Hi. I am looking into what type of national rail passes are available in Australia. I have yet to done a detail search (don't bark at me, please)but wanted to know if it was possible and/or wise to travel the country via train. I came from a 2-month Euro trip using the Eurail and found it wonderful. I know that the rail system isn't the same at all but I wanted people's advice. Thank you.
Rail Passes-Aussie
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Hi, quebec!
Australia's rail systems are state-based, so there's no provision, as in Europe, for a single pass to use for all. In fact, the states actually made independent decisions on rail gauge width, so that until the last half of the last century, you couldn't travel from, say, Sydney to Brisbane or Sydney to Melbourne without changing trains at the border! Thankfully, those days are gone, and their are a few privately-run trains that move between states (the Ghan, which has been in the news lately, being one). You need to have a look at this website, which will direct you to various other sites where the question of multi-train passes might be answered: http://www.gsr.com.au/.
Have a great time, but be warned: bring a FAT wallet, as some of the prices you will see, pass or no pass, will make your jaw drop!
Hi Quebec,
I've never done this myself, but I've heard of hop-on-hop-off bus passes that one can get for Australia. I believe buses go to more places than trains do, so give one more flexibility. I've received the impression, from people who've used them, that the hop-on-hop-off bus passes are reasonably priced.
The difference between Europe and Australia (and for that matter the difference between Europe and Canada) is that Europe is way more densely populated. Australia has something like 20 million people in an area the size of the USA's lower 48 states. The economies of scale are entirely different.
As Alan and Judy have said, I don't think such a thing exists, also the last trip I did which was Melborune to Brisbane was expensive. There are a lot of good deals now not only on Virgin Blue but also on Qantas, the distances are vaste. You no doubt though can get passes within a network, e.g if you are traveling along the Gold Coast and want to hop from place to place in the area, and suburban areas no doubt you can get weekly passes as an example. Traveling though the long distances flying is probably the best way. It's amazing when you see a map of Australia super-imposed on a map of North America or Europe to actually comprehend the size. It still seems that say Brisbane to Cairns is just a 'hop' up the coast, but it's a real long way!