Australian Rail Travelcards

[edcayton]

A friend's daughter is going to Australia next year and wants to do at least some travel by train. Ed knows about trains so he must know!

 

I did say that there were people on here that knew all kinds of stuff, and that there were people who live in Oz, so if I may beg some advice.

 

She is thinking about using the Ghan to do either N-S or S-N, but stopping along the way. From what I have found out so far the train runs only once or twice a week and doesn't seem to stop at many places. Is this right? Are there any other trains that use this route?

 

Her other option is to use the East coast route for her vertical journey-is this a better bet? Are there any railcard deals that she should be aware of?

 

Her trip will finish with family in Perth. Uncle is a big cheese with RTZ and can get access to the Hammersley system but she has no interest in this.

 

Any info gratefully received

 

Ed

[milkman matt]

Hi Ed.

 

When was she planning on coming over? The Ghan Line pretty much runs through Desert country so there aren't a lot of places to stop at. I would suggest the coast route as an alternative

 

Given the size of our lovely country, I hope she is planning a reasonably long stay!

 

As to the question of tvael cards, I can only suggest looking up the web sites for the various state railways or for the commonwealth railway. Try googling Australian railways. Hope that is some help.

[kevinlms]

http://passes.railaustralia.com.au/pass/ausrail-pass

 

These passes cover long distance rail travel. As Milkanm Matt says, getting off some of these trains can be done, but you'll end up catching the same train, the next time it comes through.

 

Local city travel isn't included and you'd need to check the various state based sites for details on these.

 

In Victoria, you need a Myki card (somewhat similar to Oyster, but hot discussion will be found on the politics of this system, to say the least!).

 

www.myki.com.au

 

Hope this isn't too late.