''The Westlander'' is an Australian passenger train operated by

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

on the

Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

lines between

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and the outback town of

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** ...

Background

In the 1888 timetable the train from Brisbane to

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

was officially called the ''Western Mail'', with some runs extended through to Morven. With the opening of the line from Morven to Charleville on 1 March 1888 the train was again extended.

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

introduced air-conditioned trains in 1935, and

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 In rail transport, head-end power (HEP), also known as electric train supply (ETS), is the electrical power distribution system on a passenger train. The power source, usually a locomotive (or a generator car) at the front or 'head' of a train, p ...

cars, especially necessary where trains may be delayed by floods or other events, as was often the case.

History

The ''Westlander'' was introduced in August 1954, replacing the ''Western Mail'' and its wooden carriages with the present

Commonwealth Engineering Commonwealth Engineering (often shortened to Com-Eng, later Comeng was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams. History Smith and Waddington, the predecessor to Commonwealth E ...

Rocklea Rocklea is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rocklea had a population of 1,595 people. Geography Rocklea is located 9 kilometres south of the city. The west of the suburb is bordered by the Oxley Creek. The ...

steel air-conditioned carriages. The route from Brisbane to Cunnamulla was , with a connecting service to

Quilpie Quilpie ( ) is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Quilpie, Queensland, Australia. In the , Quilpie had a population of 595 people. The town is the administrative centre of the Quilpie Shire local government area. The town of Toompine ...

from Charleville, from Brisbane. Initially the Quilpie connecting train was not air-conditioned, so in 1967 a generator was fitted to an insulated van to provide power for an air-conditioned sitting car and mechanical refrigeration for the van to provide this comfort on the Quilpie service. Later the ''Westlander'' was divided at Charleville, the service to Quilpie (3Q02) being nicknamed the ''Flying Flea'' and consisted of two passenger carriages, a guards van and power van. The remainder of the train (3V02) headed to Cunnamulla via Westgate and Wyandra. In 1970 the Flea had the honour of being the fastest train in Queensland, with an average speed of In August 1994 the service was cut back to Charleville. The return service (3907) departed Cunnamulla at 09:00 arriving in Brisbane at lunchtime the next day. Even with the line speed from Cunnamulla being , the train was still preferred by many due to the lack of quality roads at the time. By 1957 freight wagons were also attached to the train, including louvred steel QRX and QLX-T wagons, and MPR refrigerated wagons. Up to 16 vehicles could make up the train. Passenger services beyond Charleville to Cunnamulla (3V02) and Quilpie (3Q22) were withdrawn in 1994.

Today

As at October 2020, the train runs twice weekly to Charleville with a journey time of 17 hours. Connecting coach services operate to Cunnamulla and Quilpie. The westbound service (3S86) departs from Platform 10 at

Roma Street Railway Station Roma Street railway station is located in the Brisbane central business district, Queensland, Australia. It is the junction station for the North Coast, Main, Gold Coast and NSW North Coast lines. The station is one of four inner city stat ...

on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:15pm and arrives at

Charleville Railway Station Charleville railway station is a station on the Cork to Dublin Railway line. It is located a mile outside the town of Charleville mostly in North County Cork, Ireland though the border with County Limerick, Ireland crosses the track alig ...

at 11:45am on Wednesdays and Fridays. The eastbound service (3987) departs from

at 6:15pm on Wednesdays and Fridays and arrives at Platform 10 at

at 11:25am on Thursdays and Saturdays. Crews for the Westlander are based at Toowoomba, Chinchilla and Roma. The train currently consists of: * 3 L series cars (1 LSCL Lounge/Staff Car, 1 LAL Sitting Car and 1 LBL Sitting Car) * a QPB Power-Baggage Car the QPB Power-Baggage Car was only enabled to run on this service because of the tunnel clearance-enabling works which were undertaken by

in early 2020. The dining and sleeping ( M series) cars were withdrawn from 1 January 2015, with catering now provided by at seat snack packs delivered at mealtimes. On the 16 June 2021, a $1M Business case was announced by the

Queensland State Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...

to investigate replacement of The Westlander,

Spirit of the Outback The Spirit of the Outback is a long-distance passenger rail service in Queensland, Australia, operated by Queensland Rail's Traveltrain division. Route Debuting in November 1993 by combining the former '' Capricornian'' and '' Midlander'' tr ...

and Inlander Services.

Subsidy levels

In 2016, the service was estimated to have carried 3,677 people in the previous financial year, with the effective subsidy paid by the Queensland State Government for each passenger amounting to an estimated $4,007 (total subsidy $14.7m) In 2021, the service carried 2,999 people in previous financial year, with the effective subsidy paid by the Queensland Government for each passenger at $4,928.90.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westlander Named passenger trains of Queensland Night trains of Australia Railway services introduced in 1954 1954 establishments in Australia