... Well done 🍒🍒🍒
Glad you enjoyed it thanks!
Thank you for adding your voice to those who consider the new trains - over budget and late as not yet even in revenue service - will be worse than the aged XPTs.
It's a tribute to our hopeless politicians and bureaucrats that there's no sleeping car accommodation. Even the union (Rail Tram and Bus Union) did not protest about the loss of the sleeping car.
We could have gone for European-style couchettes and sleepers, allowing every passenger to lie flat and night and be reasonably comfortable by day, but instead, there's only so-called 'ironing board' seats like on some UK railcars ('units').
Our politicians could have started 40 years ago to build a true high speed rail network between Brisbane and Melbourne via Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney and Canberra to Melbourne, but instead have just produced a number of voluminous reports. Finally we have a High Speed Rail Authority but it's yet to lay a single centimetre of new track, and sadly the Liberal-Nationals Federal Opposition has never said whether it supports high speed rail. Nor has the Federal Labor government definitely funded the start of construction.
Of course the airline duopoly (Qantas and subsidiary Jetstar, and competitor Virgin Australia) vigorously oppose high speed rail and lobby politicians, and smooch them with access to the Qantas Chairman's Club and Virgin Oz equivalent. Nothing a quiet word in a pollie's ear won't solve!
Meanwhile unpunctuality and cancellations by the airlines between Sydney and Melbourne, and Sydney and Brisbane are high, as are fares, especially if one wants to travel at peak business times or when there's sport such as AFL (Australian Rules football) matches scheduled.
Hardly any politicians in Australia ever travel by rail and it shows.
Bowning, Binalong, Wallendbeen and Table Top stations should definitely be considered for reopening as request stops like Harden, The Rock etc. However, this would be more effective for the daytime XPT service.
You’re quite correct there are plenty things wrong with the service. I still personally prefer to take the train over flying though. My main issue, especially in the sleeper carriage, is that the air is always unbearably hot and stuffy.
Oh, they sell Danish salami, cheese and crackers with wine! They know good food! 😁
After travelling on the Shinkansens in Japan, Australian long distance trains seem like a consolation prize.
Most of the time flying is a cheaper and obviously faster
A proper high-speed train running at 320km/h should be able to do that in about 3 hours, then you wouldn't need an overnight service.
or planes . . .
Such a service could completely eliminate flights and be much more convenient.
@@caw25sha Yeah good luck with the airline duopoly over MEL-SYD flights lol.
Have you looked at the geography of Australia? The east coast is quite mountainous in parts - not easy just to build a high speed train across it
@@motameus1 Japan is pretty mountainous, they still manage it by mostly going through the mountains.
@@katrinabryceJapan has a large population, of about 120 million people, in a relatively small area of 378,000.sq km. NSW and Victoria's population combined is 15.5 million people, covering an area of 1 million sq km. The cost to provide fast rail between these two states would be enormous. Low population density is our main problem.
It would be nice to have fast rail between our two major cities at some time in the future. The costing, at present, is about 200 billion dollars.Every taxpayer in Australia would have to subsidise this rail line.
I remember when I was 10 and took this train. Sleeping was such a struggle that I found sleeping on the floor was much more comfortable than sleeping on the seat. Even though my legs sticking out of my seat could trip over people.
Absolutely, and they make announcements prohibiting people from sleeping on the floor, precisely because people want to do it!
So hear me out, I used to travel to Wollongong on a weekly basis using the inter city trains. Took roughly 3 hours each way. I always questioned why is a high speed network from Wollongong thru Sydney to new castle never heavily considered. In comparison the japan bullet train can get u between the 3 major cities in Japan within an hour or two. If high speed rail was cheap and frequent there wouldn’t be need for everyone to live and work in Sydney. U could live in Wollongong or new castle and still commute to Sydney if it took half an hour or an hour.
