General News
21 January, 2022
Hip Hooray for 135 years of the Overland
The Overland Passenger Train is celebrating its 135th year of transporting passengers between Melbourne and Adelaide.
THE Overland Passenger Train is celebrating its 135th year of transporting passengers between Melbourne and Adelaide.
Friends of the Overland encouraged residents to visit their local station on January 20 to see the train on its birthday trip.
About 50 people gathered at the Nhill station with flags, balloons and smiles when the train arrived where they then started singing Happy Birthday.
The train dropped off some passengers including newcomers to Nhill, and the conductors came out to say hello before continuing on the journey.The Overland then arrived at Dimboola station where around 15 people came to wave and celebrate.
At the Horsham station a similar size crowd was present and members of the Horsham Rural City Band performed on the platform when the train came.
Friends of the Overland administrator Mark Radford said that after a few years of uncertainty regarding the longevity of the train it was exciting to be celebrating this milestone.
“A couple of years ago we were worried if the train was going to keep going at all,” he said.
“It’s quite exciting that the government has made a commitment to keep it going and we’re hoping that the South Australia government might do the same thing to ensure that it does keep going for another 135 years.”
In 1887 the first Adelaide to Melbourne passenger service was a steam train called the Intercolonial Express.
The biggest celebration was on Friday morning in Melbourne when Journey Beyond, the train’s operator, staged a birthday event at Southern Cross Station from 7am before it departed for Adelaide.
To coincide with the 135th celebrations a 50 percent reduction in rail fares on the Overland is being offered for February and March 2022.
Rodger Dale, a long time train driver and later a safe worker inspector, said in the mid 80’s the Overland would carry around 2000 people a day.
“We had two divisions in the train that would get 1000 passengers each,” Mr Dale said.
“It hasn't run daily for many many years (the Overland).”
At the moment the Overland runs two times per week in each direction.
“The Dimboola passenger used to run twice a day everyday,” Mr Dale said.
Helen Woodhouse, known as ‘Helen of Nhill’, said adjusting the timetable of the Overland would mean more people catching the train.
“It comes through (the Overland) Sunday afternoon, gets down to Melbourne at about half past six, but then the return trip is Monday morning next morning,” she said.
“People go down to Melbourne to do their appointments and see their specialists and whatever they have to do, but then they have to wait for the following Friday to get back.
“If they fix that timetable I am sure there will be improvement on the passengers. It gives people the opportunity of doing their appointments or whatever they want to do.
“A little sprinter would be ideal.”
Mr Dale agrees on a “sprinter train”, and said a daily single carriage train could work.
“If they get big numbers, they could join it to another carriage and fit 150-200 people,” he said
“You have got people wanting to go to doctors and things, and there are buses in the morning but they're not much fun to old people.”
Mr Radford said the Friends of the Overland were also looking towards the future and how to further improve the Overland experience.
“We’re also looking forward to new opportunities for the train, particularly for the various stops along the line,” he said.
“So it becomes more than just a link between Adelaide and Melbourne but a link between the cities and all the communities along the way.
“We also encourage everyone to make the most of the discounted ticket prices and try the train over February and March.”
CELEBRATION: Sophie and Claire Mceldrew (Nhill) held the Australian flag to the passengers in the train. Photo: CHARLEE HARBERGER-FISCHER.