The Overland gets last-minute lifeline to continue into 2020 – for now
The imperilled rail link to Melbourne will continue into next year after the Victorian Government stepped in again to fill a funding gap left by South Australian cuts.
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The Overland has been thrown a last-minute lifeline that will allow the in-doubt train service to stay on track into 2020.
The Victorian Government has announced it will continue covering a funding shortfall – left by the South Australian Government when it cut its subsidy for the service – until the end of March next year.
Without the eleventh-hour reprieve, The Overland, which runs between Adelaide and Melbourne, was set to cease operating on Tuesday.
The last Adelaide-to-Melbourne trip was scheduled to depart on Monday while the final Melbourne-to-Adelaide journey was to occur on December 31.
However, the service will now begin taking bookings for 2020 as long-term funding negotiations continue.
The Overland’s operator Journey Beyond, formerly Great Southern Rail, has consistently stated it needs Government funding to subsidise its operational costs to keep ticket prices affordable.
A Victorian Government spokesman today confirmed Victorian taxpayers would chip in extra money to keep The Overland running until the end of March 2020 “to give holiday-makers certainty”.
The spokesman would not reveal how much the funding deal was worth.
“Given the South Australian Liberal Government’s cut to the service, Victoria will use the next three months to continue discussions with Journey Beyond about the future of the Overland,” he told The Advertiser.
“This gives the South Australian Liberal Government three months to reassess its cut in funding for the service – which is primarily used by South Australians.”
The future of The Overland had been under a cloud as Journey Beyond and the Victorian Government attempted to negotiate a deal that would enable the service to carry on in 2020.
It came after the SA Government cut its subsidy for The Overland in November last year.
It cited low patronage, with passenger numbers down from more than 100,000 a year 20 years ago to about 17,000 annually, as well as the availability of other, cheaper transport options, such as buses and planes, as reasons for its decision.
The cut was, at the time, expected to force The Overland to cease operating at the end of 2018. However, the Victorian Government responded by contributing an additional $200,000 to the service, while Journey Beyond put in an extra $130,000 to keep the service running until the end of this year.
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The three-month funding announcement came after State Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas today wrote to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews asking him to step in.
“On behalf of the thousands of South Australians who rely on this service I hope the Victorian
Labor Government will again find the capacity to fund this service to ensure that The Overland can again operate in 2020 and into a 133rd year of continuous operation,” he wrote.
Mr Malinauskas told The Advertiser the Opposition had been working with the Victorian Government “to try and save this iconic service because we know that once these trains services go, we never get them back”.
“If the Marshall Liberal Government would reinstate its … funding of this important service it would ensure this train service could continue to operate in 2020,” he said.
A State Government spokesman said the Government would not help fund The Overland because “is a privately owned and operated tourism service and therefore its continuity is a matter for (Journey Beyond)”.
The Overland offered a twice-weekly service with tickets starting at $114 one way, per person.