The trip from Wollongong to Sydney is now marginally slower than the steam service in 1954. Australia is becoming a third world country. The inasane Sinophobia means our corrupt (Qantas) political class will never build a VFT network. Anywhere.
I am still an occasional traveller on that route and have done so since 1964 when it was a steam train. It now takes 1 hour 35 minutes each way and slightly less on the express version. This can be verified with the TfNSW Trip Plannner
As for a VFT...forget it. The ecarpment is pockmarked with mine portals from behind Dapto through to Helensburgh. Even the main road down the escarpment is regularly subject to slippage. Yes a tunnel could be built from the coastal plain to near Waterfall but not while there has been such an expenditure on the new Metro.
A VFT was proposed from Brisbane to Melbourne through Sydney but it was mostly inland with connection via lines such as the Moss Vale to Unanderra line did.
@@flamingfrancis The fact tht the Illawarra electorates were strong ALP for so long is a major reason for the poor condition and antiquated state of the line. It is still a single line track at Coalcliff. Basically the per way hasnt be upgraded or reconstructed in a 100 years.
As someone who is a massive train fan and likes the XPTs, it almost physically hurts hearing you tell me to be excited they are being replaced. I do like the new trains, but they just aren't the same. And before anyone tells me that I should ride them overnight to see what it's like, I already did. I went first class from Sydney to Melbourne and although I only got about 2.5 hours of sleep, I'm totally fine with that and absolutely loved it.
I highly appreciate the dimming of the light though. More overnight trains should have dimmed cabin lights in the seating cars
Definitely.
Unfortunately, in many European sleeper trains, the trend for seating cars goes away from compartment and towards open coach seats with lights on.
I did this trip some years ago when we went to the Melbourne GP. On the way down we got a sleeper cab which honestly was awful. Having your own bathroom was nice, and it was good to have a quick shower in the morning but the actual toilet was awful and just folded out from the wall and the toilet paper was awful too. Unfortunately sleeping was almost impossible as we were right near a bogey and it was noisy all night long. Clunk clunk bang knock knock it was terrible, and getting close to Melbourne we were absolutely thrown all over the place. We got first class on the way home and actually slept from Melbourne to about Albury and then to about Goulburn. My children took the trip recently to see the tennis with their grandmother in summer and there was no ac working in their carriage.
As a person from the UK very familiar with the InterCity 125 (HST) and comparing the two different trains, I think the economy seats actually look very good and I think the legroom is more generous than would be found on airline style seating in an InterCiry 125 although most seats on the InterCity 125 were bays of 4 around a full size table. The idea of seats rotating to face the direction of travel does not exist in the UK. Although personally I prefer a seat facing the direction of travel there are many people who prefer travelling with their back to the direction of travel. 1st class though is another matter. 2 X 2 seating is unacceptable in 1st class on a long distance train. 1st class seating on the InterCity 125 was always 2 X 1, usually in a bay of 2 or 4 again around a full size table. However, in the UK, the InterCity 125 was not used on overnight services and average journey times much shorter with even the very longest journey, such as London - Aberdeen, being shorter than this.
One interesting question though is what market sector does this train cater to in respect of passengers making the through journey from Sydney to Melbourne? I can't see very many business travellers being interested in spending almost 11 hours trying to sleep in one of those seats so I can only conclude that this service caters mainly to leisure travellers looking to travel at relatively low cost.
This train is also shorter than the InterCity 125. A typical InterCity 125 unit would have had 8 seating coaches, 2 1st Class, 5 2nd class and a combined buffer car/kitchen and 1st class seating car, the seats in this coach, until the late 1990's, often being used as a full service restaurant car with table linen, real china and chef cooked meals served silver service style by highly trained stewards, the sort of restaurant car found in Australia on trains such as the Indian Pacific but more impressive due to the silver service.
