''The Prospector'' is a rural passenger train service in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

operated by

Transwa Transwa is Western Australia's regional public transport provider, linking 240 destinations, from Kalbarri in the north to Augusta in the south west to Esperance in the south east. The Transwa system provides transport to the major regional ...

between

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. On this service, two trains depart almost at the same time in opposite directions, one travelling between East Perth and Kalgoorlie, and the other between Kalgoorlie and East Perth. The original vehicles ordered in 1968 for trains providing this service were replaced in 2004 with vehicles capable of reducing journey times to 6 hours 45 minutes.

History

With the standard gauge line 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 ...

due to open in mid-1969, the

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

decided to replace '' The Kalgoorlie'' overnight sleeper service with a daylight service. The new service commenced on 29 November 1971, cutting the journey time from fourteen to eight hours. With an average speed of , it was the fastest service in Australia.

Stops

* Midland * Toodyay * Northam * Meckering * Cunderdin * Tammin * Kellerberrin * Doodlakine * Hines Hill * Merredin * Burracoppin * Carrabin * Bodallin * Moorine Rock *

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...

Koolyanobbing Koolyanobbing is located north-northeast of the town of Southern Cross, Western Australia. A subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs of Cleveland, Ohio mines Iron ore here. The ore is railed to the port at Esperance for export. Current operations comme ...

* Bonnie Vale *

Services

There is one train each way daily between

and

. On Mondays and Fridays there are two services each way.

Onboard facilities

Each seat on board is in the same class. At every seat there is a touchscreen entertainment system with a small selection of movies, TV shows and music. They also offer a tray table, in-seat power ( Australian type only), and a foot rest. Food is not complimentary on board and can be bought at the buffet. The buffet offers a variety of items such as ham and cheese croissants, pies, muffins, soft drinks, potato chips, lollies and alcohol.

Rolling stock

In 1968, Comeng, Granville were awarded a contract to build eight

WAGR WCA/WCE class The WAGR WCA class railcars and WCE class trailers were built by Comeng, Granville for the Western Australian Government Railways in 1971 to operate the new ''Prospector'' service between East Perth and Kalgoorlie. At the time of their constru ...

railcars. Built to take advantage of the generous

loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...

on the new line, they were the largest

carriages A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping a ...

ever built in Australia. They were the first trains in Australia to have at-seat catering. These held the record for the highest speed attained by an Australian train until bettered by a

New South Wales XPT The New South Wales ''XPT'' (short for eXpress Passenger Train) is a class of diesel-powered passenger trains built by Comeng and ABB Transportation. Based on the British Rail designed Intercity 125 High Speed Train, each XPT set is made up ...

in September 1981. In December 2000,

Westrail Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

awarded a contract to United Goninan, Broadmeadow for seven

Transwa WDA/WDB/WDC class The Transwa WDA/WDB/WDC and WEA/WEB classes are two classes of railcars built by United Goninan, Broadmeadow for Transwa in 2004-2005 to replace the WAGR WCA/WCE class railcars on the '' AvonLink, MerredinLink'' and ''Prospector'' services in ...

railcars to replace the original railcars. The first entered service on 28 June 2004. The new railcars are capable of , but track conditions restrict their top speed to .Prospector Product Sheet
UGL Rail Nonetheless, they further reduced journey times to 6 hours 45 minutes.

References

Bibliography

*''100th anniversary of rail link'' (History of the Eastern Goldfields railway, officially completed on 1 January 1897, to the present, including introduction of the ''Prospector'' train on 29 November 1971) ''

Kalgoorlie Miner ''The Kalgoorlie Miner'' (commonly known as ''The Miner'') is a daily newspaper circulating in the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the Goldfields-Esperance region, in Western Australia. It is published Monday to Saturday by Hocking & Co. Pty L ...

'' 1 January 1997, p. 2

External links

*
Perth Trains gallery
{{Public Transport Authority of Western Australia railway stations, Prospector=y Named passenger trains of Western Australia Prospector rail service Railway services introduced in 1971 1971 establishments in Australia