''The Alice'' was an Australian passenger train service that ran between

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

from November 1983 until 1988.

History

The origins of ''The Alice'' can be traced back to 1982 when

Railways of Australia Railways of Australia (ROA) was an association of railways operators. It was established in November 1963 when the government railway operators of Australia and New Zealand decided to unite to promote the industry on a national scale. The inaug ...

suggested that one of the four weekly '' Indian Pacific'' services from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

be diverted to

. In October 1982 a trial run was operated carrying media representatives, travel managers and rail executives. The first service departed Sydney on 14 November 1983. It was jointly operated by the State Rail Authority and Australian National as a tourist train with sightseeing stops at

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

, the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

border,

Kulgera Kulgera is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is south of Alice Springs and north of the border with South Australia, making it the southernmost permanent settlement in the Northern Territory. It sits on the junction of the ...

, the Iron Man statue and the

Finke River The Finke River, or ''Larapinta'' (Arrernte), is a river in central Australia, one of four main rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin and thought to be the oldest riverbed in the world. It flows for only a few days a year and when this happens, its wate ...

Bridge.The Alice to Australia's Wonderland ''

Network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

'' December 1983 pages 6, 7, 52 It operated weekly departing Sydney on Mondays and Alice Springs on Wednesday, taking 47 hours to complete the 2,857 kilometre journey. It was suspended from December 1986 until March 1987, to allow the rolling stock to be used for extra ''Indian Pacific'' services during the

1987 America's Cup The 1987 America's Cup was the twenty-sixth challenge for the America's Cup. The American challenger '' Stars & Stripes 87'', sailed by Dennis Conner, beat the Australian defender '' Kookaburra III'', sailed by Iain Murray, in a four-race swee ...

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

. With dwindling patronage, the last service departed Alice Springs on 28 October 1987.

Revival

The service was revived in April 1999, when ''

The Ghan ''The Ghan'' is an experiential tourism oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor. O ...

'' from Alice Springs to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

was rerouted to Sydney on selected journeys. This ceased in March 2003.

Formation

''The Alice'' was formed of stainless steel carriages built for the ''Indian Pacific'' and had accommodation for 142 first class passengers. The Alice Springs bound service also included State Rail Authority RUB sitting carriages as far as Port Pirie. These returned east attached to an ''Indian Pacific'' service.Here & There ''Australian Railway Historical Society'' issue 565 November 1984 page 94 It was hauled by State Rail Authority 46 class and 86 class electric locomotives from Sydney to Lithgow where an 80 class diesel took over for the journey to

, from where Australian National GM class locomotives took over for the journey to Alice Springs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alice Interstate rail in Australia Luxury trains Named passenger trains of Australia Passenger rail transport in New South Wales Passenger rail transport in the Northern Territory Railway services introduced in 1983 Railway services discontinued in 1987 Rail transport in South Australia 1983 establishments in Australia 1987 disestablishments in Australia Adelaide-Darwin railway corridor Discontinued railway services in Australia