Great Southern Railway (Australia)
Encyclopedia
Great Southern Railway owned by Serco Asia Pacific, is a tourism business and rail transport operator in Australia
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GSR operates interstate passenger trains aimed at the tourist market:
The Ghan, Indian Pacific and Overland were operated until 1997 by Australian National Railways. As a Government enterprise, it was always unprofitable. The Australian Commonwealth sold ANR Passenger and Freight in 1997. Great Southern Railway was a consortium of Macquarie Bank, Serco Plc, and GB Railways
. GSR took over the operation of the Indian Pacific, The Ghan and The Overland passenger trains, and has operated them profitably since that time. Costs were reduced by renegotiating staff pay and conditions, and by extending the Ghan, which originally ran from Adelaide to Alice Springs, so that it ran once each week from Sydney and once each week from Melbourne. With completion of the railway from Alice Springs to Darwin, the Ghan now runs from Adelaide to Darwin. While GSR owns the passenger car fleet, Pacific National
provides hook and pull (locomotive
haulage) services.
The Southern Spirit is a luxury cruising train service, launched by Great Southern Railway on 17 June 2008, with the inaugural service running on 25 November 2008.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
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GSR operates interstate passenger trains aimed at the tourist market:
- The Indian Pacific (SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
–AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
–PerthPerth, Western AustraliaPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
) - The Ghan (Adelaide–Alice Springs–DarwinDarwin, Northern TerritoryDarwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
) - The Overland (MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
–Adelaide) - The Southern Spirit (various routes from November 2008)
The Ghan, Indian Pacific and Overland were operated until 1997 by Australian National Railways. As a Government enterprise, it was always unprofitable. The Australian Commonwealth sold ANR Passenger and Freight in 1997. Great Southern Railway was a consortium of Macquarie Bank, Serco Plc, and GB Railways
GB Railways
GB Railways was a company created in 1995 by Michael Schabas, Jeremy Long, Jim Morgan and Max Steinkopf to bid for British railway franchises. The company won the Anglia Railways rail franchise in 1997. In 1999 it successfully acquired the passenger services of Australian National Railways, in a...
. GSR took over the operation of the Indian Pacific, The Ghan and The Overland passenger trains, and has operated them profitably since that time. Costs were reduced by renegotiating staff pay and conditions, and by extending the Ghan, which originally ran from Adelaide to Alice Springs, so that it ran once each week from Sydney and once each week from Melbourne. With completion of the railway from Alice Springs to Darwin, the Ghan now runs from Adelaide to Darwin. While GSR owns the passenger car fleet, Pacific National
Pacific National
Pacific National is one of Australia's largest private rail freight businesses. Originally a joint venture between Patrick Corporation and Toll Holdings; it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Asciano Limited following the restructure of Toll Holdings....
provides hook and pull (locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
haulage) services.
The Southern Spirit is a luxury cruising train service, launched by Great Southern Railway on 17 June 2008, with the inaugural service running on 25 November 2008.