Rail Services to Perth 1955

[glendan561]

I don't believe there was a direct service between Melbourne and Perth, so how did passengers from Melbourne get a train to Perth? Did they connect for a Perth bound service at Port Augusta which is where I think the Melbourne service terminated. Similarly, did the same go for Sydney-Perth? In terms of Melbourne passengers how long would the entire journey have taken?

Thanks in advance.

[Neale1961]

There was a railway from Perth to Kalgoolie built in 1896. Then in 1917 the standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway connected the Eastern states with the narrow gauge network at Kalgoolie.

It is possible that people still travelled to WA from the Eastern States by ship at that time

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_Australia

[glendan561]

Thank for your response. I hadn't considered people still travelled via ship at that time, so that is one possibility I need to look into I know they returned to Sydney by train - at least that's my mother's recollection although her memory is not as good as it once was.

Glenda

[John Bell]

Back in 1955, the train journey between Melbourne and Perth took approximately 2 days and 5 hours. However, there were transfers involved. Travelers departed from Southern Cross station in Melbourne and arrived at Perth via Adelaide Parklands.
The Trans-Australian Railway, which began in 1917, radically shortened travel and communication time.
Mail delivery from Adelaide to Perth was cut by two days, and eastbound travelers who took the train arrived in Melbourne three days earlier than those making the journey by ship

[judb]

I remember my grandmother going by ship from Melbourne to Perth (Fremantle), probably around the mid 1950s - sorry I have no more details.

Judith

[glendan561]

No problem. I’m going to spend some time researching that option. Going via ship was more direct with no need to wait and change trains.

Thanks for your reply.

[leccy]

Coming in late, but to answer the original question, in the 1950s a train trip between Melbourne and Perth would have taken 4 nights and 3 days and involved

(1) Taking the overnight Overland train between Melbourne (Spencer Street station) and Adelaide. This would have been a brand new fully air-conditioned train including sleeping compartments.
(2) Connecting at Adelaide to an afternoon departure on the East West Express from Adelaide to Port Pirie, By the mid 50s this would have had new carriages to match the Overland
(3) Transfer at Port Pirie to the Trans Australian. Two nights and nearly two days would be spent on this train which would have been all-sleeping carriages and dining cars.
(4) Transfer at Kalgoorlie onto the connecting train for one more overnight stint until arriving at Perth station early in the morning.

These were all well recognised and timetabled connections but it still would have been quite a slog.

Source: https://www.comrails.com/library/timetables/TAR%20Psgr%20Timetable%20195301.pdf

Incidentally, by the 1950s flying was also an option. TAA ran a daily Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth flight using a DC4 (later in the 50s a Vickers Viscount) taking about 10 hours. See https://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/tn/tn5310/tn5310-4.jpg