''The Prospector'' is a rural passenger train service in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

operated by Transwa between East Perth and

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area inclu ...

. On this service, two trains depart almost at the same time in opposite directions, one travelling between East Perth and Kalgoorlie, and the other between Kalgoorlie and East Perth. The original vehicles ordered in 1968 for trains providing this service were replaced in 2004 with vehicles capable of reducing journey times to 6 hours 45 minutes.

History

With the standard gauge line from

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

due to open in mid-1969, the

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra respons ...

decided to replace '' The Kalgoorlie'' overnight sleeper service with a daylight service. The new service commenced on 29 November 1971, cutting the journey time from fourteen to eight hours. With an average speed of , it was the fastest service in Australia.

Stops

* East Perth *

Midland Midland may refer to: Places Australia * Midland, Western Australia Canada * Midland, Albert County, New Brunswick * Midland, Kings County, New Brunswick * Midland, Newfoundland and Labrador * Midland, Ontario India * Midland Ward, Kohima, Nagal ...

* Toodyay * Northam * Meckering * Cunderdin * Tammin * Kellerberrin * Doodlakine * Hines Hill * Merredin * Burracoppin * Carrabin * Bodallin * Moorine Rock * Southern Cross * Koolyanobbing * Bonnie Vale *

Services

There is one train each way daily between East Perth and

. On Mondays and Fridays there are two services each way.

Onboard facilities

Each seat on board is in the same class. At every seat there is a touchscreen entertainment system with a small selection of movies, TV shows and music. They also offer a tray table, in-seat power ( Australian type only), and a foot rest. Food is not complimentary on board and can be bought at the buffet. The buffet offers a variety of items such as ham and cheese croissants, pies, muffins, soft drinks, potato chips, lollies and alcohol.

Rolling stock

In 1968,

Comeng Commonwealth Engineering (often shortened to Com-Eng, later Comeng was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams. History Smith and Waddington, the predecessor to Commonwealth Engi ...

, Granville were awarded a contract to build eight WAGR WCA/WCE class railcars. Built to take advantage of the generous

loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...

on the new line, they were the largest carriages ever built in Australia. They were the first trains in Australia to have at-seat catering. These held the record for the highest speed attained by an Australian train until bettered by a

New South Wales XPT The New South Wales ''XPT'' (short for eXpress Passenger Train) is a class of diesel-powered passenger trains built by Comeng and ABB Transportation. Based on the British Rail designed Intercity 125 High Speed Train, each XPT set is made up ...

in September 1981. In December 2000, Westrail awarded a contract to

United Goninan UGL Rail is an Australian rail company specialising in building, maintaining and refurbishing diesel locomotives, diesel and electric multiple units and freight wagons. It is a subsidiary of UGL Limited and is based in Melbourne, with a staff of ...

, Broadmeadow for seven Transwa WDA/WDB/WDC class railcars to replace the original railcars. The first entered service on 28 June 2004. The new railcars are capable of , but track conditions restrict their top speed to .Prospector Product Sheet
UGL Rail Nonetheless, they further reduced journey times to 6 hours 45 minutes.

References

Bibliography

*''100th anniversary of rail link'' (History of the Eastern Goldfields railway, officially completed on 1 January 1897, to the present, including introduction of the ''Prospector'' train on 29 November 1971) '' Kalgoorlie Miner'' 1 January 1997, p. 2

External links

*
Perth Trains gallery
{{Public Transport Authority of Western Australia railway stations, Prospector=y Named passenger trains of Western Australia Prospector rail service Railway services introduced in 1971 1971 establishments in Australia