I am travelling from Brisbane to Cairns and have about 3 weeks and I'm not sure whether to take the train or the bus!
I'm travelling with a friend and we plan on visiting Fraser Island, the Whitsundays and a few other places along the way. Everyone seems to get the bus and never the train on forums I've looked at, is there a reason for this as everything seems to be very spread out!
I've looked at hop on/hop off style rail and bus passes along the east coast, and any thoughts or suggestions would be great!
Reply to this Hello Charlotte and welcome to the Forum!
I have no idea why train is not the preferred way to travel in Australia, except for maybe it costs a bit more? Trains have a very good safety record in Australia. I used to live in Brisbane, Queensland and know people who have taken the train along the Queensland coast and everyone spoke favourably of the experience.
I love travelling by train, and much prefer it to bus anyway. If I was travelling in Australia - the only methods I would use are plane, train or driving your own vehicle. The distances in Australia are enormous and the ability to either get to a place quickly or the ability to walk around and stop when you want is important - none of these are possible on a bus.
Even if the train does cost a bit more, it is worth the extra for the scenery will be generally nicer than heading along the highways.
Reply to this Hi Charlotte. Personally, I love train travel and have often gone up and down the NSW coast.
The down side of trains is that they often don't go directly to where you want to go but I have found that, more often than not, there will be a bus which meets the train to take you the short distance to your final destination.
Reply to this Hiya, i live in Aus and travel a fair bit and sort of similar to the other guys, i dont know why people dont travel on trains. All i can guess is that they dont go where most people would want to go or cost heaps???? For some reason i would think each capital city has its own metro train but any real distances would require bus or plane.
In saying that, to get from Melb/Adelaide to Perth you wouldnt bus it you would train or fly (probably 1/3rd of price of train). But, to visit my grandmother in country Victoria i would always train it or drive myself and we have caught a train to the Gold Coast from Brisbane. Sorry, confusing information and i'd say you would need to know each leg you are after to see how they match up.
To go up the queensland coast i would look for a tourist bus like greyhound that will take you to the locations you want. But, here is a link to the queensland train site http://www.queenslandrailtravel.com.au/Pages/Home.aspx
Have a great time!
Reply to this Thank you for your responses! I think we will definately get the train, it works out cheaper with a train pass and saves so much time!
Reply to this 
