Indian Pacific
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 The Indian Pacific at Perth Midland Station, 2006
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| Route length: | 4,352 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Indian Pacific is a long-distance train in Australia , the Perth on the west coast and the Indian Ocean with Sydney connects the Pacific Ocean on the east coast. The scheduled travel time for the 4,352-kilometer route is around 65 hours.
history
The connection was first possible when the Trans-Australian Railway opened in 1917 . At that time, however, the route could not be used continuously by one train , as it consisted of sections that were technically incompatible with each other. From west to east:
- Perth - Kalgoorlie , Western Australian Railways , Cape Gauge (1067mm)
- Kalgoorlie - Port Augusta , Commonwealth Railways / Transaustralian Railway , standard gauge (1435 mm)
- Port Augusta - Terowie , South Australian Railroad , Cape Gauge. In 1937 this connection was replaced by a standard-gauge line to Port Pirie . That saved the passengers a transfer process.
- Terowie (from 1937: Port Pirie) - Adelaide - Melbourne - Albury (each with a change), South Australian Railroad and Victoria Rail , 1600 mm broad gauge
- Albury - Sydney , New South Wales Railway , standard gauge
On the section that the Trans-Australian Railroad traveled, the Commonwealth Railways offered the Trans-Australian . The route was shortened several times, so from 1937 on Broken Hill was driven. For details of the gauge changes, see Trans-Australian Railways # Crossing Australia by Rail .
It was not until 1969, the entire connection between Perth and Sydney to standard gauge umgespurt was a through train service was possible and the Indian Pacific furnished. The first Indian Pacific left Sydney on February 23, 1970 and reached Perth on February 27, 1970.
Today's operation
The train is from the today railway company Great Southern Railway operated. It takes around 24 hours for the 1,693 km from Sydney to Adelaide. There he stops and then drives the 2,659 km from Adelaide to Perth in around 41 hours. There are several stops along the way.
Today the train serves almost exclusively tourists . In addition, after the Tea and Sugar Train was discontinued, it also supplies the isolated railway employees and towns along the route of the Trans-Australian Railway with daily necessities and mail.
The train is hauled by two locomotives , is 403 meters long as a short train and 687 meters as a "double train"; the cars alone have a total mass of 747 tons, and as a "double train" even 1326 tons. Most of the circuits are run as "double trains". The Indian Pacific is usually made up of the following cars :
Luxury class
- A “Platinium” class passenger coach with compartments twice the size, double beds arranged next to each other, and superior service
- In addition, a number of saloon cars are available that can be rented privately and attached to regular trains.
First class
- Five sleeping cars in the “Gold Service” class (“double train”: eleven). There are those with single compartments, which are arranged on both sides of a central aisle, and sleeping cars with two-bed compartments, which are transverse to the direction of travel of the vehicle on a side aisle
- A dining car ("Doppelzug": two) (the "Gold Service" includes meals)
- A saloon car ("double train": two)
Second grade
- A passenger car of the “Red Service” class (until 2011: “Red Kangaroo”), an open seating car with seats
- A sleeping car of the "Red Service" class with small compartments arranged on both sides of a central aisle and offering sleeping space for two people.
- A buffet car of the "Red Service" class
service
- A generator car ("double train": two)
- A van
- A sleeping car for the staff ("double train": two)
- If necessary, the train carries car transport vehicles on which cars and motorcycles can be taken.
The fares are (converted) around 300 euros for the “Red Service” class and 1000 euros for “Gold Service”.
Picture gallery
Indian Pacific passenger car
Indian Pacific locomotive
Bellevue (Western Australia), the three-rail track is recognizable
at the exit from Perth, also here on the three-rail track
literature
- Platform 7/2008, p. 36 ff.
Web links
- Indian Pacific. Retrieved July 9, 2020 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Great Southern Rail Travel Pty. Ltd .: Private Carriages , undated (marketing brochure).
- ↑ David Scheibler: Indian Pacific: Once across Australia . In: zugreiseblog.de on August 8, 2015, accessed on September 1, 2015.