What is the Indian Pacific train?
The Indian Pacific is a passenger train that crosses Australia between Sydney and Perth, linking the Pacific and Indian oceans. The journey covers about 4,352 kilometres and takes around four days.
The train first ran in 1970, after a standard-gauge line was completed across the country, allowing a single train to travel coast to coast without changing gauges.
Its route passes through the Blue Mountains, Broken Hill, Adelaide and the Nullarbor Plain, then Kalgoorlie before reaching Perth. On the Nullarbor it travels along the world's longest straight stretch of railway, about 478 kilometres.
On board
The Indian Pacific is operated by Journey Beyond as a premium tourist train, with sleeping cabins, dining cars and lounges. Passengers can join off-train excursions, such as stops at Broken Hill and the remote settlement of Cook.
Cook, in South Australia, was once a railway town but now has very few residents, and the train stops there to refuel and let passengers stretch their legs.
The train's emblem is a wedge-tailed eagle, symbolising its long flight across the continent. Many travellers take the journey as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Did You Know?
The Trans-Australian Railway across the Nullarbor was completed in 1917.