Travel Australia

The Southern Aurora

The overnight Sydney-Melbourne express, the Southern Aurora, was one of the icons of Australian railways in the 1960s and 1970s. It conveyed passengers only between the starting and terminating points (although later in its life some limited intermediate traffic was allowed). Uniquely in Australia, it conveyed only First Class passengers, all of whom were accommodated in air-conditioned sleeping cars, all equipped with showers.

The Southern Aurora was introduced when part of Australia's gauge problem was solved with the construction of a new standard gauge line, 317 km long from Albury, NSW, parallel to the existing broad gauge line to Melbourne, connecting Australia's two largest cities by standard gauge. Since the opening of this line in 1962, more conversions have taken place, and all main land State capitals are now connected by standard gauge.

Three daily trains operated over the Sydney-Melbourne route: the Intercapital Daylight, taking 12 hours 35 minutes for the 960 km journey; the mostly sitting car overnight Spirit of Progress; and the all-sleeper, the all-new Southern Aurora. The other trains used existing rolling stock.


The Southern Aurora leaving Sydney's Central Station

The Southern Aurora consisted of 14 stainless steel cars: a luggage van, a power van, a dining car, a lounge car, and ten First Class Sleeping Cars. The Sleeping Cars were of three types. The LAN cars contained twenty single berth cabins known as Roomettes, each with a folding toilet unit, with two shower compartments at the ends of the car. The berth when raised formed an armchair, and there were a full length mirror, a wardrobe, iced drinking water and reading and night lights.

The NAM stainless steel cars contained ten two berth compartments known as Twinettes, each with an en-suite shower and toilet compartment. The lower berth formed a sofa to seat three. The DAM stainless steel cars contained eight twinette compartments: two pairs of these compartments connected through the adjoining shower compartments, making them suitable for families. The other four compartments were standard twinettes. In the centre was a Deluxe compartment, with a fixed lower double bed, and a folding upper berth. There were two armchairs in a sitting area, and a larger ensuite bathroom.

The total capacity was 198. The train was hauled by two main line diesels in NSW, and one in Victoria. Departure time from both capitals was 8 pm, and arrival time was 9 am. For a number of years, there were no intermediate stops for passengers, and the train had the longest non-stop run in Australia, 430 km from Goulburn to Albury. Dining car crews changed at Goulburn and Albury, and locos were changed at Albury.


The Southern Aurora arriving at Spencer Street Station, Melbourne

The Southern Aurora name was kept secret until it was announced with the inauguration of the first train: the name actually appeared as the Sydney or Melbourne Limited Express on the first public timetable, and on the dining car menus. The first train ran from Sydney on Thursday 14th April 1962, with full regular services starting from both Sydney and Melbourne on Monday 16th April 1962. The introduction of a Motorail service in 1973 meant that the distinctive fluorescent light nameboard at the rear of the train was removed, as it fouled the Motorail wagon.

On the morning of 7th February the southbound Southern Aurora collided head-on with a northbound goods near Violet Town, Victoria. Nine passengers and crew were killed, and seven carriages were destroyed. The collision resulted in the S 314 and S 316 locomotives being destroyed beyond recognition. They were the first VicRail diesel locomotives to be scrapped.

The classic S Class locomotive was used to haul the early Southern Aurora trains. Built at Clyde's Granville NSW plant, they had only one cab (a small "hostlers" cab was provided at the flat end for short distance, slow speed use). In standard gauge service they usually ran solo.

Perhaps the strangest story about the Aurora was that the dining car hosteese were rumoured to have operated a prostitution racket on board. The Melbourne Truth published such an allegation in the 1960s, but it was easily refuted as only male stewards and conductors then staffed the train.

A steady decline in patronage saw the withdrawal of the service in August 1986. The two overnight trains were amalgamated into the Sydney Express and the Melbourne Express. The Dining and Lounge Cars remained for Sleeping and First Class Sitting passengers. This combined train was not to last long, for it was replaced by a daylight and an overnight XPT service. The XPT is based on the British diesel High Speed Train (HST), and has one sleeping car, and no dining or lounge car. XPT sets, and their close relatives, the XPL railcars, now operate the few remaining NSW long-distance trains.


Violet Town rail crash. Photo: LeDawn Archive, Pictures Collection, State Library Victoria

Violet Town Rail Accident, 1969

By far the most notable incident in the Southern Aurora's history was a railway accident that occurred on 7th February 1969 following the incapacitation of the driver of one of the trains, near the McDiarmids Road crossing, approximately 1 km south of Violet Town, a town in Victoria 173 km north of Melbourne. The crash resulted in nine deaths and 117 injuries.

On the night of the accident, the Southern Aurora from Sydney departed with fourteen carriages, and was carrying a near-capacity load of 192 passengers and 22 crew by the time it reached Violet Town. A fast freight train of 22 wagons, mostly containing new cars, had departed Melbourne at 1.25 a.m. travelling north.

The southbound Southern Aurora and northbound freight train were timetabled to cross at Benalla, north of Violet Town, at 6.44 a.m. The freight train was scheduled to enter the Benalla crossing loop at 6.15 am. However, at 6.30 .m., the train controller on duty at Train Control in Melbourne observed that both the Southern Aurora and the goods train were running behind schedule, and so he decided to have the trains pass each other at Violet Town instead, utilising a loop line that the goods train use to pass the Southern Aurora.

Shortly before 7 am, the Southern Aurora was signalled to slow down and let the goods train enter the loop, but the signal was ignored. It was later established that the driver of the Southern Aurora had died about 10 km before the crash, and had probably not been in effective control of the train for some time. The trains collided head-on at a closing speed later estimated at 172 km/h (107 mph) the force of the collision propelled the locomotive of the Southern Aurora, and several of the goods wagons, into the air. Six of the passenger carriages were derailed, and one was completely crushed by other wreckage. The two leading carriages telescoped into the rear of the locomotive, and two others rode over the top of the wreckage, suspending them some 30 ft (9 m) in the air.

Immediately following the crash, spilt diesel fuel caused the locomotive of the goods train to catch fire. The flames quickly spread to the derailed Southern Aurora carriages, where passengers were already attempting to escape through broken windows. Over 100 firefighters eventually arrived from neighbouring districts to assist with the firefighting, rescue and recovery effort. A stone cairn was erected on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy by the Public Transport Corporation at the site of the accident.