Great Southern Rail (GSR) has just announced adjustments to the 2012 service schedule for The Ghan and the Indian Pacific.

The service adjustments are the result of a review into passenger demand versus onboard capacity and the need to improve operating sustainability in an increasingly competitive tourism market.

Interim Chief Executive of Great Southern Rail, Russell Westmoreland, said of the changes, “The timetable adjustments enable us to improve our operational efficiencies while still maintaining our onboard capacity, pricing and level of service.”

“Australia’s Great Train Journeys are a tourism product and as such, we need to build our operations around customer demand. The adjustment to our service schedule is a measure we have taken to improve our operating sustainability in an increasingly competitive tourism environment.”

The new service schedule for The Ghan and the Indian Pacific, effective immediately, will be:

While The Ghan and the Indian Pacific are operating less frequently during the low periods of the year, weekly capacity is unchanged due to an increase in the number of carriages aboard each train.

Agents who have existing bookings which will be affected by the changes have been contacted by GSR’s sales team.