The sleeping car may be a good product and could be attractive to business travellers, especially if a high fare could be weighed against the cost of an air ticket and a night in a hotel. However, all the sleeping compartments are 2 berth requiring the passenger to either pay for both berths or share with a stranger, which these days is much less acceptable than in the past. In the UK 1st class sleeping compartments have always been single berth (2nd class are 2 berth) which would be much more attractive to the business traveller. However, the apparent need to book long in advance due to the small number of sleeping compartments would be a problem.
Based on what I have seen in other videos, the buffet car seems OK. I have noticed that sandwiches on Australian trains seem to be made using white bread (which I like) and passengers are not forced to eat brown bread sandwiches as in the UK. I also like the idea of the hot pies. Those microwave meals are adequate I suppose but do not impress in any way.
The Sydney-Melbourne journey isn't a non stop journey as it stops at the major regional centres along the route. Also there are regional bus services that connect from outlining towns with the XPT at the major stops along the way. Before COVID, most passengers would be backpackers, pensioners and other low economic people who would use the service and would use the part of the route with very few passengers doing the whole journey. Hence why there is an economy class and only one sleeper compartment. Since COVID, a surprisingly more people are doing the whole route hence why the train is packed.
Before the Sydney-Melbourne XPT service, the route was serviced by a train called the Southern Aurora which would was a traditional night time service with proper sleeper cabins, restaurent etc. That service ceased I think in 1993 and was replaced by the XPT service. The XPT was originally designed for short regional services but because the Southern Aurora was losing patronage to the airlines, the XPT Sydney-Albury service was extended to Melbourne and the SA ended. The SA carriages still exist and a private company uses them as a tourist train.
The biggest problem with the Sydney-Melbourne XPT is not the train itself, but the train line that it runs on. For a start the line is not dual track all along the route and the route has a lot of freight movement as Sydney and Melbourne are our two largest cities. Plus there is always seem to be track work being carried out. The main differences between the XPT and the HST is that the XPT has extra cooling for the engines and is speed limited to 160km/h. The reason for that is that the 3 routes that the XPT operate on all have steep climbs. In fact the Sydney=Melbourne XPT on its return journey from Melbourne has to go through a spiral at Bethungra.
@@tomnewham1269 The Sydney - Melbourne XPT stops BRIEFLY at the various stations. Usually just enough time to let passengers board/alight and maybe stretch their legs (though that is met with impatience). There isn't enough time to get food elsewhere.
Yes to what you said re tracks. Incremental improvements would be cheaper than trying to go straight to HST and would at least speed things up a bit in the meantime. At one stage a few years ago, the condition of one section near Goulburn was so bad that drivers refused to travel faster than 10-15km/h. Thankfully i was fixed and is fine now.
I took this train when I visited Australia back in 2001. It looks exactly the same as it did back then. I remember I didn't get much sleep.
Probably is mostly the same tbh
Interesting to note that the XPTs originally didn’t have sleepers, those carriages were ordered later. Hopefully still an option for the new trains.
Not an option
@@Boababa-fn3mr How so? The XPTs had sleepers added, the original batch of 2-car VLocitys had a middle carriage added. It's not unheard of to add carriages later.
@@Nick-kz6dg They don't want them. This is not a serious long distance train.
@@Boababa-fn3mr "It's possible but we don't want them" is a very different answer than "it's physically not possible", now isn't it...?
@@Nick-kz6dg I didn't say it wasn't possible. It's not an option - for political reasons, not due to engineering.
I just watched a gentleman take a 250 km trip on a Chinese fast train travelling around 350 km cruise speed , very nice seats that electrically motor down in to a 6 foot 6 sleeping position, and it was in sort of a cubicle with just about everything you need , it was fantastic.
It makes our trains look like horse and cart days .
And sadly , our trains look like they will stay that way.
Yeah, I agree with much of what you say. You could have a really competitive service with just some minor improvements to the existing line, reliability, and rolling stock that makes sense for the service. High-speed rail would be great, but that's a massive investment that would take at least 10-20 years to get going. The other improvements could be done in the short to medium term at much lower costs.
