I recently took the train from Melbourne to Sydney with my son. It was part of a 3 week holiday around Melbourne and Sydney and I thought it would be a good way to get from one city to the other.
There are a few ways you can get from Melbourne to Sydney. I had discounted flying as it was too expensive and more hassle and I wasn’t able to drive there so the train seemed the best option.
If you are thinking of taking the train to Sydney, or vice versa, then it is probably worth booking. I booked the trip before we got to Australia which was ok to do but I could only book it a couple of weeks before due to a change in the online booking system.
The only issue I had was that it forced me to put in an Australian phone number rather than my UK one. Luckily I had a friend in Australia and I used her number. The only problem with that is, that is where the ticket info was sent to and not to my email address.
I booked us first class tickets as I thought the prices were very good anyway and first class wasn’t that much more expensive than standard class. First class gives you more leg room and you can lean back further. You are assigned a seat number and the train I was on was full so it probably is best to book in advance.
The daytime train leaves Melbourne at 8:30 am and gets into Sydney at around 8pm. It goes from Southern Cross Station, which is where the regional trains come in to. There is about a five minute walk within Southern Cross station to get to platform one where the Sydney train leaves so not too bad a connection. You can also get the overnight train but this didn’t really fit in with our plans.
If you want to, you can check in your luggage at the station but you need to do this at least half an hour before the train leaves. There are restrictions on the size of the luggage and also the weight. Maximum is 20 kg and maximum length is 70cm. There is a luggage office right near the platform where the train departs.
However, you can also take your luggage on the train with you and put it in the luggage racks at the end of each carriage. I did see people with luggage that looked bigger than the restrictions doing this.
When the train gets in to Melbourne it is cleaned and the seats are turned around so that they are all facing forwards which was a relief as I do get a bit travel sick.
The other thing that is good for those who get travel sick is that there are air vents above you and the train is not new so doesn’t go too smoothly!
There is a buffet car that sells hot and cold drinks, cakes, snacks and pies and various other things. Hot dinners are also served at lunchtime and at dinner time. You need to order these in advance (they contain round about an hour before and take orders) and then cook them to order. You can only get the hot dinner at lunchtime after Wagga Wagga. We shared the chicken pasta at lunchtime, which was really delicious and the beef roast dinner at dinner time, which was okay! The hot meals were a very reasonable $13.50.
One of the reasons I wanted to travel by train was to see the countryside between Melbourne and Sydney and although there wasn’t a massive amount of variety, it was exactly how I had imagined, a wide expense of trees and fields and farms, looking different to my native England, so pretty interesting to me!
It stops about 4 or 5 times on the way but as you can imagine the gap between stops is big.
As it is an old train, there are no charging points so if you are likely going to need to charge your phone then you will need a power bank.
Overall I would say it’s a good, cost-efficient way of getting from Melbourne to Sydney and vice versa
