by David Benton
Well at the moment im sitting in a internet cafe , in Brisbane Australia , while waiting for a train .
My trip sarted with a flight from New Zealand to Sydney NSW .
Sydeny international airport has its own underground rail station , which is privately owned and operated . this means theres quiet a hefty access charge ( $ 8 aud ), on top of any rail fare . i brought a day tripper ticket , for $ 15 unlimited travel on Sydneys train buses and ferries for a day .
My first ride was into Central Sydney .As well as my luggage i was carrying a large solar panel , which i was returning to the manufacterer for a warranty replacement .
This proved quite difficult to take down the esculators etc , but no officals questioned me taking it on the train . ( one joked that i could surf down the esculator on it ) . i made enquires at the rail info desk at the Airport on the nearest station to North Ryde , where the solar panel manufacterer hq was ) and was told Paramatta . this would prove to be expsensively wrong ) .
The train into Sydney is a standard sydney commuter train , Electric double deck , woth doors each end of the carriages , over the bogies . i sat near the doors , and still had a good view . Nice ride into Sydney , along a busy 6 track railway line . arriving at Sydney central station , i spotted the Indian pacific train sitting at the latform , waiting for its departure to Perth , Western Australia .
I also spotted some old carriages on the side of the platform , that looked as though they had been converted to Accomadation .
I found out it was a youth hostel , and after quite a trek under the station , i was at Railway square , and the front of the hostel . Unfortunatley the carriages were full , but i booked into the normal part of the hostel, which is the old parcels shed of the railway station .
By this time was sick of carting the big solar panel around , so after a quick clean up , i lugged it back to the station to find a train to Parramatta . unfortunately i couldnt find an info desk to confirm this was the nearest station . the Ride to Paramatta was interesting , in that this is the mainline to the west ( Through the blue mountains ) , and to teh north . So i spottedd a few frieght trains as well .
Arriving at parramatta station , there were no buses going anywhere near North ryde , so i flagged a taxi down . The driver said it was at least !/2 hour drive away , and i should have gone to Epping Station . By now , i was getting late for my appointment , so i took the taxi .
$ 45 later , i was at the HQ slighlty late for my Appointment .
After that i didnt want to shell out $ 45 for a taxi again , so i jumped on a local bus , that had Circular Quay as its destinaation . Unfortunatley it was a very local bus , winding its way through many suburbs on its way back to central Sydney . But it was an interesting look at surburban sydney life . It also passed through Darling Harbour , which has a monrail route , i saw a monorail train , and was going to return to have a ride , but never got around to it .
Circular Quay is a bus train , and ferry interchange point , next to the opera house . I grabbed a quick bite ot eat , and jumped on the first ferry leaving . ( the beauty of the daytripper ticket , you dont need to worry where your heading !). it turned out to be heading across the harbour to Mossman , a residental area up an inlet filled with pleasure boats .The trip provided good views of the harbour bridge , and harbour , i stayed on the boat , and returned to circular Quay . I decided to take a train that would cross the Harbour bridge , which turned out to have good views of the road traffic , but not much of a view of the harbour etc . I stayed on the train till i got to Hornsby , and interesting ride through the sydney suburbs . by the time the train got there it was dark , so i took an express train back to Sydney central . This was a service from Newcastle , Which only made 2 stops back to Central .
The next day i was booked on the 7.15 a.m Xpt train to Coffs harbour , Northen NSW , and as my flight had left New Zealand at 6 am , i decided to forego Sydneys nitelife in favour of a early nite .
The xpt is Australias version of the British Hst trainset , Nearly identical ,but downrated to 100 MPH , and with suspension more suitable for "colonial" track . however the track out of Sydney ids in good condition ,and the ride was very comfortable . As we were heading out against the tide of incoming commuter trains , we passed many commuters , makinfg me wish i had the video camera with me .
About 15 minutes after departure , the buffet car opened , and i got toast and teas for breakfast . they give you a cardboard tray to carry it on , you keep this for the journey , taking it back to the buffetcar each time you want more food . ( in my case cups of tea , i drink heaps ) .
theres a good selection of snack type foods .
The ride from Sydney , through the suburbs to Newcastle , proved to be the most interesting part of the trip . sydney has lots of National parks surrounding it , and we passed therough several of these . As we hit the coast , we wound around spectacular inlets and bays . If anyone is in Sydney with limited time , i would recomend a return trip to Newcastle .After Newcastle we passed through the hunter valley , and i was surprised that we were running on a 6 track mainline again . It soon became obvious why , as we passsed several coal trains . These bring coal from the valley to a port near Newcastle .
