good news for The Overland

["Lachlan Smith" <lsmith@senet.com.au>]

The Overland may yet survive -

(This article on ABC site today)



Timetables will be changed for Overland

The Overland train service to Melbourne is to become a daylight trip.

Great Southern Railway is trialling a new schedule with more than
$1.5-million in assistance from the South Australian and Victorian
governments.

Chief Executive, Stephen Bradford, says track improvements mean that the
trip has been reduced to 10.5 hours, allowing the same train to travel to
Melbourne during the day and to make the return trip overnight.

Mr Bradford says the train will now travel four times a week, in an effort
to increase patronage to the break-even mark of 85,000 people a year.

"At present, 72.000 people use the Overland, and we're hoping the day train
out of Adelaide will result in that increasing."

"Our objective is, with rising fuel prices, to get people off the roads and
out of buses and enjoy rail going into Melbourne, and vice versa."


Lachlan Smith