NSW TrainLink Xplorer train from Broken Hill to Sydney

[Mattg]

This week I caught the NSW TrainLink Xplorer train from Broken Hill to Sydney. I thought a few people might be interested in reading about the experience.

Firstly, this is a long trip. The train leaves Broken Hill at 7.45am (CST) and arrives in Sydney at 9.38pm (AEST), giving a journey time of more than 13 hours. It only runs once per week - leaving Sydney on Mondays, and returning from Broken Hill on Tuesdays.

Despite this, I actually really enjoyed the journey. The NSW TrainLink Xplorer train is nothing fancy but it's sufficiently comfortable and I enjoyed watching how the landscape changed quite dramatically as we travelled through outback NSW.

Firstly, some info about the Xplorer train. There are only 3 carriages, with one carriage for first class and two for economy class.



Toilets are available at the end of every carriage, and there are normally drinking water fountains but these have been switched off since the covid-19 outbreak.

There is a takeaway food & drink "buffet" service available from Car A (the first class carriage), and hot main meals were available for purchase for lunch and dinner for $10.50 each. Beer, wine and cider is available after 12pm for $8.

The four meal choices were: roast chicken with veggies; Thai green chicken curry; vegetarian yellow curry or spaghetti bolognese. I had the Thai chicken curry for lunch, which was OK:



For dinner, I tried the roast chicken which was oily, soggy and gross:



At least the beer was good!



The train itself is old and a bit noisy. There's definitely no wifi or any other sort of entertainment, and not even USB or charging outlets at each seat. So you'll need to BYO entertainment. But the seats are comfortable enough. It's a 2-2 configuration in both economy and first class; the main difference is that the first class seats have a bit more legroom and recline further. First class was sold out on this particular train so I booked economy class, and it was fine.

This is what the seats look like:



As you can see, the legroom in economy class is fine:



Although this is a commuter train, most of the passengers seemed to be retirees returning from week-long holidays in Broken Hill. There were also a few backpackers and train enthusiasts. Most people were on holiday and there was a nice atmosphere on board. Everyone was friendly and up for a chat, which helped pass the time a bit. Due to social distancing, only 50% of seats were sold and everyone had a free seat next to them.

 

[Mattg]

Now onto the scenery. As we travelled over 1,000km it changed quite a bit along the way!

This was the train at Broken Hill:



After leaving Broken Hill, the landscape was a striking orange/red colour and very dry.





Just before we got to Menindee station, we passed the Menindee Lakes. Last time I took this train, the lakes were full of water. This time, cows were roaming around on them.



There were some grape and orange farms around Menindee.




These photos are from the next leg to Darnick.




Nobody got on or off the train at Darnick, which was tiny.

 

[Mattg]

The next station was Ivanhoe, where we stopped for 6 minutes and everyone was allowed off to stretch their legs.




After that, the landscape slowly became greener.

The next stop was Euabalong West.



It looked like there had even been some flooding around there.




Next stop, Condobolin.



From there, it was on to Parkes.



There was a crew change in Parkes. The Dubbo-based crew left the train here and were replaced by a Sydney-based crew. We had about 10 minutes to stretch legs and get some fresh air while the changeover took place.

From there, the scenery was mostly farms etc.



The Broken Hill line joins the main railway line (which comes from Dubbo) just south of Orange. This train stops at Orange, and to get there we had to reverse into the station. As we arrived at Orange early, we then had about a 15-minute stop there. That was the last opportunity to get off the train before Sydney.

The sun set around Blayney.



After this point, we obviously couldn’t see anything out the window although there was still 4 hours to go. If you do the trip in the other direction (or in summer), you would also get to see the Blue Mountains.

 

[Melburnian1]

I've read that Menindee Lakes were filling due to excellent rains (flooding) in Queensland making its way down the Darling.

Last time I went by train from Broken Hill I saw lots of emus and a few roos. (But I always see roos in daylight on the Sydney - Canberra train between Goulburn and Queanbeyan, as it's away from the highway).

The Broken Hill line strictly is the 'main line', not the Dubbo line, as it's really the Sydney to Perth (and Adelaide) line. There's a major (and growing) intermodal terminal at Parkes as the freight trains can 'double stack' containers west of Parkes, but not to Sydney.

 

[VPS]

Looks good Matt - I've put it on the list to do some time

 

[moa999]

Should note that new trains are on the way and due to enter into service from 2023.

Regional Rail | Transport for NSW

A new regional NSW fleet will replace the ageing XPT trains between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and major regional centres.

www.transport.nsw.gov.au

 

[Mattg]

I've read that Menindee Lakes were filling due to excellent rains (flooding) in Queensland making its way down the Darling.

Last time I went by train from Broken Hill I saw lots of emus and a few roos. (But I always see roos in daylight on the Sydney - Canberra train between Goulburn and Queanbeyan, as it's away from the highway).

The Broken Hill line strictly is the 'main line', not the Dubbo line, as it's really the Sydney to Perth (and Adelaide) line. There's a major (and growing) intermodal terminal at Parkes as the freight trains can 'double stack' containers west of Parkes, but not to Sydney.

No evidence of water in Menindee Lakes yet. Hopefully it will arrive soon.

Yes, spotted lots of emus, rabbits and kangaroos.

 

[PineappleSkip]

The Broken Hill line strictly is the 'main line', not the Dubbo line, as it's really the Sydney to Perth (and Adelaide) line

The “main western line” always ran from Sydney to Dubbo to Bourke. The line from Orange to Parkes/Forbes was built as a branch. Orange to Parkes now sees very little traffic as freight is now generally routed from Parkes to Sydney via Cootamundra.