The buffet car announced they were serving Scones for morning tea , which was rather quaint , and came through handing out reservations for morning tea . apparently they make the scones onboard to suit the number of reservations , and 1/2 hour later they mae the announcemnet for passengers to come and pick up thier scones + tea ( $ 5 ) from the cafe car . the same procedure was followed for hot meals for lunch ( about $8 ) . The scenery above the Hunter valley became abit boring , and i dozed off to sleep several times . The line is very windy and the train speed was quite slow . Mostly running in forests , and often with a high wire fence between the tracks and the trees .As we got closer to coffs Harbour there was more farmland , a few tunnels , and we crossed several large rivers . We also crossed a couple of long frieght trains .
Finally we arrived at coffs harbour , more or less ontime at 4pm or so , and i was quite glad to be taking a break there.
We arrived around 4pm , i was taking the train onto Brisbane at 1am the next morning . so i checked my bags in the baggage room and walked into town . Australian towns are very spread out . the town wasnt much , i picked up a couple of books to read , then took a nature walk besides a creek down to the sea . which was quite nice , but getting dark . i headed back into town to look for entertainment and a meal , but both were hard to come by . So i ended up with a snack and heading back to the railway station to await my train . a couple of frieghts and the passenger train going the other way passed trhough , then my train arrived ontime at 1am . it immediately showeed the bad side of travelling coach at nite . a rather large man sprawled over my seat , and a rahter loud lady talking to her kids in the seat in front . looks like no sleep for me i thought , but i must have been tired , cos next thing i knew , we were on the outskirts of Brisbane . quick cup of tea form the cafe car , ad we were passing through the frieght yards ( multiqauge , standard form Nsw , narrow form Queensland . we pulled into brisbane station about 15 minutes late , which would make it a tight turnaround , as the train heads back to Sydney after a hour . wehter it left ontime i didnt hang around to find out . bit a tight schedule after a 15 hour journey .
Overall i was impressed with te nsw xpt operation . it was certainly good value , with advance purchase my ticket from Sydney to Brisbane , ( around 900 km ) was $ 58 , including my one stopover . crew was good and friendly , and the cafe food was good value and acceptable qaulity . the train was full , and there was a crowd waiting to board it for the trip[ back to sydney . this is in spite of discount airfares of around the same price for the same trip . hopefully the trains will be sped up , but the north coast route is very curvy , and it would take alot to speed it up . it is on the agenda though , but mainly for frieght trains benefit i believe .
My trip sarted with a flight from New Zealand to Sydney NSW .
Sydeny international airport has its own underground rail station , which is privately owned and operated . this means theres quiet a hefty access charge ( $ 8 aud ), on top of any rail fare . i brought a day tripper ticket , for $ 15 unlimited travel on Sydneys train buses and ferries for a day .
My first ride was into Central Sydney .As well as my luggage i was carrying a large solar panel , which i was returning to the manufacterer for a warranty replacement .
This proved quite difficult to take down the esculators etc , but no officals questioned me taking it on the train . ( one joked that i could surf down the esculator on it ) . i made enquires at the rail info desk at the Airport on the nearest station to North Ryde , where the solar panel manufacterer hq was ) and was told Paramatta . this would prove to be expsensively wrong ) .
The train into Sydney is a standard sydney commuter train , Electric double deck , woth doors each end of the carriages , over the bogies . i sat near the doors , and still had a good view . Nice ride into Sydney , along a busy 6 track railway line . arriving at Sydney central station , i spotted the Indian pacific train sitting at the latform , waiting for its departure to Perth , Western Australia .
I also spotted some old carriages on the side of the platform , that looked as though they had been converted to Accomadation .
I found out it was a youth hostel , and after quite a trek under the station , i was at Railway square , and the front of the hostel . Unfortunatley the carriages were full , but i booked into the normal part of the hostel, which is the old parcels shed of the railway station .
By this time was sick of carting the big solar panel around , so after a quick clean up , i lugged it back to the station to find a train to Parramatta . unfortunately i couldnt find an info desk to confirm this was the nearest station . the Ride to Paramatta was interesting , in that this is the mainline to the west ( Through the blue mountains ) , and to teh north . So i spottedd a few frieght trains as well .
Arriving at parramatta station , there were no buses going anywhere near North ryde , so i flagged a taxi down . The driver said it was at least !/2 hour drive away , and i should have gone to Epping Station . By now , i was getting late for my appointment , so i took the taxi .
$ 45 later , i was at the HQ slighlty late for my Appointment .
After that i didnt want to shell out $ 45 for a taxi again , so i jumped on a local bus , that had Circular Quay as its destinaation . Unfortunatley it was a very local bus , winding its way through many suburbs on its way back to central Sydney . But it was an interesting look at surburban sydney life . It also passed through Darling Harbour , which has a monrail route , i saw a monorail train , and was going to return to have a ride , but never got around to it .
