Interstate trains in Australia as elsewhere in the world have never recovered
from the inroads into their markets made by airliners and automobiles. Rail networks
were rationalised, lines closed and there was a concentration on suburban and inter-city
services with high passenger loads. The services that survived the resultant rail
rationalisation now service two constituencies of travellers: those needing to travel by
rail for health and other reasons and those choosing to do so because they treasure the
experience of long distance rail travel. In order to service the latter, there is now in
Australia a market for tourist trains, which unlike traveller trains operate on select
routes, offering a range of allures and attractions, both on and off the tracks. This paper
compares the experiences of travelling on a tourist train with that of travelling on
traveller trains and argues that both are inscribed with a secondary experience, one that
the traveller and the tourist does not necessarily encounter, the history of Australian rail.
Keywords: Australian rail history, Indian Pacific, intercontinental trains, luxury
trains, mobility theory, tourists/travellers.
