The ''Australind'' 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 th ...

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 ...

on the South Western Railway between

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 ...

and Bunbury.

History

The ''Australind'' service began on 24 November 1947 and was hauled initially by U class steam locomotives. With an average speed of , it was the fastest narrow gauge passenger train in Australia. It was named to commemorate the city of that name envisioned by

Marshall Waller Clifton Marshall Waller Clifton (1 November 1787 – 10 April 1861), commonly referred to as Waller Clifton, was an English civil servant, coloniser and politician in Western Australia. History Clifton was born 1 November 1787 at Alverstoke, near ...

Leschenault Inlet Leschenault Estuary is an estuarine lagoon that lies to the north of Bunbury, Western Australia. It had in the past met the Indian Ocean at the Leschenault Inlet, but that has been altered by harbour works for Bunbury, and the creation of The Cu ...

100 years previously. The current hamlet of

Australind Australind is a town in Western Australia, located 12 km north-east of Bunbury's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Harvey. At the 2016 census, Australind had a population of 14,539. History Prior to Eur ...

, a

satellite town Satellite cities or satellite towns are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a principal city which is the core of a metropolitan area. They differ from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that they have muni ...

of Bunbury, has never had a passenger rail service, nor even a railway line. In February 1958, X class diesel locomotives took over. The service was relaunched on 1 October 1960 with onboard catering removing the need for an elongated stop at Pinjarra. On 16 November 1987, the current ADP/ADQ class railcars took over the service reducing journey times to 2 hours 30 minutes.

Rolling stock

When introduced, the train consisted of new carriages built by the

Midland Railway Workshops The Midland Railway Workshops in Midland, Western Australia, were the main workshops for the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) for over 80 years. History The first railway workshops in Western Australia were located at Fremantle a ...

. In August 1985,

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 Comeng, Bassendean a contract for five Westrail ADP/ADQ class railcars, three ADPs with driving cabs and two ADQs, using a similar body shell and interior fitout to the

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 ...

carriages. Each carriage was powered by a

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...

KTA19 coupled to a

Voith The Voith Group is a German manufacturer of machines for the pulp and paper industry, technical equipment for hydropower plants and drive and braking systems. The family-owned company, which operates worldwide and has its headquarters in Hei ...

transmission. They usually operate as a three or four carriage set. Five carriage set operation is not possible due to the limited platform length available at Perth station. In July 2003, the DMUs were painted in a new livery in line with the formation of

. In 2007, the DMUs were painted white as part of a refurbishment program. In 2010/11, new seats were fitted. Two new Australind trains, each consisting of a three-car set, to 2023 for a cost of $54 million Australian dollars. The new diesel-multiple-units will be built by

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

as part of the $1.25 billion Australian dollar contract to deliver 246 Transperth C-series carriages.

Route

The ''Australind'' departs from

traversing the metropolitan

Armadale line The Armadale line is a suburban rail service in Western Australia that runs from Perth to Armadale on the South Western Railway. This service is planned to extend to the suburb of Byford over an new railway line constructed as part of the By ...

to Armadale, then the South Western Railway to Bunbury.

Stations

* Armadale *

Byford Byford is a village and civil parish on the River Wye in Herefordshire, England, about west of Hereford. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 119, increasing to 201 at the 2011 census. Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke ( cy, Cla ...

* Mundijong * Serpentine * North Dandalup * Pinjarra * Waroona * Yarloop * Cookernup *

Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...

* Brunswick Junction * Bunbury

References

External links