|
|
 |
Australind
 When the Australind train service was introduced in 1947, it represented the vital completing link in the provision of a new coordinated rail-road service network throughout the State’s south-west.
The Perth-Bunbury luxury passenger express service offered all the latest creature comforts including – for the first time on any Australian railway – fluorescent lighting.
Hauled by a steam locomotive, the new Australind whisked up to 285 passengers over the 186km journey in less than 3.5 hours. A service was provided in each direction every day of the week except Sundays.
By the mid-60s, the journey time was down to about three hours, reflecting the changeover to a diesel-electric locomotive, with the Australind still regarded as the “glamour” train of Western Australia. Travel brochures of the time proudly proclaimed that the level of passenger comfort – which included carpeting throughout, piped music and public address system, comfortable two-tone seats and buffet-lounge cars featuring stylish stainless steel and quilted plastic – could not be exceeded anywhere, even by air travel.
This comparison was recalled when the current Australind, by now operating with self-powered diesel units which are stabled and serviced at Bunbury, was introduced in 1987 and used as one of its marketing slogans: “The train that thinks it is a plane.”
The Australind now provides two train services each way each day – including Sundays – and the journey time has been cut to two hours and 15 minutes (though rail congestion around Perth has resulted in the scheduling being geared around a trip of about 2.5 hours).
The Australind joins the Prospector and AvonLink Train services as part of Transwa regional rail service.
|
|
|
|
