Synopsis

THE BOOK THAT SAVED THE TRAIN

In 2018 The Overland Express that had operated between Melbourne and Adelaide was looking sad. It had once operated seven days in both directions as a night train but was then operating two times per week as a day train. Deregulation of the domestic airlines had seen a large drop in air fares which had cut into passenger numbers. On the east coast the crack expresses, The Southern Aurora and The Spirit of Progress had passed into history. The Overland was surviving because of a subsidy from the Governments of Victoria and South Australia because it provided a service to regional centres and was also relevant to the disabled. But in 2018 the Marshall Liberal Government of South Australia announced that it would no longer contribute to the subsidy. The future for The Overland looked grim. I felt that it had a special history that should be acknowledged and set about writing this book which would be called The Overland – An Obituary.

The Victorian Government of Daniel Andrews threw a lifeline of 3 months, and repeated it but, by early 2020 it was clear that the Victorian Government was running short of patience. There were three things that happened within a very short period. I had gone to the printers with the book but because the Overland was still running the title was changed to The Overland – A Social History. The Victorian Government gave a further 3 months extension which was to 30 June. The third was COVID and the border was closed on 24 March. By this time, it was looking very grim for the future of this interstate express that had been the first to link two Australian capitals without break of journey.

But I was concerned that there had not been any attempt to a coordinated campaign to bring both sides of the border together. I piggy-backed a plan on the back of the book which was to convene a gathering in the dining hall of the Serviceton railway station with a red line down the centre, which would be the border dividing the dining hall into the sides of the border. I had been a hoping that by both states joining forces there would be some chance of saving the service and I would use my newly published book as a bit of a testimony that I wrote with some authority. My first approach was to councils in South Australia but received no support. I suspect they were dominated by Liberals loyal to Premier Stephen Marshall. I then ventured over the border and was similarly rewarded. I was on the cusp of giving up but gave it one last throw of the dice.

I sent an email to the Rural City of Horsham, and within the hour had received an encouraging reply from Councilor Mark Radford, Mayor, who had been keen to see some action. Officialdom did not like my idea of a red line on the floor of the Serviceton station and Mark Radford had devised an online webinar that was called The Serviceton Summit. Meanwhile I had enlisted Mat O’ Brien, councilor from Murray Bridge and Mark had the assistance of Margaret Millington of Nhill. So, with only 10 days to go we put on the SERVICETON SUMMIT and then waited. The South Australian Government was unmoved by this and did not show any interest in the Serviceton Summit despite having been invited. The ask was for the Victorian Government to grant a 6-month stay of execution. Given that the train was not running as a result of the border restrictions, that ask seemed to be a very big ask. There was one other action that offered a chance of swinging favourable decision and I put two copies of the Overland book in the mail, one to Premier, Daniel Andrews and one to Minister, Jacinta Allen . At 11.00 am on 30 June, Mark Radford received advice that the Victorian Government had committed to keep the funding in place for three years. The border restrictions were still in place and The Overland was side-tracked for 9 months and only returned to operation on 3 January 2021. I was aboard that train, as was ABC identity, Peter Goers, who subsequently described the journey.

The Overland had suffered further loss of business as a result of the service not being promoted and one of the incentives to emerge from the Serviceton Summit was the Friends of the Overland which is a Facebook page with about 900 members and growing. Journey Beyond is the operator of The Overland and does not publish figures of passenger numbers but casual observation is that there are not many empty seats. I have written a poetic tribute to this GRAND OLD LADY OF THE WEST and am advised that one of the members of the Friends is putting that verse to music.

Peter Malinauskas, the Leader of the South Australian opposition pledged to commit funding if Labor was returned to government at the next State election. That has been the outcome and the Malinauskas Government has honoured its undertaking. The Serviceton Summit is 55 minutes and is a remarkable demonstration of the pull that can be achieved against formidable headwinds by a gang of four armed with a good book