Indian Pacific

Indian Pacific

An Indian Pacific train at Werrington station
Overview
Service type	Transcontinental passenger rail
Status	Operating
Locale	Australia
First service	23 February 1970
Current operator(s)	Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions
Former operator(s)	Department of Railways New South Wales South Australian Railways Commonwealth Railways Western Australian Government Railways Australian National
Route
Termini	Sydney Central East Perth Terminal
Distance travelled	4,352 km (2,704.21 mi)
Average journey time	70.5-75 hours
Service frequency	Weekly
Line(s) used	Main Western Broken Hill Broken Hill-Crystal Brook Crystal Brook-Adelaide Trans-Australian Eastern Goldfields Eastern
On-board services
Seating arrangements	No[1]
Sleeping arrangements	Yes
Auto-rack arrangements	Yes
Technical
Rolling stock	Commonwealth Railways stainless steel carriage stock
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	115 km/h[2]
Average length	774 m (2,539 ft)[3]
Route map Legend East Perth Kalgoorlie Rawlinna Western Australia South Australia Cook Adelaide South Australia New South Wales Broken Hill Mount Victoria Sydney This diagram: view talk edit

The Indian Pacific is a weekly experiential tourism passenger train service that runs in Australia's east–west rail corridor between Sydney, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the shore of the Indian Ocean – thus, like its counterpart in the north–south corridor, The Ghan, one of the few truly transcontinental trains in the world. It first ran in 1970 after the completion of gauge conversion projects in South Australia and Western Australia, enabling for the first time a cross-continental rail journey that did not have a break of gauge.

The train has been rated as one of the great rail journeys of the world.^[4] Its route includes the world's longest straight stretch of railway track, a 478-kilometre (297 mi) stretch of the Trans-Australian Railway across the Nullarbor Plain.^[5]

The service was originally operated jointly by four government railway administrations: the Department of Railways New South Wales, South Australian Railways, Commonwealth Railways and Western Australian Government Railways, until February 1993 when Australian National took full ownership. In 1997, the Indian Pacific was sold to Great Southern Rail and, subsequently, branded as Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions then Journey Beyond during several changes in corporate ownership.

A one-way trip takes between 70.5 and 75 hours, depending on scheduling and daylight saving periods.^[6] As of 2022^[update], two levels of service were offered, branded as Platinum and Gold.^[7] A motorail service conveys passengers' motor vehicles on the train between Adelaide and Perth.^[8]