Seems like a very confused service which doesn't really know what it wants to achieve. More sleeper cabins would be highly beneficial for the longest trips. A late night service/Early morning service in the smaller towns on route is helpful and normal seats can probably work for that, though modernisation would definitely be good. A half way option, perhaps something like an a business class plane seat, ideally flatbed style, could be provided in some carriages too for those not travelling the full route but who would still benefit from a bit of sleep or just for those on a tighter budget but who don't want to spend 11 hours in a standard seat.
No WiFi will definitely will definitely be a deal breaker for many.
Should make it like a 1 night hotel type of thing, would be perfect.
I paid for a return ticket from Melbourne to Sydney and was so traumatized by the experience that i bought a plane ticket home
The new fleet you showed pictures of aren't replacing the XPT's - they are replacing the existing V-sets for the intercity routes from Central such as Newcastle, Blue Mountains and Wollongongs. They're not going to Melbourne.
Ah no! They look very similar to the D-sets which I think you are talking about. They are in fact different! On the inside however, they won't be unfortunately. They'll have the comfort of a prison cell with a park bench for a seat most likely.
No those are the D-sets which are similar looking but not the same trains. What i showed is the new CAF civity or New South Wales R set. Have a look here, they will be replacing the XPT's Xplorer and Endeavour trains so they will be going to places like Dubbo and Melbourne en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_R_set
@@Simon-Andersen Ok, quite right you all are. I stand corrected. Hopefully they'll change their mind and keep sleeper seats on the new trains.
“It has one sleeper, which often sells out months in advance.”
Government bureaucrat: “Better not add more. We might need to run more trains. Here’s an idea. Let’s get rid of it, and then it’s problem solved for everyone.”
Hello World 😊. Let this experience herein be your introduction to travel in Australia. Whether it be on a train, or via a plane, or on a bus, Australian travel providers are totally about themselves and of the attitude of their service and staff. Australian travel providers would not last 5 minutes in an international market. We are a big island so basically they know they all have the market. Expect nothing when you pay for your travel, no smile etc, then you won't be disappointed. If you do score any sort of recognition for parting with your money then consider yourself blessed 😊🙏
Welcome to Melbourne! Kinda excited having you here after all my binging of your European videos for my holiday recently.
Enjoyed my trip down under, but not much because of the train :P
You’re probably lucky that you didn’t get the sleeper car. I did the overnight trip from Brisbane to Sydney (13 hours) and it was an ORDEAL. The sleeper car was at the front of the train… right behind the diesel locomotive. I hope there was something wrong, because the cabin was basically filled with diesel fumes the entire time :/
Doesn’t look like it’s changed much in the time since.
I had the same experience going to Melbourne. The staff told me it was normal.
Coming home was fine because we were at the back of the train.
I caught this back in 2002. I can't believe these haven't changed at all since.
If NSW is going to stop running the sleeper entirely I wonder if V/Line (the Victorian operator) might step up, given the demand is so obviously there. They’re building a standard gauge variant of their VLocity DMU for the service to Albury - surely it would be possible to add a sleeper variant.
Vlocity are noisy and not suited for journey over 90 minutes
@@davidblowe9096 yeah terrible design that was forced on the Albury line. They cant even have more than 6 cars (two 3 cars hooked together) conductor can only operate one car set at time. The buffet is only open on one carset at a time (when it is working... number of time there is no buffet due to issues on a new trainset is ridiculous). No way they can do a sleeper variant. Seats facing backwards is terrible (I get motion sick in those).
@@Gnrnrvids by Tallarook I’m over it, Avinel it’s unbearable and some people want these on inter capital services 🤦🏼♂️
They could have updated rolling stock to 21st century standards and given the N’s an overhaul.
@@Gnrnrvids I was told they will only run a single 3 car set on the Warrnambool line, if that’s the case then I expect it will be regular standing room only from Colac.
