visit Albury Train Station while travelling Australia by train

If you don’t have a car or want to sit in a bus for hours on end, travelling Australia by train is an option to consider. Can you do a big lap of Australia by train? Unfortunately not. Train routes in Australia aren’t as extensive as the bus routes or highways in Australia and the train lines don’t go around Australia. But there are still some wonderful trips to take particularly in Australia’s eastern states that will let you discover Australia by train. 

Trivia: Did you know that the world’s longest straight stretch of railway track, a 478-kilometre or 297 miles stretch of the Trans-Australian Railway across the Nullarbor Plain? And Albury Train Station has the longest station in NSW.

Pros of Cons of Train Travel in Australia

Before I get into the different train routes to take to travel Australia, here are the pros and cons of such travel.

Pros of Travelling by Train in Australia

• If you don’t have a car, train travel is a great option
• High-speed trains link major centres
• You can get up and walk around the carriages
• There is usually a meal carriage where you can get some food
• Seats are comfy with two classes available
• For longer train trips you can get a ‘sleeper’ on some overnight train journeys. This will offset having to pay for accommodation.
• Large windows so you can see the landscape

Cons of Train Travel in Australia

• Routes are limited and are mostly in the Eastern States
• There is no Australia-wide train route – all routes are state based, each with own routes and ticketing systems.

Australia Train Travel Routes

Unfortunately Australia doesn’t have a national train system, they are state based. However, there are some great rail journey’s to be taken. Most have economy and first class seat tickets and some have sleeping quarters. There are 2 bucket list train journeys in Australia that are privately owned and run including:

• Indian Pacific (Sydney to Perth and vice versa), taking 3 days and stopping In Broken Hill, Adelaide before crossing The Nullarbor to Perth. 
• The Ghan (Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs and vice versa). This journey is 2,979 km in length and takes some 54 hours.

Australian Interstate Train Routes

• The Overland (Melbourne to Adelaide) takes some 10 hours and runs twice a week between these two capital cities.
• XPT (Express Passenger Train) (Sydney to Melbourne). This is one of the most popular services and rivals driving the Hume Highway that links Melbourne to Sydney. The train stops at a number of towns along the way including on the NSW/Victorian border at Albury – home of the longest train station in Australia.
• XPT (Sydney to Brisbane). Leaving Sydney Central Station to Brisbane Roma Street Station this train trip takes around 15 to 17 hours.

my sleeper on my overnight train trip from Melbourne to Sydney

Apart from the bucket list or long train journeys mentioned, Australia’s rail system is mostly concentrated in Australia’s eastern states. And is rather limited though, there are bus connections linking train stations to nearby towns.

If you are interested to travel Australia by train because you don’t have a car, check out the map following showing where the rail lines are in Australia. The map highlights the rail services on offer in each state.

train routes of Australia

State Based Train Trips

The Eastern states of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria have extensive train routes while Western Australia has limited train routes. South Australia and the Northern Territory, train services are privatised and operated by Journey Beyond. No passenger services currently operate in Tasmania.

To find out more information about travelling by train in each state, check out their official websites.

• NSW  Countrylink.
• The Sunshine State has Queensland Rail (QR) – Queensland Rail
• V/Line V/Line operates in Victoria.
• TransWA provides train services in Western Australia.

New South Wales (NSW) Train Travel

In NSW trains are operated by CountryLink. You can purchase one-way or return tickets between some major cities and towns. As well as suburban trains around Sydney taking you north, south and west there are Interurban trains. These trains can take you on great day trips from Sydney to places such as:

• The Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters
• Newcastle, 2.5 hours north of Sydney
• The South Coast train taking you to Wollongong and Kiama to see the Kiama Blowhole.
• The Southern Highlands to places such as Bowral, home of the legendary cricketer Donald Bradman.

A series of Xplorer services operate to main regional and rural towns such as:

• The Dubbo Xplorer travels from Sydney via Bathurst (home of Mount Panarama), Orange to Dubbo. If wanting to visit these regional NSW towns this train might be for you, particularly if wanting to visit the Western Plains Zoo.
• The Broken Hill Xplorer runs once-a-week and takes a full day to reach.
• Canberra Xplorer is a 4.5 hour trip between Sydney and Canberra. Stopping in the Southern Highlands town of Moss Vale then Goulburn and Queanbeyan. If you want to visit Australia’s capital city Canberra for a day, weekend or longer getaway, this might be an option if you are travelling Australia without a car.
• The Griffith Xplorer is a once a week service taking 9 hours from Sydney to reach Griffith in the Riverina region.

NSW Train Travel Passes

NSW has The Discovery Pass offering passes for 14 days, 30 days, 3 months and 6 months of train travel in NSW. There is a Backpacker Pass only available to international travellers.

Queensland Train Travel

Overall Queensland has more train routes than the other states.Queensland offer rail services along its East Coast and also out to some major towns with great names including:

• Spirit of Queensland travels the length of Queensland five times per week. The 1680km journey takes 25 hours.
• The Inlander – Townsville to Mount Isa, heart of the Queensland outback. This 970km journey stops at Charters Towers and Cloncurry and takes around 21 hours.
• Rockhampton Tilt Train – travels from Brisbane to Rockhampton via Bundaberg and Gladstone. The 639km trip takes 7.5 hours and connects with transport to the Southern Barrier Reef Islands. A rail bus service will get you to Hervey Bay for trips to Fraser Island.
• Spirit of the Outback travels from Brisbane to Rockhampton where it heads west through Emerald to Longreach. Great if you want to visit the Stockmans Hall of Fame or the QANTS Founders Museum. The full 1325km journey takes 26 hours and operates twice a week.
• The Gulflander is a tourist train travelling between Normanton and Croydon in the Queensland Gulf. The train is known as ‘the old Tin Hare’ and makes the 151 km journey once per week taking 5 hours.

Queensland Rail Passes

The Queensland Coastal Pass offers travel in one direction between Brisbane and Cairns. You can make unlimited stops and explore en route.

The Queensland Explorer Pass is valid for unlimited travel on Queensland Rail Travel Train services.

Victoria Train Travel

V/Line operates train services in Victoria. Regional services leave from Southern Cross Station to places such as Albury, Warrnambool, Ballarat and Bendigo.

Western Australia Train Travel

Western Australia has a limited train service so you will need a car or take a bus to get around this massive state. On saying that, there are two long-distance trains operating in WA.

• The Prospector is a fast train making 1-2 trips per day from East Perth to Kalgoorlie. The trip covers 653km and takes six hours and 45 minutes.
• The Australind travels between Perth and Bunbury on the coast south of Perth. The trip takes around 2.5 hours so many takes this as a day or weekend trip from Perth.

Are You Ready to Ride the Rails in Australia?