The Overland

The Overland (between 1999 and 2007)

		Adelaide Parklands Terminal
		Murray Bridge
		Bordertown
		South Australia / Victoria border
		Nhill
		Dimboola
		Horsham
		Ararat
		Geelong
		Melbourne Southern Cross

The Overland is a long-distance train in Australia connecting the capitals of Victoria Melbourne ( Melbourne Southern Cross Station ) and South Australia Adelaide ( Adelaide Parklands Terminal Station ).

Surname

Logo on the train wall

The name The Overland is derived from the term Overlander , which referred to an adventurer traveling across the country in the 19th century. The name has been used for the train since 1935, according to other sources since 1926.

history

The train first ran on January 19, 1887 under the name Intercolonial Express . It was a pure sleeping car train that could run continuously, since both railway lines used the same gauge of 1600 millimeters wide gauge . It took him 18 hours to cover the 900-kilometer route at the time.

The train was later officially called the Adelaide Express , although it was referred to as The Melbourne Express in South Australia . The vehicles used were provided by both participating railways Victoria Railways and South Australian Railways .

In addition to its importance for travelers as the first high-speed connection between the two capitals, the train was also important for the transport of mail: mail that landed in Adelaide from England by ship was transferred to the train and was thus in Melbourne and Sydney a day earlier than when it was would have remained on the ship.

Nevertheless, the journey time was too long in the long run. In 1922, the entire infrastructure of the line was therefore revised and new, more powerful locomotives were procured. From 1926, the train ran on part of the route to and from Melbourne dining cars . In 1928, Pullman cars were procured from the USA , the heaviest passenger cars ever to be used in Australia. These were gradually replaced from 1949 by stainless steel cars . There were two types of sleeping cars:

Roomette : One bed per cabin, the cabins were arranged to the right and left of a central aisle. Showers and toilets were at the end of the car. There were eight of them.
Twinette : Two beds one above the other per compartment, the compartments were arranged along a side aisle. Each compartment had its own shower and toilet. There were ten of them.

From 1951 the steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives . The travel time could be reduced to 14 hours. In 1976 the Australian National took over the South Australian Railroad and operated the train together with Victoria Railways. The latter left the operator consortium in 1994, so that Australian National subsequently operated the train alone.

At the same time, the line between Melbourne and Adelaide via Maroona and Geelong was provided with a track in standard gauge, the train was re- gauged and now guided over this route.

Current operation

Red Standard (Second Class)

Bistro car

Locomotive with a motorail car

Since 1997, the train has been operated by the Great Southern Railway (GSR) on an 828-kilometer standard-gauge line. GSR is a railway company that also operates other well-known long-distance trains on the standard gauge network in Australia such as the Indian Pacific and The Ghan .

The Overland offer continues because it is supported by the state of Victoria with 1.5 million Australian dollars per year. It was completely reorganized in 2007: the sleeper train was replaced by a daily connection. Two classes are offered :

Red Premium (first class), open seating car with 2 + 1 seating
Red Standard (second class), open seating car with 2 + 2 seating

In both classes, the seats can be adjusted in the direction of travel. The train runs an on-board bistro between the two classes, as well as motorail coaches , on which cars and motorbikes can be taken, and a luggage and generator car .

The travel time today is 10.5 hours. The train has been running twice a week and in each direction since August 2013. 64 seats on each train will be held ready for passengers at V / Line tariffs for journeys between stops of the train in Victoria.

literature

NN: The Overland - Journey Overview . In: Platform 7/2008, p. 42f.
EC Rowland: An Introduction to the Overland Story . In: Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin. January 1977, SF. 1-16.

Web links

Commons : The Overland - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Information on the train itself.
↑ Information in the English language Wikipedia; there also: 1936.
↑ This service has been offered again since February 2009, but was discontinued in November 2015.
↑ The Overland 2019 Fares & Timetable. 2019, archived from the original on April 13, 2019 ; accessed on July 15, 2019 .
^ New Train Services for Western Victoria

[1] Information on the train itself.

[2] Information in the English language Wikipedia; there also: 1936.

[3] This service has been offered again since February 2009, but was discontinued in November 2015.

[4] The Overland 2019 Fares & Timetable. 2019, archived from the original on April 13, 2019 ; accessed on July 15, 2019 .

[5] New Train Services for Western Victoria