Review
"Readable, full of friendly advice, and spiced with humour."--Network (Australia)

"Highly recommended."--Today's Railways (UK)

"Benefiting from Taylor's thirty years of travel on Australia's trains, it is a work that any guidebook publisher would be proud to publish."--The Sunday Times (UK)


Book Description
From the vast emptiness of the Nullarbor Plain, on the longest straight rail line in the world, to the twisting tracks of outback Queensland and the rainforests of the north, Australia's railways offer a rich variety of contrasting experiences. Taking the train is an ideal way to explore the continent in comfort and style.

Features include:
>Fully revised fifth edition- updated and expanded: with seventy maps including the new Ghan extension to Darwin
>Rail travel for all budgets--from the five-star luxury of the Great South Pacific Express to economy sleeping berths for budget-conscious travelers, plus full details of the Austrailpass and other passes and ticket bargains
>Railway route guides with seventy rail maps--all main lines and branches, what to look out for when traveling, and where to stop
>Railway history--and the battle for the survival of rail in Australia
>City guides and maps--the best sights, recommended hotels, and restaurants in many stops along the lines; with extensive sections on Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, and Canberra
>Forty color photographs


About the Author
Colin Taylor, retired associate professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences and Planning at the University of Queensland, Australia, has held town-planning positions in Victoria, Tasmania, and Scotland, and has given conference papers and talks on planning and transportation all over the world. He has also produced articles and broadcasts on the fascination of railways. In the last thirty years he has taken more than 6000 rail journeys in Australia and overseas, covering some 375,000 miles. He compiles the biennial World Speed Review for Railway Gazette International and is also the author of Great Rail Non-Journeys of Australia, Steel Roads of Australia and Traincatcher.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Australia is vast. Imagine the whole northern half of Africa, a great desert with population centres mostly on the edges. That is something like Australia. And travel in much of Australia is not unlike a journey on the African continent--the same timeless bush, the same enervating heat. In a car the distances and glare of the sky induce drowsiness. The unsealed gravel roads of the outback are like the laterite roads of the African savannah, slippery when wet, loose when dry, ridged like corrugated iron and infested with road trains--thundering great lorries hauling multiple trailers at breakneck speed. These are frightening to meet and more lethal than the snakes and crocodiles you will rarely see. Travelling by road you may reach your destination hot, tired and thirsty, hating both the bush and the concrete jungles of the city. Visitors can find Australia's road rules confusing and the unwary motorist can easily fall foul of the law. If a sign says 'Next Petrol 300km' you can be sure that when you run out of fuel and wander into the bush you will easily get lost.

It is better to see Australia by rail. Australia's railways offer a unique way of travelling round the country. You may not always get there more quickly but you will get there more safely and have time to relax, enjoy the scenery, and converse with Australians and tourists from all over the world, while sitting in comfort without the constraining bonds of a seat belt. Overseas visitors can make use of the excellent-value Austrailpass or the passes and fare concessions offered by the country's railway systems, which residents can also use to explore the country.

And Australia is worth exploring because it is a land of contrasts. Not only is there a world of difference between the wheat fields of Victoria and the sugar plantations of Queensland, or the dry red desert of the interior and the torrential downpours of the coastal ranges; there is a great contrast between the fastest and newest trains and some you may find on the lesser-known branch lines.

You can penetrate the remote outback in air-conditioned comfort on trains like the Spirit of the Outback or The Ghan and travel through Crocodile Dundee country on the Gulflander or Savannahlander. The world's fastest rack railway, the Perisher Skitube, will take you to the slopes of Mt Blue Cow in the Snowy Mountains or you can cross the famous Harbour Bridge by train in the heart of Sydney. By train you can also see examples of almost every type of Australian landscape--from the dense rainforests of tropical Queensland to the unbelievable emptiness of the Nullarbor Plain, the deep canyons of the Blue Mountains and the rocky crags of the outback ranges.

Options range from planned itineraries through package tours to doing it your own way. As well as giving essential details about the principal and other popular train services, Australia by Rail offers ideas not found in official publications or ordinary travel literature. This should assist both those who stick to the main lines and those who like to wander off the beaten track. And you can!

FROM THE PUBLISHER