Circular Quay is a bus train , and ferry interchange point , next to the opera house . I grabbed a quick bite ot eat , and jumped on the first ferry leaving . ( the beauty of the daytripper ticket , you dont need to worry where your heading !). it turned out to be heading across the harbour to Mossman , a residental area up an inlet filled with pleasure boats .The trip provided good views of the harbour bridge , and harbour , i stayed on the boat , and returned to circular Quay . I decided to take a train that would cross the Harbour bridge , which turned out to have good views of the road traffic , but not much of a view of the harbour etc . I stayed on the train till i got to Hornsby , and interesting ride through the sydney suburbs . by the time the train got there it was dark , so i took an express train back to Sydney central . This was a service from Newcastle , Which only made 2 stops back to Central .
The next day i was booked on the 7.15 a.m Xpt train to Coffs harbour , Northen NSW , and as my flight had left New Zealand at 6 am , i decided to forego Sydneys nitelife in favour of a early nite .
The xpt is Australias version of the British Hst trainset , Nearly identical ,but downrated to 100 MPH , and with suspension more suitable for "colonial" track . however the track out of Sydney ids in good condition ,and the ride was very comfortable . As we were heading out against the tide of incoming commuter trains , we passed many commuters , makinfg me wish i had the video camera with me .
About 15 minutes after departure , the buffet car opened , and i got toast and teas for breakfast . they give you a cardboard tray to carry it on , you keep this for the journey , taking it back to the buffetcar each time you want more food . ( in my case cups of tea , i drink heaps ) .
theres a good selection of snack type foods .
The ride from Sydney , through the suburbs to Newcastle , proved to be the most interesting part of the trip . sydney has lots of National parks surrounding it , and we passed therough several of these . As we hit the coast , we wound around spectacular inlets and bays . If anyone is in Sydney with limited time , i would recomend a return trip to Newcastle .After Newcastle we passed through the hunter valley , and i was surprised that we were running on a 6 track mainline again . It soon became obvious why , as we passsed several coal trains . These bring coal from the valley to a port near Newcastle .
The buffet car announced they were serving Scones for morning tea , which was rather quaint , and came through handing out reservations for morning tea . apparently they make the scones onboard to suit the number of reservations , and 1/2 hour later they mae the announcemnet for passengers to come and pick up thier scones + tea ( $ 5 ) from the cafe car . the same procedure was followed for hot meals for lunch ( about $8 ) . The scenery above the Hunter valley became abit boring , and i dozed off to sleep several times . The line is very windy and the train speed was quite slow . Mostly running in forests , and often with a high wire fence between the tracks and the trees .As we got closer to coffs Harbour there was more farmland , a few tunnels , and we crossed several large rivers . We also crossed a couple of long frieght trains .
Finally we arrived at coffs harbour , more or less ontime at 4pm or so , and i was quite glad to be taking a break there.
We arrived around 4pm , i was taking the train onto Brisbane at 1am the next morning . so i checked my bags in the baggage room and walked into town . Australian towns are very spread out . the town wasnt much , i picked up a couple of books to read , then took a nature walk besides a creek down to the sea . which was quite nice , but getting dark . i headed back into town to look for entertainment and a meal , but both were hard to come by . So i ended up with a snack and heading back to the railway station to await my train . a couple of frieghts and the passenger train going the other way passed trhough , then my train arrived ontime at 1am . it immediately showeed the bad side of travelling coach at nite . a rather large man sprawled over my seat , and a rahter loud lady talking to her kids in the seat in front . looks like no sleep for me i thought , but i must have been tired , cos next thing i knew , we were on the outskirts of Brisbane . quick cup of tea form the cafe car , ad we were passing through the frieght yards ( multiqauge , standard form Nsw , narrow form Queensland . we pulled into brisbane station about 15 minutes late , which would make it a tight turnaround , as the train heads back to Sydney after a hour . wehter it left ontime i didnt hang around to find out . bit a tight schedule after a 15 hour journey .
Overall i was impressed with te nsw xpt operation . it was certainly good value , with advance purchase my ticket from Sydney to Brisbane , ( around 900 km ) was $ 58 , including my one stopover . crew was good and friendly , and the cafe food was good value and acceptable qaulity . the train was full , and there was a crowd waiting to board it for the trip[ back to sydney . this is in spite of discount airfares of around the same price for the same trip . hopefully the trains will be sped up , but the north coast route is very curvy , and it would take alot to speed it up . it is on the agenda though , but mainly for frieght trains benefit i believe .
Moderator worldwide railfan , Rail travel & trip reports
The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.
The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.