Indian Pacific

Indian Pacific Overview Service type Transcontinental passenger rail Status Operating Locale Australia First service 23 February 1970 Current operator(s) Great Southern Rail Former operator(s) New South Wales Government Railways South Australian Railways Commonwealth Railways Western Australian Government Railways Australian National Route Start Sydney Central End East Perth Distance travelled 3,962 km (original) 4,352 km (current) Average journey time 75 hours (original) 65 hours (current) Service frequency 4 per week (original) 1 per week (current) 2 per week (peak season) On-board services Seating arrangements Yes Sleeping arrangements Yes Auto-rack arrangements Yes Technical Rolling stock Commonwealth Railways stainless steel carriage stock Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Route map Indian Pacific Legend East Perth Midland Northam Merredin Southern Cross Kalgoorlie Rawlinna Loongana Western Australia South Australia border Cook Tarcoola Kingoonya Pimba Port Augusta Coonamia near Port Pirie Adelaide Parklands Terminal Gladstone Peterborough South Australia New South Wales border Broken Hill Menindee Ivanhoe Euabalong West Condobolin Parkes Orange Bathurst Lithgow Sydney Central

The Indian Pacific is an Australian passenger rail service that operates between Sydney, on the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the Indian Ocean.^[1] It is one of the few truly transcontinental trains in the world. The train first ran in February 1970 after the completion of gauge conversion projects in South and Western Australia.

The train's route includes the world's longest straight stretch of railway track, a 478-kilometre (297 mi) stretch of the Trans-Australian Railway over the Nullarbor Plain.^[2]

The service was originally operated jointly by the New South Wales Government Railways, South Australian Railways, Commonwealth Railways and Western Australian Government Railways, until February 1993 when Australian National took full ownership. In October 1997 the Indian Pacific was sold to Great Southern Rail.

A one-way trip originally took 75 hours, but with line and efficiency improvements it now takes 65 hours. The train currently has four classes, branded as Platinum, Gold Service and Red Service Sleeper and Red Service Daynighter and also a motorail service to convey passengers' motor vehicles.^[3]

History

The first Indian Pacific service left Sydney on 23 February 1970, becoming the first direct train to cross the Australian continent,^[4] made possible by the completion of the east-west standard gauge project a few months earlier.

The train originally operated four days per week, departing Sydney on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, and Perth on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

The service was originally operated jointly by the four operators whose networks it traversed with revenues and costs apportioned New South Wales Government Railways (28.5%), South Australian Railways (10%), Commonwealth Railways (45%) and Western Australian Government Railways (16.5%).

Locomotives and crews were provided by the New South Wales Government Railways between Sydney and Broken Hill, South Australian Railways between Broken Hill and Port Pirie, the Commonwealth Railways between Port Pirie and Kalgoorlie and Western Australian Government Railways between Kalgoorlie and Perth. With the formation of Australian National in July 1975, it provided locomotives and crews from Broken Hill to Kalgoorlie. Locomotives were changed at Lithgow, Broken Hill, Port Pirie and Kalgoorlie.

On-board crews were originally provided between Sydney and Port Pirie by Commonwealth Railways on one service and New South Wales Government Railways on the other services, Commonwealth Railways between Port Pirie and Kalgoolie and West Australian Government Railways between Kalgoolie and Perth.

The Indian Pacific featured in an episode of BBC Television's Great Railway Journeys of the World series in 1980, presented by Michael Frayn.

The service was suspended from 2 December 1982 to 25 April 1983 due to an industrial dispute over staffing levels in South Australia.^[5] From August 1986, the train commenced operating via Adelaide (see Route below).^[6]

In June 1991, the service was cut from three times a week to two.^[7] This was reduced to weekly in January 1992 between Sydney and Adelaide with two services a week between Adelaide and Perth.^[8]

In February 1993, Australian National took over operation of the service throughout after agreement was reached with the State Rail Authority of New South Wales and Westrail in 1992.^[9][10] From January 1994 the service was operated throughout by Australian National CL class locomotives.^[11] Australian National restored a second weekly service.

As part of the privatisation of Australian National, the Indian Pacific, along with The Ghan and The Overland, was sold to Great Southern Rail in October 1997.^[12] Motive power provision was contracted to National Rail.

Route

The route leaves Sydney and travels via the Western and Broken Hill lines to Broken Hill. It then crosses into South Australia on the Broken Hill to Crystal Brook line before heading south to Adelaide. Before the conversion of the Crystal Brook to Adelaide line to standard gauge, passengers for Adelaide had to change at Port Pirie. However from August 1986, the Indian Pacific was diverted to make an out-and-back trip to Adelaide adding 390 kilometres (240 mi) to the journey. From Crystal Brook it heads north to Port Augusta and then via the Trans-Australian Railway to Kalgoorlie including travelling over the world's longest straight stretch of railway track on the Nullarbor Plain measuring 478 kilometres (297 mi).^[13] It then heads to its terminus at East Perth.

