Australia Eguide - Travel Guides

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Flights
The four main carriers are Qantas, Jetstar, Tiger and Virgin Blue and there are other
smaller ones. Flights are operated to numerous destinations and price varies according to
allocation and competition.
Railways
The way to see Australia comfortably and economically is to purchase a rail pass. Few
visitors discover this. The majority buy bus passes. This is because of their
misunderstanding and because of superior marketing by the long distance bus companies.
Visitors believe that rail passes limit them to trains and they look on the map and see
relatively few railways in Australia. However, in fact, rail passes also permit the use of
the state bus services in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia, plus a limited
service in Queensland. You will find that you can go almost anywhere with a rail pass,
except the north-west and Tasmania (the latter not covered by the major bus passes
either). Unless the journey from Perth to Darwin and on to Alice Springs or Mt. Isa is one
of your major objectives, you will be better off with a rail pass.
Historically, the problem with Australian railways has been that each state constructed its
own and that each chose its own gauge. New South Wales chose a standard 4 feet 8½
inches gauge. Victoria chose a 5 feet 3 inches broad gauge. Queensland, Western
Australia and Tasmania chose a 3 feet 6 inches narrow gauge, and South Australia used
both the broad and the narrow gauges. Then, when the Commonwealth of Australia was
formed, a federally-operated trans-continental line was built to standard gauge. Thus no
single train could operate between any two capital cities, except between Melbourne and
Adelaide. It has taken more than a century to resolve this situation, and even then only
partially.
The states still operate to their own gauges, but there is now a standard gauge line from
Perth to Adelaide and on to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, although no single train
operates this long route. There are also standard gauge lines connecting Adelaide with
Sydney and with Alice Springs, and the latter line will soon continue to Darwin.
To the traveller, these gauge problems will be unimportant, except that he or she will
notice that it is still necessary to deal with several different railway companies.
Great Southern Railway has taken over the operation of what used to be the federal
(Commonwealth Railways, then Australian National Railways) lines. Three services are
operated and these will be the most important three services to the visitor.
They are: The Indian-Pacific Sydney - Adelaide - Perth
The Ghan Sydney / Melbourne - Adelaide - Alice Springs (- Darwin)
The Overland Melbourne - Adelaide
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