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| Photo Credit - 707 operations |
This isn’t a normal passenger service. It’s a tourist train. A slow rail journey. A chance for people to sit back, watch the country change outside the window and enjoy the sort of travel we don’t see enough of anymore.
But, every time The Vinelander heads for Mildura it stirs up the same old question around here.
If a tourist train can make the trip, why can’t Mildura have a proper passenger train again?
The current journey is a 5-night, 6-day experience, taking guests from Melbourne through the Goldfields and up into Sunraysia and the Mallee. Along the way they get a taste of regional Victoria from the rails, not just through a car windscreen on the Calder, and alone is pretty cool.
There’s something different about arriving by train. You don’t just appear in a place. You feel the distance. You see the country open up. You pass through towns and landscapes that are usually just names on a road sign.
For the passengers on this trip, Mildura isn’t just the end of the line. It’s the main event.
Once they’re here, guests will get a proper look at what makes this part of Victoria so different. The itinerary includes Mildura and Sunraysia experiences, with highlights such as Orange World and a Murray River wine and dine cruise aboard the PB Mundoo to Trentham Estate.
That’s not a bad introduction to the place.
They’ll get the river. They’ll get the food and wine. They’ll get a feel for the old irrigation story that built the district. And depending on the chosen tour options, they’ll also get to see parts of the wider Mallee, including places like the Pink Lakes, Murray-Sunset country, and Mungo National Park.
That’s the sort of itinerary that shows Mildura isn’t just a dot at the top of the map. It’s a base for a whole region.
For visitors, it’s a holiday. For rail buffs, it’s a bit of history. For Mildura, it’s a reminder of what we’ve been missing since the old passenger service disappeared.
The original Vinelander was part of Mildura’s identity. Plenty of locals still remember the overnight train to Melbourne. For years it connected the region to the capital in a way that felt practical, reliable and a bit special.
Now, more than three decades later, we are still talking about the same thing, getting a permanent passenger train back between Mildura and Melbourne.
Mildura is a long way from Melbourne. Flights can be expensive. The drive is a big one. The current coach and train combinations do the job for some people, but they are not the same as a direct rail service.
A passenger train would not fix every transport problem overnight, but it would give the region another serious option. It would help locals, students, older residents, tourists, event travellers and people who simply don’t want to drive six hours.
It would also send a clear message that Mildura is not some forgotten outpost at the edge of the state.
Tourist trains like The Vinelander prove there is interest. People will travel here by rail when the experience is offered properly. They’ll stay in local accommodation, eat at local restaurants, visit local attractions, cruise the river, buy local produce and tell other people about the trip.
But we shouldn’t confuse a special tourist journey with the service Mildura actually needs.
The 707 Operations train is a brilliant thing. It brings people here, it celebrates rail history, and it puts Mildura back on the rail map, even if only for a few days at a time.
But the long-term goal should still be bigger. A proper passenger rail connection between Mildura and Melbourne would be about access, tourism, fairness and future growth. It would give people more choice. It would give visitors another reason to come. And it would reconnect one of Victoria’s biggest regional centres with the capital in a way that makes sense.
So welcome back to The Vinelander. Enjoy the ride north. Enjoy the Mallee, the river, the food, the wine, the history and the big open skies.
And when that train rolls into Mildura, hopefully it reminds a few more people down south that this line still has a story to tell and not just as a slow rail journey.
But maybe, one day, as a real passenger service again.
For more information on 707 operations and the Slow Rail Journey visit https://www.slowrailjourneys.com.au/