The Overland Train Between Adelaide and Melbourne
The Overland is an renowned train which goes in between Adelaide and Melbourne within Australia and has now been serving the path for more than 130 years, from 1887. The train trip is through landscapes that's a big part of Australia’s heart as well as history. The name of the train is the ‘Overland’, but it really may get improperly known as the ‘Overlander’ frequently. The Overland train was Australia’s initial interstate passenger train operating in between state capitals. The train initially started in 1887 as soon as the railway line in between Adelaide and Melbourne were first constructed. The train had been initially operated as a partnership with the Victorian Railways Organization and the South Australian Railways Corporation and also at that period it had been called the ‘The Inter-colonial Express’ and later on known as the ‘The Adelaide Express’. The train runs between Melbourne’s Spencer Street train station (now named Southern Cross Station) and also the Adelaide station in North Terrace, in Adelaide. The Overland used to operated overnight and provided sleeping carriages and sitting carriages and for some years an eating carriage.
The train got renamed as “The Overland” in 1926. In the late 1940s a new fleet of steel made air conditioned cars was built and put into the service. The initial steam locomotives were succeeded with diesel locomotives in 1953. In 1997 the train was bought out by Great Southern Railway following being private by the government. The service is now run by a private corporation with the trading name of Journey Beyond. After 120 years of operating as a night trip, the itinerary was changed to being a daytime train. The train trip now goes twice a week each way in between Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station, in Spencer Street, Melbourne to the Adelaide Parklands Terminal in Keswick, South Australia. The train does stop at several towns along the route to pick up as well as drop off passengers and goods. The train now departs Southern Cross every Tuesday and Saturday morning at 8:05am, arriving at Adelaide Parklands Station around 5:40pm. This journey continues practically all day. Returning, the Overland leaves Adelaide Parklands Station at 7:45am and reaches the Southern Cross stop about 6:50pm. The train has got two classes of travel, standard and premium (top class) and it has a lounge/dining carriage.
There is some political uncertainty around the Overland train. Costs of air travel in between Melbourne and Adelaide cost much less as opposed to train prices which makes it challenging for the Overland to be competitive considering the travel times. From 2007, the Overland has continued to operate having a $1.5 million yearly input coming from the Victorian State Government. The South Australian Government supports the service as part of a $1 million deal with the organization. Opinions have been made with the subsidies may not be moving forward with the present deal with the Victorian Government in position until June 2023. The South Australian state government discontinued helping the Overland back in 2018. The actual point for the subsidies will be the provision of the train program to rural towns between Melbourne and Adelaide since among those areas are extremely reliant on the Overland service since its their sole means of transportation for many.
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