Efforts by state governments to offer affordable transport, contrast with the corporatised values of the privatised rail sector with its control over the Great Southern Railway Network’s operation of the Ghan, the Indian Pacific and the Overland.
Great Southern Railway does not openly publicize the cost of its most luxurious suites. The most economical sleeper reservation from Sydney to Perth is listed at $1,090 one way with much more for luxurious cabins, suites and holiday packages.
The Howard Government’s sale of the Australian National Railway Commission (ANRC) brought a sale price of $95.4 million to the Commonwealth Government. This ended the network’s annual losses of around $100 million. More could have been invested in a state-of-the-art national rail network. Instead, the Howard Government paid off the accumulated debts of the ANRC which amounted to $1.4 billion since the Trans Australian Railway was opened in 1917 (Google Bard estimates).
Operating as Great Southern Rail (GSR) after 1997, the interstate ANRC has attracted a succession of corporate owners. Crestview Partners are the current owners of the GSRwith headquarters on the 42nd Floor of the IBM Building in New York. NT News (6 December 2025) also announced that rail holiday packages on the Ghan would be consolidated by the new ninety-year lease on Uluru/Ayers Rock Resort. The website of Crestview Partners has not caught up with its new Australian investments.
The Australian government added to the generosity of the first privatization sale in 1997 with a loss-making commitment by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC). This loss was partially written down by levies on both the GSR and associated corporate freight services as well as the remaining state railway networks.
Interstate ANCR rail freight services were also sold to Pacific National which is owned by a consortium of global investors including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP), Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), China Investment Corporation (CIC), GIC Private Limited (Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund) and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI). The Australian Government could have offered a similar level of investment to assist our export sectors and to foster more transport links with the Port of Darwin in particular.
While the cream of revenue from Australian passenger and freight services is offered to the local and overseas corporate sectors, state governments strive to offer affordable services for urban and regional transport services of varying quality.Victorian initiatives are a good example of continued efforts to make public transport appropriate to contemporary needs in the context of debt and deficit politics from the LNP Opposition which keeps Jacinta Allan’s government on the defensive (AFR, 15 October 2025):
Treasurer Jaclyn Symes on Wednesday reported Victoria’s operating deficit had narrowed to $2.6 billion in 2024-25, down from $4.2 billion in the previous year, and an $800 million improvement on the forecast in the May budget.
The government hailed the outcome as evidence its five-step fiscal strategy to bring the state’s finances under control was working, despite Department of Treasury and Finance officials conceding the improved deficit was primarily driven by increased Commonwealth revenue.
“Total revenue and income from transactions for the year was $101.4 billion, which was $748 million higher than the revised estimate. This was $8.3 billion, or 8.9 per cent, higher compared with the previous year, primarily reflecting an increase in grants, taxation revenue and sales of good and services,” the department wrote in the report.
“State taxation revenue decreased by $210 million compared with the revised budget estimate. This was primarily driven by lower payroll taxes … of $106 million due to softer-than-expected employment outcomes in the second half of the year and lower windfall gains tax of $75 million in 2024-25.”
Queenslanders have access to fifty cent one-way fares on Translink train and bus services near Metro Brisbane and as far as the Sunshine and Gold Coast. Victorians have better and more affordable opportunities to visit regional locations(Image: V/Line’s Regional Travel Options):
In Victoria, a through fare to Mildura costs just eleven dollars or half that rate for concessional tickets over a total distance of over five hundred kilometers with the rail component ending at either Bendigo or Swan Hill for connecting buses operated by V/Line contractors. V/Line also provides opportunities for one day or overnight adventures to locations like Echuca, Swan Hill, Bendigo or Castlemaine.
The lively Port of Echuca on the Murray River has some direct rail services or connecting coaches for affordable eleven dollar fares each way (Image: Explore Victoria):
Access to the prestige GSR trains has become more financially restrictive. Sitting cars for shorter journeys on GSR trains with access to affordable dining facilities such as Broken Hill to Adelaide or Katherine to Darwin were removed by previous operators. I have travelled on both economy services and found them quite adequate and affordable. Years later, the marketing pitch is now towards the higher end of the travel market.
Achieving the optimum balance between affordable fares and corporate values over our transport networks and wider lifestyle choices requires an ongoing critical interest and debate.