There’s obviously a market for long distance, overnight train services! It was basically fully booked.
Not everyone likes flying.
No thanks. Wealthy first world countries like Australia, Canada and the USA have the worst third world passenger rail service.
Because they allow airlines to 'lobby' government.
I rode this train ONCE and would never do it again.. There was light rain so ofcourse the train speed was reduced to 60kmh…. The train was completely full with no spare seats at all. I figured the best I can do is sleep the day away so I put my headphones in and closed my eyes. About half hour into the trip I got a tap on my arm from the man in the seat next to me and he said “Do you know about Jesus?” ….
So as someone who worked on these trains I can tell you why this happened the way it did.
The XPT's weren't designed to be an overnight serive, they where designed to do regional nsw runs.
Theres been a push from staff for years to get these upgraded but theres no political will.
The long journey isnt even the biggest problem, the lack of wifi and sleeping accomodation and the poor track condition from albury to campbelltown is attrocious.
The new regional trains wont match this comfort and wont have sleepers though there is a big push to have them brought back.
I'll also add that the sleeper capacity does need to be increased as it's frequently booked out especially on the Melbourne train.
The track south of Albury has apparently been finally fixed now. It was indeed terrible, so much so that most who could drove to Seymour and caught the broad gauge service to Melbourne from there. It’s said that the conversion to standard gauge, which involved slipping in new sleepers/ties using the same rails and ballast, left the track prone to water damage.
@francisernens1795 that section has been like that since it was built even on the broad gauge it was always susceptible to mud holes.
The main from Albury to Melbourne for the last 4 years has been in better condition then the nsw part. Vic Labor gov invested in it to bring it up to quality for their velocity services.
@@soph_the_great_Aus The Vlocity trains are so inappropriate for the run between Melbourne to Albury. they were designed for Melbourne to Geelong or Melbourne to Bendigo for which they are excellent,, one car set run frequently. Albury they have to run two cars sets and not frequently.
@Gnrnrvids what makes them inappropriate exactly? It's a 3.5hr run 4 at Max. I do agree that making them 2 x 3car sets was dumb and they should have both buffets open
You touched the toilet seat and didn't wash your hand! Brave man! :)
I'm very surprised. The train should have at least 3 sleepers and 2 sitting, that's 11 hours after all. And the idea to get rid of the sleepers altogether is daft. Plus 80 km per hour in the XXI century is a joke. Weird business decision process.
Speed is not important for night trains. It's a mistake people often make when talking about night trains. What counts for night trains is the efficiency of travel time i.e. You board at night at your origin, you get to sleep, and then wake up at your destination, without a) having to fly and pay for a night at a hotel or b) get up at a ridiculous time early morning to get out to an airport for an early flight. But yes, there should be at least 3 sleeper carriages. And probs a couple of couchettes like those that are popular in Europe allowing a lie-flat sleeping experience but at a more affordable rate.
@@yasukiwi What are you even on about ? Speed isn't important? LOL! This isn't just a "night train", this train runs during the day too and only has a tiny handful of beds. The rest of the train sit in a seat, no one is getting proper sleep in a seat, do you really think this is a replacement for a hotel!? LOL.
It is the slowing down, stopping and then getting back up to speed that screws the average. The trains run at around 130km/h once going. Kill the stops ion between and the average will come up nicely, but the people at those stops dont really have other alternatives aside from the car. there is no flights out in the regions bar Albury and Albury to Sydney return is around $500-$800. no flights to Melbourne from Albury.
loved the video as usual! so much fun to travel with you
Glad you enjoyed it!
The good news is that the current NSW Labor government is considering keeping night trains on, so they might order a new sleeper train in future. But once again, they should have ordered sleepers in the first place. Those trains have been at capacity for years now, and they've just decided not to capitalise on the new demand for rail?
