The Inlander (Queensland Rail)


The Inlander is an Australian passenger train. It was introduced by Queensland Rail on 12 February 1953 using new steel air-conditioned carriages built by Commonwealth Engineering, Rocklea.

Background

introduced air-conditioned trains in 1935, and Queensland Rail decided to follow suit in the late 1940s. Steel carriages were designed to travel to all parts of the system, meaning a maximum axle load of 9 tons, which was a challenge for the dining cars. New features included showers in the sleeping cars, roomettes in first class and head end power cars, especially necessary where trains may be delayed by floods or other events, as was often the case.

History

The Inlander was the first air-conditioned train in Queensland, replacing the Mail train with its wooden carriages and providing a more comfortable and cleaner service to this dry and dusty region.

Today

Today it operates twice-weekly on the Great Northern line from the coastal city of Townsville to the mining city of Mount Isa. The train is relatively slow, taking 21 hours to complete a journey of 977 kilometres. Until the end of 2014, the train consisted of sitting cars, sleeping cars with roomettes, twinettes and triple sleeping cabins and a club car where food could be purchased.
The dining and sleeping cars were withdrawn from 1 January 2015, with catering now provided by at seat snack packs delivered at meal times.

Subsidy levels

In 2016, the service was estimated to have carried 4,511 people in the previous financial year, with the effective subsidy paid by the Queensland State Government for each passenger amounting to an estimated $3,436