SLOW Rail Journeys’ Vinelander train returned to Sunraysia on Friday, after a well-patronised six-day slow train ride in mid-June.
A total of 151 passengers took part in that train ride, and 172 ventured from Melbourne to Mildura in this most recent trip.
While 52 people disembarked in Mildura to venture to Mungo National Park on Saturday, 120 took the unique opportunity to take a passenger train ride down the Mallee Track to Murrayville.
Slow Rail Journeys vice-president Matt Lucas said the group took in several sites, including the Pink Lakes in Murray-Sunset National Park, and the silo art at Walpeup.
“We call ourselves Slow Rail Journeys and we delivered it, it’s a 40k an hour speed limit between Ouyen and Murrayville,” he said.
Over its history, the Mallee Track rail line was very occasionally used as a bypass route for the Overland passenger service between Melbourne and Adelaide, but most commonly was used for freight purposes.
Mr Lucas said the last passenger rail tourist train 707 Operations ran on the line was in 2017, prior to the track being converted to standard gauge.
He said he and other rail volunteers had been amazed at the level of interest in not only this most recent trip, and all Sunraysia-based tourism rail journeys.
“We’d initially thought we’d do Mildura once a year and it’d be part of the tour program but it’s been exceptionally popular, which proves there is certainly a place in the market for rail tourism up here,” he said.
The Chaffey Trail Reference Group was in charge of co-ordinating a lot of the on the ground content when the tourists arrived.
Group president Mark Eckel said guests enjoyed a river ramble tour on Sunday, which included a history of the Mildura Riverfront, and tours of the Rio Vista and Mildura Art Gallery.
“99 per cent of them had experienced Mildura and its region from a perspective that they had never seen before,” Cr Eckel said.
“The extraordinary thing from my perspective was the inclusion of the residents of the Mallee track because at every cross road between Ouyen and Murrayville, there were cars, people and stacks of sightseers.”
He said slow rail guests on the Melbourne Cup weekend would pack out a marquee at the Mildura Racing Club, and arrangements are already in place for slow rail journeys for Mildura Day celebrations in May next year.
Half of the tickets for the Melbourne Cup weekend slow rail journey had already sold out.
Passengers over the weekend also partook in a cruise to Trentham Estate with Mildura Paddle Steamers, and were guests at both the Mildura Grand and Commodore Motel, where they learned about Mildura’s rail history.
Mr Lucas said there’s also been a surge in calls for slow rail trips to Mildura over the past fortnight due to the Tropical North Victoria campaign buzz, and the announcement of the locations of the Trail of Lights and Fibre Optic Symphonic Orchestra in Mildura and Wentworth.
“There’s been overwhelming interest,” Mr Lucas said.
“We’ll definitely be up here for the lights, if not once, twice or three times, who knows how many trains we’ll have to man for.”
He said Mildura’s tourism rail potential could potentially be considered comparable to other popular former passenger rail journeys like The Ghan and the Indian Pacific.
“We see the same potential for Mildura with exceptionally strong demand for these rail tourism products up here,” Mr Lucas said.
“Which is a different use of the railway line, but an equally important one.
“It’s bringing a lot of benefit to the region. We’re bringing a lot of people up, we’re spending a lot of money with local businesses to support the region where we can.”
