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The Essential: From Our Own Correspondent: Slow Train to Melbourne

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From Our Own Correspondent: Slow Train to Melbourne

04/08/2016 GMT

BBC World Service - The Essential, From Our Own Correspondent: Slow Train to Melbourne

Petroc Trelawny lets the train take the strain on a multi-stop journey from Sydney

Distances between cities in Australia are so vast many prefer to fly rather than go by rail - except Petroc Trelawny, who bucks the trend to travel the Sydney-Melbourne line

You might think that a vast, mostly empty country with huge distances between its major cities would be a natural home for rail travel. Australia's industries have certainly relied heavily on trains for years - but for passengers it is a different story. Petroc Trelawny was recently told that "everyone" flies between Sydney and Melbourne - and it is certainly one of the world's busiest air routes. But in fact there are still train services between the two cities, and he found a recent journey along the route illuminated plenty about today's Australia. 

(Photo: View from the window of a train service (c) Petroc Trelawny 2016)

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