International Railroad Discussion > Adelaide to Brisbane: Australia's new luxury train unveiled

 Starting December 6, the train named the Great Southern will travel the length of southeast Australia with stops at Grampians, Canberra, the beaches of New Source Wales enroute to Brisbane. The trip will take 3 days and 2 nights. It is a luxury train and "promises to be one of the world's great new generation of railway journeys, from Adelaide to Brisbane." It's also described as a "slow train" that is all about slowing down yourself," CEO Chris Tallent says. He also said more than a year of negotiations with the National Rail Freight Corporation have gone into planning the new route.

Here is another quote that directly applies to the US long-distance train service. "People love the romance of rail," Tallent says. "But if we had kept on doing what [the previous owners] were doing, we'd be in trouble."Until 2013, Tallent explains, "it was a transport tourism business … we've transformed it into high-value, more experiential adventure". Amtrak currently is going the direction that Australia was prior to 2013 and the luxury trains envisioned by American Orient Express and to some extent by Iowa Pacific's Chicago-New Orleans Pullman service on Amtrak CONO have failed. Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson seems determined to make long distance travel as sterile and uncomfortable as their commuter counterparts.

Here is the link to the article:
https://www.traveller.com.au/great-southern-train-from-adelaide-to-brisbane-australias-new-luxury-train-unveiled-h188z7

News clip of the first departure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3Uy17PDDSM

More videos of the new service also at the you tube.

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Great Southern is the rail corporation that also operates the "Ghan" and "Indian Pacific" tourist trains.