Journey Beyond

Journey Beyond is the trading name and brand deployed since 2017 by a succession of companies providing experiential tourism in Australia, including luxury trains (''The Ghan'', the ''Indian Pacific'', and the '' Great Southern'') and ''The Overland'' interstate service. "Journey Beyond" is also included in the names of a number of associated companies. The business, headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia, now has interests in cruise and air tourism in addition to rail.

History

Before the 1990s, the government-owned Australian National Railways Commission, trading as Australian National, was the owner and operator of Australia's interstate railways and freight and passenger trains, operated under a subsidiary known as Pax Rail. From 1996 to 1998, Australian National was broken up and in 1997 its interstate passenger trains — ''The Ghan'', ''Indian Pacific'' and ''The Overland'' — were sold to Great Southern Rail (GSR), a consortium of GB Railways, Legal & General, Macquarie Bank, RailAmerica, G13 Pty Ltd and Serco, at a book valuation of A$$16 million.

Included in the sale were 186 items of rolling stock, mainly former Commonwealth Railways stainless steel carriages, and the Adelaide Parklands Terminal and Alice Springs railway station. In October 1999, Serco bought the remaining 50.8% of shares from its consortium partners for $18.9 million, becoming the sole owner. GSR owned the passenger car fleet and provided services, and Pacific National provided the motive power.

Between 2008 and 2012, Great Southern Rail operated ''The Southern Spirit'' as a luxury cruising train service offering eight luxury rail cruises on a variety of outback Australian train routes.

In 2015, Serco sold the business to private equity company Allegro Funds for an enterprise value and cash consideration variously reported as "below A$20 million" to " £2.5 million" (about A$4.9 million). Allegro led a transformation of GSR from a transport operator heavily dependent on government subsidies for passenger operations into a profitable experiential travel provider. Sixteen months after their initial purchase, Allegro sold a 70% stake in the company to Quadrant Private Equity for an undisclosed price, but speculated the value of the company at between A$100 million and $200 million.

In 2019, Great Southern Rail was re-branded as ''Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions'' and Great Southern became the name of a train running between Adelaide and Brisbane, weekly during the summer months. Subsequently the brand name reverted to ''Journey Beyond''. In 2017, a private company, Experience Australia Group Pty Ltd, was established as the corporate entity conducting the business's operations. , despite the changes in ownership the company was continuing in that role.

Acquisitions since 2015 included Cruise Whitsundays and Rottnest Express, the Eureka Tower Skydeck, Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures, Outback Spirit Tours, Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef, Darwin Harbour Cruises and Vintage Rail Journeys. , it was Australia's largest experiential tourism business.

In January 2022, Quadrant Private Equity sold its 13 brands, including the trains, for a reported A$600 million. The buyer was the San Francisco-based Hornblower Group, owned by Crestview Partners, a New York-based private equity firm. Hornblower Group operated cruises and tours, including Hornblower Cruises, which operated from 125 American cities. After failing to find a buyer in 2023, Hornblower filed for bankruptcy in February 2024; Journey Beyond activities were separated from the group and came under sole ownership of Crestview Partners.

References

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Interstate rail in Australia
Passenger railway companies of Australia
Trans-Australian Railway
Railway companies established in 1997
Australian companies established in 1997
Lachlan Shire
Travel and holiday companies of Australia