The Overland

When the railways of South Australia and Victoria met at the border in January 1887, both colonies had laid the same 1600 mm broad gauge, so a train could run straight through from Adelaide to Melbourne — the first service in Australia to link two capitals. It is still running, as the Overland.

The border stopped it anyway. Each colony's crews could work only on their own railway, so at Serviceton, the station on the border, the locomotives and crews were changed. Until Federation in 1901 the station also held a customs house and two ticket offices, one for each colony; the engine change went on until 1984. In 1995 the whole route was converted to standard gauge, and the train was moved off its old line through Ballarat onto a longer one by way of Geelong.

Today it is a day train, run by Journey Beyond twice a week each way: 828 kilometres in about ten and a half hours, over the Adelaide Hills, across the River Murray and through the wheat country of the Wimmera, in reclining seats, with a café car called Café 828 — the line's length in kilometres.

Adelaide to the border

The Overland leaves Adelaide Parklands Terminal at Keswick, 3 kilometres from the city centre, and spends its first hour climbing into the Adelaide Hills through Sleep's Hill and Eden Hills. Over the top, it runs down through farmland to Murray Bridge, crossing the River Murray on the railway bridge of 1925, and on across the south-east of South Australia to Bordertown, the last stop before the border.

Through western Victoria

Just inside Victoria the train passes Serviceton, where it no longer stops. Its grand station of 1889, built when the land under it was still claimed by both colonies, now houses a display of local and railway memorabilia. Beyond it the train calls at Nhill, Dimboola and Horsham on the plains of the Wimmera, then at Stawell and Ararat, under the ranges of the Grampians. At Ararat it leaves the line of 1887: since 1995 it has run south to Maroona and east to Geelong, where it stops at North Shore, before the last stretch into Southern Cross station in Melbourne.

The train

The Overland is an average of seven carriages and 189 metres long, behind a single locomotive — in recent years an NR class diesel in Pacific National colours — and its symbol, on the carriage sides, is the emu. There are two classes. Red Standard has reclining seats two and two, 60 to a carriage; Red Premium has 36 seats a carriage, two and one, with more legroom and breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea served at the seat. Both have the licensed Café 828, and a generous luggage allowance: two cases of 20 kilograms in Red Standard, two of 30 in Red Premium.

The Overland runs all year, twice a week in each direction: from Adelaide on Sundays and Thursdays, and from Melbourne on Mondays and Fridays. It is a day train, with no sleeping cars. Times are local.

Adelaide to Melbourne

Melbourne to Adelaide

Intermediate times are departures. The same times are published for the rest of 2026 and for 2027, though the operator notes that the 2027 timings may still change.

Getting to the train

In Adelaide the train uses Adelaide Parklands Terminal on Richmond Road, Keswick, which also serves the Ghan, the Indian Pacific and the Great Southern. In Melbourne it uses platform 2 at Southern Cross, on the corner of Collins and Spencer Streets: luggage check-in opens at 06:00 and closes 30 minutes before departure, and passenger check-in opens at 07:00.

Times are from Journey Beyond's 2026 and 2027 timetables — as of November 2026. Check them on Journey Beyond's Overland timetable (opens in a new tab) before travelling.

Fares are per person, one way, and the same in both directions between Adelaide and Melbourne; tickets to and from the towns along the way cost differently. Each class has two fare types: Ready Rail, the cheaper, and Red Everyday. Red Premium includes every meal on board; in Red Standard, food and drinks are bought in the café.

Book online with Journey Beyond, or by phone on 1800 703 357. Fares checked November 2026.

No rail pass covers the Overland. Journey Beyond sells it seat by seat, on its own fares.

Is it worth it? There is nothing to buy: book the fare.

Checked November 2026.

The Overland stops in eight towns between the two capitals, and several of them are the gateway to country worth a few days: the wine valleys of the Adelaide Hills, the heath of the Little Desert, the cliffs of Mount Arapiles and the ranges of the Grampians.

The train leaves Adelaide early and arrives in Melbourne in the evening, so a night on either side is the easy way to take it. One hotel is on North Terrace in Adelaide; the other is across the road from Southern Cross, where the train arrives in Melbourne.

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