Being a sleeper is all it’s good for
I dont get why they want to get rid of sleeper trains with the new fleet. With High speed rail so expensive to build, I think we should really look at creating a seperate train that serves as a sleeper service. This would be very convient competition against the airlines. What I mean is although 11 hours is long between sydney and melbourne, its perfect for overnight runs where you have dinner in sydney, board the train, go to sleep and wake up and have breakfast on the train just as you pull into melbourne nice and refreshed for the morning. Some business travellers would probably like this option as it means you dont have to get up ridiculously early for a flight and sleeper trains can come with daily essentials and utilities to allow you to be ready when you arrive into your destination. If the government is too reluctant to invest in high speed rail, then they should at least invest into decent sleeper trains between Sydney and Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and Melbourne and Adelaide. When I mean sleeper trains, I do not mean the touristy ones like the ghan, but one that more serves locals traveling intercity, business travelers and that. Tourists can also use it too. Another thing we need to is for the sleeper services to have low ticket prices.
I also think to promote more competition in australias skies, I think we should grant two international airlines contracts to operate flights on the golden triangle under open skies agreements. 2 Highest bidding airlines get 21 flights a week (if evened out, that would be one flight a day on mel-syd, one flight a day on mel - bne and one flight a day on syd - bne for that airline. if we add the other airline, this could create up to 42 extra flights a week, challenging the qantas/jetstar and virgin australia monopoly, whilst not posing any threat to our airlines, which still operate more flights and sell more seats.
@@electro_sykes I caught the Southern Aurora back in the 70's , a fully sleeper train with dining and lounge cars. Lovely train and did the meal on the train before heading to my sleeper for the night. But sleep? NO! Noisy from the undergear and rough riding . Night trains were still popular then as the airline industry was nothing compared to today and the Hume Highway was a poor and unsafe, especially at night. I believe most XPT passengers are using subsidised fares so if you want a new modern sleeper service then much higher fares will have to be charged to make it viable.
This is what happens when Whatajokelian and the Liberals penny pinch. They always buy cheap, second rate crap.
Great video Simon!
thank you!
Lei China build high speed train in here Australia. Look what they did for Indonesia high speed train , awesome ! Cost effective. No delay of project. 300+ speed. Great value. Beneficial to everyone.
I'd rather they get JR to build HSR in Australia.
It's a joke that was there will be no Sleeper carriages on new XPTs. They need a bloody good reason why there is not. The current Sleepers are ok. Bed is comfortable. But cabins definitely needed better layout. They don't need a combined toilet & shower for every 2 Cabins. They need separate shower & toilet at each end of Carriage. So cabins can be bigger. On return trip from Albury my seat was facing backwards. Not a fan of that.
yet another dim witted, short sighted undertaking by the powers that be...frankly I am embarrassed by this poor effort by XPT
I used to catch this train every couple of months when I was a kid. This was before the airlines started making this space more competitive.
I find it so hard to believe the train is basically the same today as it was 25 years ago.
Get it together fam, Australia needs a quality East Coast rail service
FYI- there is a single (!) 1 x power socket on either side of the carriage at the rear near the luggage rack
yeah they are for the cleaner's vaccuums to plug into. Use with caution as the power can be very dirty (spikes and poor regulation) or even disabled if they remember to do so.
I went on this train recently which was my first mistake and my second was forking out extra for first class which had nothing first class about it and was what I’d expect for economy and I’ve generally had better flights on planes in economy. It was a long and horrendous journey that I swore I would never do again.
"All seats rotate to face direction of travel" a HUGE advantge of older trains. Sadly that fearture appears to be long forgotten when new trains are built.
BTW, one challege for the XPT locos was heat in Australia and is part of reason for lower max speed (as well as no point going the extra effort since no tracks support higher speeds).
i went on this though i was in a sleeper cabin. Not going to lie, I absolutely loved it. The sleeper cabin is a huge must. it was spacious and comfortable. I'd prefer if they kept this train or put sleeper cabins on the new one.