The Overland is the renowned train which journeys between Adelaide and Melbourne within Australia and has now been traveling over the route for more than 130 years, beginning in 1887. The train journey is thru country side that's a big part of Australia’s heartland and also historical past. The name of this train is the ‘Overland’, but it will get inaccurately named the ‘Overlander’ often. The Overland train was Australia’s initial interstate passenger train trip running between state capitals. The Overland train initially begun in 1887 following the rail tracks in between Melbourne and Adelaide was built. The train had been at first run as a joint venture by the Victorian Railways Corporation and the South Australian Railways Corporation and also at this time it was known as the ‘The Inter-colonial Express’ and later called the ‘The Adelaide Express’. The train runs between Melbourne’s Spencer Street train station (now known as Southern Cross Station) and also the Adelaide train station in North Terrace, Adelaide. The Overland previously run as a night trip and included sleeping cars and seated cars and for some years an eating carriage.
This train was renamed as “The Overland” in 1926. In the late 1940s a fresh fleet of steel made air-conditioned cars was constructed and put into the train. The first steam engines were replaced with diesel powered engines in 1953. In 1997 the train was bought out by Great Southern Railway after being sold off from the state governments. The train currently is operated by a private business using the business name of Journey Beyond. After 120 years of operating over night, the schedule was altered to being a daytime train. The train trip now operates two times a week each way between Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station, in Spencer Street, in Melbourne to the Adelaide Parklands Station in Keswick, South Australia. The Overland will stop at quite a few towns along the route to pick up and drop off passengers and goods. The Overland at this point departs Melbourne every Tuesday and Saturday morning at 8:05am, getting to Adelaide Parklands Terminal around 5:40pm. This trip continues pretty much all day. Coming back, the Overland leaves Adelaide Parklands Terminal at 7:45am and reaches Melbourne's Southern Cross stop about 6:50pm. The train provides a couple of classes of travel, standard and premium (first class) and has a lounge/dining carriage.
There is a bit of political concern around the Overland. Costs of air travel between Melbourne and Adelaide cost a lot less than the Overland prices rendering it challenging for the Overland to be competitive considering the journey duration. Since 2007, the train continues to work using a $1.5 million yearly subsidy from the Victorian State Government. The South Australian Government supports the Overland as part of a $1 million agreement with the company. Comments have already been made with the subsidies will not be moving forward with all the present contract with the Victoria Government set up until June 2023. The South Australian government ceased assisting the train in 2018. The actual point for the financial aid would be the provision of the train program to outlying areas in between Melbourne and Adelaide since among those communities are very reliant on the Overland service as its their sole method of transportation for many people.