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Indian Pacific

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cls

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Anyone on here done the Indian Pacific , considering doing Sydney to Perth ...... looks great but expensive. Looking at catching in January time .Any comments good or bad appreciated.
 
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theageofthetra

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Anyone on here done the Indian Pacific , considering doing Sydney to Perth ...... looks great but expensive. Looking at catching in January time .Any comments good or bad appreciated.

Save your money and fly. Use the time saved to visit the numerous excellent preserved lines in Australia and the heritage railtours offered. Though I wouldn't recommend Jan as very strong risk of total fire bans curtailing steam operations (Tas mostly excepted)

Spring is best before any school hols.
 

signol

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A long time ago (2002) I did Sydney - Adelaide on it, in a seat. Some nice scenery through the Outback, but it did go on for a long time! Train stopped for an hour or so at Broken Hill, time for a very quick look around but not much more than that.

signol
 

ian959

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Done the trip a number of times and always found it a great time. Totally relaxing, great onboard service and some great scenery. Some people find the journey from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie boring but I love the outback and the Nullarbor Plain is about as outback as it gets. Heading westbound you get two decent stops - Broken Hill and Adelaide - when you can do off train excursions. There is the obligatory stop at Cook which in January would be very hot! Nothing much left at Cook nowadays as it is solely used as a crew change stop with drivers accommodation and to refuel the locomotives. Overall it is a great railway journey that any serious train enthusiast should do at least once.
 

FQTV

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Done the trip a number of times and always found it a great time. Totally relaxing, great onboard service and some great scenery. Some people find the journey from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie boring but I love the outback and the Nullarbor Plain is about as outback as it gets. Heading westbound you get two decent stops - Broken Hill and Adelaide - when you can do off train excursions. There is the obligatory stop at Cook which in January would be very hot! Nothing much left at Cook nowadays as it is solely used as a crew change stop with drivers accommodation and to refuel the locomotives. Overall it is a great railway journey that any serious train enthusiast should do at least once.

+1

I have only done it once, Westbound, in 2003, (when it was a lot cheaper).

I wouldn't have missed it for the world, especially the Nullarbor crossing. It's the only practical way to fully appreciate the sheer scale of the country.

Bill Bryson covers it in his book 'Notes from a Big Island'.

He compares it (favourably) to a glimpse of what your life will be like when you're in your 80s and living in a nursing home.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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I would love to do the Indian Pacific and the Ghan too, trouble is I really don't like the thought of the very long flights needed to get to Australia from the UK.
 

Bald Rick

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I would love to do the Indian Pacific and the Ghan too, trouble is I really don't like the thought of the very long flights needed to get to Australia from the UK.

Like the irony that you really want to spend 4 days on a train, but not the spend 17hours on a plane to get there!
 

Mojo

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I would love to do the Indian Pacific and the Ghan too, trouble is I really don't like the thought of the very long flights needed to get to Australia from the UK.
I did the Ghan starting from Darwin in October 2015, it was an absolutely amazing experience. One of the main reasons I did that route was to minimise the time spent flying, I flew to Singapore and spent a few days there, and then travelled on to Darwin with SilkAir which only takes 4 Hours 40 Min, so if you don't like the idea of a prolonged flight you could always go that way.
Like the irony that you really want to spend 4 days on a train, but not the spend 17hours on a plane to get there!
It's a bit different flying though, for one there's nothing really to look at out of the window which is what I always find makes the time drag. The Ghan and the IP isn't just a train journey, more like a cruise on land (except without the swimming pool!), and the trip includes scheduled stop offs and tours included in the price of the ticket. When I did my trip it included a Katherine gorge boat trip and walk, a tour of Alice Springs and a stop off in the middle of nowhere to have a talk from an astronomer and look at the stars.
 
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signol

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I would love to do the Indian Pacific and the Ghan too, trouble is I really don't like the thought of the very long flights needed to get to Australia from the UK.

