Indian Pacific, Australia’s trans-continental train visits Broken Hill

One of the special points about Broken Hill is the fact that one of Australia’s great rail journeys, via the Indian Pacific, passes through Broken Hill on its trans-continental trip.

The old Broken Hill station, now a museum

The three day/three night trip begins in Perth (the Indian Ocean) then travels to the significant mining town of Kalgoorlie some +/- 10 hours away.  The train then continues eastward for 30 hours or so to Adelaide.  After about 2.5 hours in Adelaide, it -turns north east to visit Broken Hill some 6.5 hours away.  After another brief stop there (2 hours, the station is in the heart of town so there is time for a quick look around the city).  The final leg, some 16 hours, sees the train travel east to its destination in Sydney (the Pacific Ocean).



Indian Pacific courtesy GSR



I have done some of the trip from Kalgoorlie to Adelaide in 2006 and that was a really wonderful experience.

The rail company involved is the Great Southern Rail (GSR).  This company and the Indian Pacific itself have been in the news recently but for the wrong reason unfortunately, although there is a happy ending to this tale.  GSR, earlier this year had reduced its service from twice a week to once a week, which is not unusual as this happens periodically in the off-peak season of January and February.  However, this year GSR extended the reduction to August and November.  However, GSR had recently decided to alter the service to be only once a fortnight in the coming December 2012 and January 2012, a move which saw the Broken Hill tourism industry and the City Council being quite critical of the proposal.  Happily I read in the “Barrier Daily Truth” today that the service will remain weekly, which a lot better than fortnightly.

Indian Pacific courtesy GSR

If considering doing part or all of the trip there are several classes available, seats (that do recline somewhat), red class – sleeper in own cabin but not including food (food can be purchased separately and there is a bar also) or gold class including cabin (single or double) plus food which includes full silver service and a special bar car as well.

I treated myself to the gold class, well worth it if you can afford it.  Amazing scenery.

The fact it visits only a handful of cities which includes Broken Hill tells you that the city is a special place indeed.

Cheers, Jane D