- The Southern Spirit
'The Southern Spirit' is luxury rail cruise
train inAustralia , operated by Great Southern Railway (GSR). The train was launched in June 2008 and will travel all over Australia, with the first service to run in November 2008. The train will operate from November through February each year, and combine train travel with overnight hotel stays, and other experiences similar to land excursions during sea cruises. [cite web
url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/australia/australias-new-luxury-cruise-on-rails/2008/06/19/1213770810514.html
title=All at sea - on land
work=The Age
date=June 22, 2008
publisher=www.theage.com.au
accessdate=2008-06-29]Service
Passengers on the the train will be accommodated by five new 'Platinum class' carriages constructed at a cost of $12 million, with compartments twice the size of the 'Gold class' carriages on other GSR services, and feature double beds rather than two bunks. At the end of the cruise season the carriages will be used on "
The Ghan ". The cost of each tour is between $7000 and $14,000 depending on the cruise and the class of travel.cite web
url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/news/rail-cruising-sets-off/2008/06/25/1214073342000.html
title=Rail 'cruising' sets off
work=Brisbane Times
date=June 28, 2008
publisher=www.brisbanetimes.com.au
accessdate=2008-06-29] Haulage of the train will be provided byPacific National NR class locomotives, as with other GSR services. NR85 was repainted into a special livery for the train in September 2008. [cite web
url=http://www.railsa.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2746
title=RailSA.org Forum • View topic - NR85 Southern Spirit
publisher=www.railsa.org
accessdate=2008-09-02]Each rail cruise during a season will cover a different route, covering cities already visited by GSR such as Katherine, Darwin,
Adelaide , Perth, andSydney ; and tourist locations that are not, such asBrisbane ,Canberra , Coffs Harbour, and the Hunter Valley.References
External links
* [http://www.thesouthernspirit.com.au/ The Southern Spirit] (official site)
* Photos: [http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2008/06/24/1214073202697.html Promotional images of the train]
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