Occasionally when there is trackwork, the Indian Pacific is diverted out of Sydney via the Main South line to Cootamundra and cross-country line to rejoin the Broken Hill line at Parkes.

In 1970 the journey took 75 hours. With subsequent infrastructure improvements and reductions to the time needed to change locomotives and crew, the journey now takes 65 hours despite the longer distance.^[14]

Formation

Motive power for the Indian Pacific is a Pacific National NR class diesel-electric locomotive, often one of the five (NR18, NR25-NR28) that have been repainted in Indian Pacific livery. The lead locomotive is assisted by a DL class or a second NR class between Sydney and Adelaide. In 2014, NR25-NR28 were repainted in a new livery that is much closer to that of Pacific National.

To operate the service, a fleet of 22.92-metre (75.2 ft) stainless steel carriages, power vans and luggage vans was built by Commonwealth Engineering, Granville in the late 1960s and early 1970s.^[15][16]

Originally the services operated in consists of 12 carriages.^[16] Today the weekly service consists of up to 25 carriages and two motorail wagons. Because of its length, the train is split in two when stabled at Sydney Central station.

Passenger facilities

The train originally offered only 52 first-class sleeping berths and 96 second-class sleeping berths. The train was limited to 144 passengers as this was the number that could be serviced by three sittings in the 48-seat dining car.

From 1973 the accommodation was altered to provide 88 first-class sleeping berths and 64 second-class. The club-cafeteria car also provided a small number of second-class seats for short-distance travelers on the Commonwealth Railways segment.

From 1975 Australian National provided full sitting carriages west of Port Pirie on two journeys per week. The New South Wales Government Railways initially resisted providing sitting accommodation over the whole journey, but State Rail Authority HUB/RUB sitting carriages were included between Sydney and Port Pirie from 1980, with Australian National providing sitting carriages further west. Sitting carriages provided by Australian National became part of the full through service from Sydney to Perth in 1988.

The train currently has four classes, branded as Platinum, Gold Service, Red Service Sleeper and Red Service Daynighter. The Platinum Service was introduced in 2008 as a premium class of travel. The Gold Service, the former first-class service, features either roomette or twinette sleeper cabins, with complimentary meals in the restaurant car.

Red Service, the equivalent of economy class, features either dual-berth shared sleeper cabins, or airline-style 'sit-up' seats similar to other Australian trains. It also has its own restaurant car.^[17]

The train also has a Motorail service to carry passengers' motor vehicles.^[18]

Special trains

A full Indian Pacific set made promotional trips to Canberra and Newcastle for travel agents prior to its launch in February 1970.^[19]

Following the conversion of the Adelaide to Melbourne railway line to standard gauge in 1995, the Indian Pacific made a promotional trip from Perth to Brisbane via Melbourne over 6 days in June of that year.^[20][21]

Christmas train

In recent years, the Indian Pacific has operated a Christmas Train with a notable music personality on board.^[22]

The train stops at several locations to entertain the locals and thank them for their support of the train.^[23] The locations include the remote Nullarbor sidings of Watson, Cook,^[24] and Rawlinna.

Some of the performers on board have been: David Campbell (2007),^[25] Human Nature (2006), Guy Sebastian (2005),^[26] Jimmy Barnes (2004), John Paul Young (2003), Marcia Hines (2002), John Williamson (2001) and Nikki Webster (2000).

Incidents

• 24 December 1975: 14 of the 25 carriages on the eastbound train derailed due to a collapsed bogie on the leading carriage, between the remote Nullarbor sidings of Haig and Nurina. Three of the 200 passengers were injured, and they were flown from Forrest to Adelaide.
• 18 August 1999: Zanthus train collision - the westbound train was accidentally directed into a crossing loop occupied by an eastbound train at Zanthus.^[27]
• 3 December 1999: Glenbrook train disaster - a CityRail Intercity train ran into the back of the eastbound train at Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Seven people died, all on the CityRail train.^[27]

Gallery

• 

  National Rail liveried NR30 leads the Indian Pacific heads through suburban Perth in December 2005

• 

  Indian Pacific liveried NR26 shunts at Sydney Central in January 2008

• 

  Dining car interior in January 2010

See also

• Longest train journeys
• The Alice
• The Ghan
• The Overland

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Media related to Indian Pacific at Wikimedia Commons
• Great Southern Rail
• Trans Australian/Indian Pacific railway ephemera—collected and digitised by the National Library of Australia
• Indian Pacific celebrates 40th year, Australian Geographic

Interstate rail in Australia Corridors Sydney–Brisbane Sydney–Adelaide–Perth Sydney–Melbourne Melbourne–Adelaide Trans-Australian Railway Adelaide–Darwin Passenger trains Indian Pacific The Ghan The Overland The Southern Spirit Operators Aurizon FreightLink Great Southern Rail NSW TrainLink Pacific National Qube Logistics Specialised Container Transport