looking at flights to Cairns for a thing and hilariously the way to get there from the Sunshine Coast is via either Sydney or Melbourne. The travel time is measured in days. Normal country.
@Kels_316 you could take the Spirit of Queensland train up overnight? Dep Gympie North 16:24, arr Cairns 14:30 next day. Fares from $390, business-class airline-style reclining bed/chair called a "railbed".
@Kels_316 it's not as comfortable or quiet as a traditional sleeper berth but I'm sure you've slept in worse. Beats the hell out of driving up the Bruce Hwy for 2 days straight.
@Kels_316@ThermiteBeGiants It's an enjoyable trip, took it last year. Food is good, staff are nice, Railbeds are comfortable. Would prefer a compartment but these are a good alternative.
@timrichards@ThermiteBeGiants the problem I discovered after deciding this was a good plan is that there are basically no railbeds available unless you book about 6 weeks out, and even then it's sketchy. This was the same problem I had in Melb trying to book a sleeper to Sydney for work travel.
@Kels_316@timrichards@ThermiteBeGiants Seems to be worldwide problem with sleepers. Lots of demand and no availability for short term bookings. Really removes rail as an option for many longer trips.
@allrite@timrichards@ThermiteBeGiants imagine taking an 18hr overnight train trip in a normal seat? There are always tons of availability for these, so fuck a lot of them off and make more sleepers.
@Kels_316@allrite@timrichards the reason there are seats is for passengers boarding north of Rockhampton, where the Spirit of Queensland is the only service that runs along the line (The Inlander only runs Townsville-Mt Isa).
@ThermiteBeGiants@allrite@timrichards for sure, and the beauty of rail is you can add a bunch of cars where they are needed and remove them where they aren't. How many people leaving from Brisbane and going to Cairns want an economy seat? Not many, I wager.
@Kels_316@ThermiteBeGiants@timrichards I do think that rail authorities have been caught short by a return to people wanting to catch the train over flying and their (slow) rolling stock plans don't support this.
@allrite@Kels_316@timrichards also I’ll add that when I booked my Caledonian Sleeper berth for my trip on it in late August, back in late March, there were a grand total of 5 berths left on that trip, 5 months out. And that’s a train service that runs 3 or 4 trains each night each way between Scotland and London, 6 days a week.
@ThermiteBeGiants@allrite@Kels_316 It is very frustrating that state governments are reducing choice (getting rid of sleepers and first class) just when there are more people interested in using trains. Feels like we need a federal-run sleeper train service with new carriages running Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide, specifically pitched as part of our response to climate change.
@ThermiteBeGiants@allrite@Kels_316 Also the Queensland government should lay on more long-distance train services, every time I visit they seem very well used. A regular service twice a day between Townsville and Cairns would be a great idea, for example.
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