First time I did this journey, in reverse, it was overnight sleeper from Sydney to Parkes on the Forbes Mail, change at Parkes next morning for breakfast at the refreshment room, then the Silver City Comet all day to Broken Hill, change again to a mixed train midnight on Friday to Peterborough, which I think was once called the Broken Hill Mail, 5 am arrival and another change at Peterborough, the only break of gauge on that trip, to a bluebird railcar the rest of the way to Adelaide, with a second refreshment room breakfast in Riverton, takeaway because the stop was short.

That was a while ago. I still miss the Comet!

cheers skip

 

[Mattg]

The “main western line” always ran from Sydney to Dubbo to Bourke. The line from Orange to Parkes/Forbes was built as a branch. Orange to Parkes now sees very little traffic as freight is now generally routed from Parkes to Sydney via Cootamundra.

First time I did this journey, in reverse, it was overnight sleeper from Sydney to Parkes on the Forbes Mail, change at Parkes next morning for breakfast at the refreshment room, then the Silver City Comet all day to Broken Hill, change again to a mixed train midnight on Friday to Peterborough, which I think was once called the Broken Hill Mail, 5 am arrival and another change at Peterborough, the only break of gauge on that trip, to a bluebird railcar the rest of the way to Adelaide, with a second refreshment room breakfast in Riverton, takeaway because the stop was short.

That was a while ago. I still miss the Comet!

cheers skip

Speaking of the Silver City Comet, one of the old trains is currently on display at the Broken Hill railway & historical museum. You can even walk through it, as I did this week.

The current seats on the Xplorer look a bit more comfortable, but I was impressed with the large kitchen and dining area on the comet.

 

[p--and--t]

Really liking these alternative trip reports.

Lounge reports get a bit tedious after a while especially when we can't fly and even more so for those imprisoned in Australia's second largest city.

 

[jenib]

Thank you. I like trains as much as I like planes and it was great to read your report

 

[Maggs]

Thank you for the excellent report. I’m planning to do this trip once I can get into NSW from Victoria,

 

[prozac]

Thank you Mattg.

 

[SydneySwan]

Great report.

 

[Townsend]

Thanks Matt. Having recently been caught in floods near Lake Mungo, I am surprised that there is no water in Menindee Lakes. Shows us how widespread rain has to be to break a drought.

 

[UP4014]

The Sliver City Comet , the first air con train in Australia, I went out at the end of 1989 for one it's final runs and snapped this at Orange. They then put two sitting cars on the back of the Indian Pacific but that ended after about 25 years and this service described by the OP started.

https://flic.kr/p/2gPFLH5

 

[Buzzard]

We did Adelaide - Broken Hill - Sydney last year on the Indian Pacific. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately we missed a lot of the scenery leaving The Hill as dinner was served shortly after departure and then darkness descends and it's time for bed.
I would really like to do The Hill to Sydney during daylight.

 

[Mattg]

We did Adelaide - Broken Hill - Sydney last year on the Indian Pacific. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately we missed a lot of the scenery leaving The Hill as dinner was served shortly after departure and then darkness descends and it's time for bed.
I would really like to do The Hill to Sydney during daylight.

You won't get a bed on the Xplorer But I imagine it would also be a lot cheaper. The economy class fare from Broken Hill to Sydney is around $99, and first class isn't much more.

 

[Melburnian1]

I did the trip ex Broken Hill recently: it was great, but we left as night fell, electing to travel to Sydney by daylight.

While the views of Menindee Lakes are not extensive, water had commenced (partially?) filling these renowned lakes, with according to media such as 'The Australian', more to come.

The buffet ran out of hot meals for lunch as the staff had sold more than expected the previous day from Sydney, which was annoying, but at Orange more were to be loaded. NSW TrainLink, like the airlines, is booking every seat now but when I travelled, that still hadn't occurred.

I enjoyed longer stops at Menindee, Ivanhoe and Euabalong West than Mattg (perhaps we had a faster driver?) There were people boarding at all three, including backpackers who must have been in Oz for a long time given the relative lack of inbound travellers since March 2020. Ivanhoe lost its gaol a small number of years ago so its population has probably declined from the little it had.

The tracks were smooth and unlike Mattg I didn't perceive the railcars to be super noisy.

Don't forget as per Mattg's comments elsewhere one can buy a Discovery Pass to give unlimited travel for up to six months. No seniors/pensioner concession but the adult price of $300 for 14 days first class or $550 for six months (!) is very reasonable. It's only a small price rise from economy class: the extra is worth every cent.

A long time ago, I have also been once on the 'Silver City Comet' that from a fading memory was excellent but rather noisy. I also travelled on those NSW mail trains but they've long disappeared into history.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Menindee lakes currently 57.7% full according to NSW Water.

The Comet had the advantage (?) of a separate engine out the front rather than underfloor engines. So the closer to the engine the noisier the ride. My recollection was that it was a pretty rough ride, which wouldn't make it quiet. The two sets that didn't go to Broken Hill were bought by NSW Rail Transport Museum and Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum, and have been shunted around over the years. DSRM lists a complete set in its last (2013) inventory, which may be parked at Paterson. I tracked down one engine (looks pretty sad) and a first class passenger car in the NSW Rail Museum at Thirlmere. You can do a virtual tour of the first class carriage here. I suspect the rest of the set has been quietly scrapped.

Cheers skip