I think Serco made it pretty obvious that they considered the Overland a non-core business that they were only running at the behest of the SA and Vic governments; I think with Allegro (as with Serco) will be happy to accept more money to keep it going but (as with Serco) it's just not a core part of their business that they'll actively promote.
Just throwing it out there, but id say that NSW Trains would be the best placed to run it. V/Line doesn't have ultra long distance services, but NSW Trains does. They could loop the service using XPTs from Southern Cross, i.e. Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide-Melbourne-Sydney. Now, there are umpteen reasons why it wont happen (accreditation, government priorities, NSW not doing the work of Vic and SA unless it gets paid in full for it, XPT availability, crewing, unions, etc etc etc etc etc) but if you're looking for someone with that experience, they are there. Qld Rail might be too but of course, narrow gauge trains don't work so well on standard track....I think Serco made it pretty obvious that they considered the Overland a non-core business that they were only running at the behest of the SA and Vic governments; I think with Allegro (as with Serco) will be happy to accept more money to keep it going but (as with Serco) it's just not a core part of their business that they'll actively promote.
Could the service then be better in Vline Passenger hands rather than the new owners?
I can;t see any value in moving management and delivery of the service to SA government as they have no recent experience in running any long distance services.
The SA Government wouldn't want it!I think Serco made it pretty obvious that they considered the Overland a non-core business that they were only running at the behest of the SA and Vic governments; I think with Allegro (as with Serco) will be happy to accept more money to keep it going but (as with Serco) it's just not a core part of their business that they'll actively promote.
Could the service then be better in Vline Passenger hands rather than the new owners?
I can;t see any value in moving management and delivery of the service to SA government as they have no recent experience in running any long distance services.
Time is starting to run away if the Victorian government was going to re-fund the service for another two or three years: The option of Motorail ceases at the end of next month and you still can't book a service on the GSR site beyond the 31st of December.Nor can you do so in person. The opinion of some booking office staff remains that the Overdue is a dead duck.
Yeah, you can't actually buy a ticket over the counter, it's been that way for a while. There's apparently only two and half months of the service left now anyway?Time is starting to run away if the Victorian government was going to re-fund the service for another two or three years: The option of Motorail ceases at the end of next month and you still can't book a service on the GSR site beyond the 31st of December.Nor can you do so in person. The opinion of some booking office staff remains that the Overdue is a dead duck.
If Victoria is going to do something the time to do so was long ago. To throw a few gold coins into the hat at the 11th hour and 59th minute does little good when all potential business has already been told "Sorry- closed"
I'm inclined to agree with Gwiwer, I think time is being deliberately ran out.I agree.
Unless, of course, some way was found to make this into a viable service with an enthusiastic operator
the only thing worse than subsidising (at the price of a plane ticket per passenger!) this ridiculous non-service would handing over the money and literally getting nothing in return.
I have no specific information, but it wouldn't surprise me if the future of Melbourne to Adelaide passenger rail services is as a southward extension of the Ghan so that it runs weekly from Melbourne to Darwin via Adelaide. In that way the fares could be higher and it makes it just that bit easier to attract potential travellers from the Melbourne market.Extending the Ghan to Melbourne has been tried in the past and it was unsuccessful.
It's not entirely a story of doom and gloom but longer haul services have been decimated to the point where only tourist trains are viable; the public voted with their feet to make them un-viable and I think in the case of the Overland the (Victorian) government just hasn't wanted it to be an attractive or easy-to-use option for a long time because they've wanted to pull the pin for a while.Totally agree
As we've seen with the success of the Bracks modernisation of V/line - I don't like to use the 'Regional Fast Rail' acronym because it is not particularly fast! - short-haul runs are where rail can most effectively win customers back and relieve congestion on the roads so that's where governments have been shovelling money, not on long haul (with the possible exception of the reinstatement of Bairnsdale train?).
I agree with previous comments that their check-in requirements are ridiculous. I remember a few years ago boarding at SCS 15 minutes prior to departure, without knowing about their 1hr rule, and getting a talking-down from the staff member at the door about being "late". I still don't know what the issue was, especially considering I only had carry-on baggage. Another time I turned up at Keswick 1hr prior as instructed, and the check-in counter wasn't even open yet. When it opened, the staff just told me to make my way to the platform, without processing anything, as again I only had carry-on baggage. Then at the platform the carriages were still locked and everyone had to wait! It was very frustrating.This is a problem identified time and again on this forum - it really puts people off being told that they have to be there an hour beforehand like an aircraft when clearly there's no need for it if you have no booked baggage. Gwiwer has a theory that it's part of the conspiracy to put people off using it and I'm inclined to agree.
I think The Overland should focus more on destinations mid journey, given their uncompetitiveness on the full route. There is an enormous market of (mainly international) tourists who want to do Melbourne-Great Ocean Road-Grampians-Adelaide and visa-versa. V/line already covers Ararat-Grampians-GOR-Melb but it's shame they can't work closer together to align them properly.This has also been discussed a lot; I guess the most significant obstacle would be the infrequent running. I've seen different tourism operators picking up clients directly from the Ararat V/line train (I once saw a Halls Gap holiday park bus picking up a group directly from the train) so it's not impossible that a train service could work in with those tourism operators... just not the GSR Overland.
This is a problem identified time and again on this forum - it really puts people off being told that they have to be there an hour beforehand like an aircraft when clearly there's no need for it if you have no booked baggage. Gwiwer has a theory that it's part of the conspiracy to put people off using it and I'm inclined to agree.I agree, they are trying to ween people off the service, they could on purpose cancel a service, terminate the service mid run (replace It with busses) make It run very late, make booking very complicated restrictive and confusing.
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