Exporting Piano Bar Values to the Outback (Image: GSRMarketing)
In juxtaposition, V/Line can take you to Woodend in an hour from Melbourne. Accompanied bicycles are welcome for a short ride to Hanging Rock to rediscover the realities of a real piece of Australian celluloid identity in the Australian bush.
Denis Bright (pictured) is a financial member of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA). Denis is committed to consensus-building on the critical issues raised in each article. Your comments on this and related articles can be recorded on theaimn.net site.
Keep Independent Journalism Alive – Support The AIMN
Dear Reader,
Since 2013, The Australian Independent Media Network has been a fearless voice for truth, giving public interest journalists a platform to hold power to account. From expert analysis on national and global events to uncovering issues that matter to you, we’re here because of your support.
Running an independent site isn’t cheap, and rising costs mean we need you now more than ever. Your donation – big or small – keeps our servers humming, our writers digging, and our stories free for all.
Join our community of truth-seekers. Donate via PayPal or credit card via the button below, or bank transfer [BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969] and help us keep shining a light.
With gratitude, The AIMN Team
Rather than trying to rationally solve the finances of public train travel around Australia Little Johnny (“Fast Bucks”) Howard took the cheap option and sold off our primary transport assets forever. Meanwhile he has the luxury of a “forever” travel pass available only to ex-politicians.
Makes me want to go to Hanging Rock on a V/Line excursion.
Good News for Victorian Families
The Allan Labor Government is making public transport free for more than one million young Victorians from 1 January, with the new Youth myki now available to purchase online.
Available for purchase on the Transport Victoria website, the Youth myki ensures all passengers aged under 18 can travel for free across the network from the start of next year.
The youth myki was announced as part of the Victorian Budget 2025/26 to deliver free public transport to children – ensuring cheaper school runs, more affordable weekends and one less thing for families to worry about.
A serious question needs to be asked: why is any part of Australia’s rail system in private hands? Countries like China have shown that publicly owned and publicly funded rail can deliver the world’s most advanced network, affordable fares, and national benefits that reach every citizen.
When control of essential transport infrastructure shifts to private or overseas corporate interests, so do the profits and the decision making. Australia, with full dollar sovereignty, has the capacity to build and operate a modern rail network that serves people, not shareholders. Shouldn’t public transport work for the public?
Successive governments both state and federals have sold off public utilities to what effect? Are the Australian people any better off? Of course not, the fact is the Australian people own very little of Australia, for which we can blame our politicians, we survive by selling the ground under our feet.
Time to drink from the harvest in Victoria.
Victoria is a close call in the latest polling as the LNP works towards another Queensland result with a populist campaigning effort
Denis, thanks for a well researched article on rail transport infrastructure.
Privatization has excluded Australians from an affordable train trip to Darwin or Perth. John Howard is not my political hero.
Victorian is good value on regional PT and urban is not bad; much better with an app nowadays.
However, when can the XPT or similar do Mel-Syd-Bris, preferably following the Austrian RailJet model; not high speed, just fast and reliable.
Like the XPT was planned in the ’70s, so was an approved LA – SF fast train, they are still waiting…..
The shadow of AUKUS is on Australian politics as Treasurer Jim Chalmers fine tunes the MYEFO Financial Statement for next weeks: Scott Morrison left Australians with a $380 billion defence bill. Speak up Jim against the military brass who are dragging you down.
The Crisafulli Government controls most of the regional electorates in Queensland. The Premier and the Ministers have done nothing in a year to extend affordable transport options with better train-bus coordination. Some parts of Outer Brisbane have no public transport to the CBD and suburban rail hubs. Places like Rainbow Beach on the exotic Cooloola Coast have no Translink bus access and are beyond the Translink metro and suburban network. Toowoomba is not served by Translink buses from Brisbane. Commercial providers offer token concessional fares.
Victoria is ahead in commitments to integrated transport for the regions: Up here Crisafulli captures the regional vote but offers nothing but rhetoric about debt and deficits which ironically have hit record levels in Queensland
The popular Spirit of the Outback from Brisbane to Longreach was a Labor initiative but the LNP took the Motorails for carrying cars off this route. Other regional trains like the Inlander and the Westlander carry few passengers and need to be replaced by Prospector styled trains as in WA with connecting bus services especially during the tourist season in winter. Rolling stock from the trains to Mt. Isa and Charleville could be transferred to a new coastal route and detached from the Spirit of the Outback in Rockhampton to operate a day service between Rockhampton to Townsville.