You can get to Indonesia overland, then only need to fly the last short hop to Darwin.

signol
 

Bald Rick

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I did the Ghan starting from Darwin in October 2015, it was an absolutely amazing experience. One of the main reasons I did that route was to minimise the time spent flying, I flew to Singapore and spent a few days there, and then travelled on to Darwin with SilkAir which only takes 4 Hours 40 Min, so if you don't like the idea of a prolonged flight you could always go that way.
It's a bit different flying though, for one there's nothing really to look at out of the window which is what I always find makes the time drag. The Ghan and the IP isn't just a train journey, more like a cruise on land (except without the swimming pool!), and the trip includes scheduled stop offs and tours included in the price of the ticket. When I did my trip it included a Katherine gorge boat trip and walk, a tour of Alice Springs and a stop off in the middle of nowhere to have a talk from an astronomer and look at the stars.

I've done the Ghan myself. Whilst it was a great experience, it's fair to say there's not much to see out of the window of it either. Once you've seen half an hour of big red desert, you've had enough. As an aside, it's only a booked 5h flight from Singapore to Perth, albeit we did it in 4 1/2.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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Re above comments. I like travelling by trains, but don't like flying, especially long flights. Yes flying into Darwin, doing the Ghan, to Adelaide, then by train to Melbourne, over to Sydney followed by IP to Perth and fly back from Perth to London or VV, could be a possibility with stops in Singapore / Sri Lanka / Middle East.
 

Bald Rick

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Re above comments. I like travelling by trains, but don't like flying, especially long flights. Yes flying into Darwin, doing the Ghan, to Adelaide, then by train to Melbourne, over to Sydney followed by IP to Perth and fly back from Perth to London or VV, could be a possibility with stops in Singapore / Sri Lanka / Middle East.

Non-stop flights to/from Perth start in Msrch next year. Before then your best bet is via Singapore.

If you want to do Adelaide - Melbourne - Sydney overland, I recommend driving via the coast route. It's about 24 hours of driving, but you'll need to take at least 5 days to do it justice, plus more if you want to see Melbourne properly. There is some truly stunning scenery, which you don't see from the train.
 

LesS

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The ownership of the IP changed a couple of years ago. Serco sold to a private equity group. They have removed the sitting cars from services.
Many non-railfan passengers find the long run over the Nullabor boring and uninteresting. Personally I love it. The fares are expensive and there is little by way of discounts. Overall the Ghan is a better experience.

January is mid summer and very hot. The stopover at Cook will be unpleasant. Daytime temperatures everywhere will be in the 30's. There is likely to be little by way of steam heritage working. This is the maintenance season. Puffing Billy in Melbourne will probably run unless there are fire bans. There are likely to be some diesel heritage operations.
 

stevej

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G'day,
Yes, Sydney to Heathrow is a long haul, but the stop-over helps.
October through November is the peak Indian Pacific season due to the West Oz wild flowers bloom.
Double consist us normally used during that period.
November through February is HOT in WA.
The IP currently only runs one day per week, Wednesdays here in NSW.
Yes, that Nullarbor can be boring.
The IP is today out of my budget.
I rode it back in 1989 both ways.
My subsequent WA treks were by air.
The Ghan is more of a tourist train and today halts during the day at various locations.
Patrons getting off to explore the Territory.
So, the journey time is more extended.
I have not ridden the Ghan.
But some rellies have and did enjoy the experience.
They only rode the train one way and flew the other way.
Steve.
 

Aussie_Rail

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January temperatures will range anywhere in the upper 30's to mid 40's. Expect it to be very hot. Best time would be around March.

When the opportunity presents itself, don't hesitate, go and do it!

The long flight isn't that bad really. Could be worse, you could be coming over on a sailing ship! A stop over in Singapore is well worth a few days, I love that place. As Joe said, fly to Darwin and do the Ghan and if you want to go to Perth or Sydney, Ghan it down to Adelaide and then go east or west by IP. You can fly home from either Perth or Sydney. Plenty of options to think about.
 
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