# Interesting Developments in Queensland



## Anderson (May 7, 2015)

http://www.queenslandrailtravel.com.au/RailServices/Pages/Tilt%20Train%20Maintenance.aspx

This is an interesting piece of a puzzle I'd wondered about for some time. Queensland Rail had pulled the Sunlander (which I missed out on taking) in favor of the tilt trains and I'd wondered about them pulling it since they seemed to be able to sell some luxury-ish sleeper spaces at decent enough rates for their side of things. If I had to guess, given that they went into this maintenance cycle only a few months later, it seems that they didn't have the coaches to support both the Sunlander _and_ the backstop diesel services. If nothing else, this makes that withdrawal make a _lot_ of sense (since the tilt train cycle is likely to take most of a year and there probably wasn't the political will or the math to support an all-sleeper train).

With that being said...I still can't figure out QR's slightly insane equipment shuffling. There's at least one case in their timetable with the Rockhampton/Bundaberg service where they have a train which terminates in one city but has to originate in the other (there are 12 round-trips per week to Bundaberg...but only 6 trains terminate in Rockhampton while 7 originate there, and 6 terminate in Bundaberg but 5 originate there).


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## jis (May 7, 2015)

The _Sunlander _was replaced by the _Spirit of Queensland_, which provides the sort of lie flat Sleeper Seat service in first class (instead of traditional Sleeper berths) that we have talked about from time to time, with food served at your seat. It also runs five days a week. From what I have heard there are no plans to restore the _Sunlander _at any time. It has been permanently discontinued. I have heard that eventually this is the direction that all overnight trains will go in _Queensland Railway_ run services.

It would appear that in Queensland the only train left with traditional First Class Sleeper service run by _Queensland Railway_ is the _Spirit of the Outback_. Of course there is also the _Sydney - Brisbane XPT_ (Standard Gauge) run by _NSW TrainLink_ that carries traditional Sleeper accommodation.


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