Melbourne CBD to Sydney train

Trains from Melbourne CBD to Sydney start at €89.99 and take 6h 29m at their fastest.

Melbourne City CentreMelbourne City CentreSydneySydney
Breathtaking view of Sydney's skyline silhouetted against a vivid orange sunset sky.

The Trains from Melbourne CBD to Sydney starts at €89.99 and takes 6h 29m door to door, run by 1 operator over 820 km, with around 4 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 60 days before departure.

Checked 17 September 2026Priced for 5 October 2026One passenger, all fees included

  • 6h 29mDoor to door
  • 5h 45mMoving
  • €103.19 to €250.04From
  • 06:47 to 07:30First and last departure
  • 4Per day
  • 27.1 kgCO2

First and last are taken from the services we sell on 5 October 2026. The return direction keeps its own timetable and is not these times reversed.

€103.19 to €250.04 for one passenger across the 14 departure dates priced here. The low end is one day, not every day. Worked out from this corridor rather than held for anybody. The operator sets the price on the day.

NSW TrainLink runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.

Buying this journey

Bookaway lists departures for Melbourne CBD to Sydney on your date, and you pay on their side.

Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.

Fares by date

What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.

Typical fares

  1. about €239.04Fri18
  2. about €250.04Sat19
  3. about €186.79Sun20
  4. about €143.89Mon21
  5. about €152.69Tue22
  6. about €138.94Wed23
  7. about €180.19Thu24
  8. about €133.44Fri25
  9. about €137.84Sat26
  10. about €124.64Sun27
  11. about €104.84Mon28
  12. about €103.19Tue29
  13. about €137.29Wed30
  14. about €116.94Thu1

Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.

Real services

The cheapest and the fastest on 5 October 2026

Cheapest€89.99
  1. NSW TrainLink NS326507:304h 15m11:45Melbourne City Centre stationCanberra railway station
  2. NSW TrainLink NS446612:521h 53m14:45Canberra railway stationNorth Sydney railway station

Changes at Canberra, with 67 minutes between services and a walk of about 5 minutes.

Door to door 7h 59mCO2 25.8 kgChanges 1Refundable

Fastest€104.84
  1. NSW TrainLink NS787806:475h 45m12:32Melbourne City Centre stationNorth Sydney railway station

Door to door 6h 29mCO2 27.1 kgChanges 0Refundable

Carriers

Train operators

Every operator we sell on this corridor. Speed is the carrier's own typical cruising speed, not the average over this route.
OperatorFromFastestTypical speedFlexibilityOn board
NSW TrainLink€100.446h 19m140 km/hRefundablePower sockets, Wi-Fi

The train gets you into Sydney. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.

A hotel room

A room in Sydney for the night the train gets in

Sort by distance from North Sydney railway station and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.

Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.

Booking window

When to book Melbourne CBD to Sydney

The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.

  1. €96.0490 days
  2. €70.1960 days
  3. €75.1445 days
  4. €100.9930 days
  5. €109.7921 days
  6. €116.9414 days
  7. €180.197 days
  8. €186.793 days
  9. €239.041 days
Cheapest lead time
Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €70.19.
How much it moves
The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 241 percent. The dearest point is €239.04, 1 days out.
What that means
Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Day of the week

Which departure day costs least

Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.

  1. €124.64Sun
  2. €104.84Mon
  3. €103.19Tue
  4. €137.29Wed
  5. €116.94Thu
  6. €133.44Fri
  7. €137.84Sat
Terminals

Where you leave from and where you arrive

Sydney

Rail
  • North Sydney railway station
  • Rookwood railway station, Sydney
  • APM Siding
The journey

What the journey looks like

Direct or connecting
25% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 75% involve one connection.
How far it really runs
The route covers 820 km against 713 km in a straight line, a detour of 15 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
Where the change is
Connections are made at Tuggeranong, Wollongong, Canberra. The gap between arriving and leaving is 56 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
If the connection is missed
The tightest connection we sell here has a 17 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is ours to fix and you are rebooked at no charge.
First and last departure
The first service of the day leaves Melbourne CBD at 06:47 and the last at 07:30, across 4 departures The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.

Questions about Melbourne CBD to Sydney

The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.

How long does the Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney take?

The Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney takes 6h 29m door to door, of which 5h 45m is spent moving. The route runs 820 km. The difference between the two times is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end, which every time on this page includes.

How much does the Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney cost?

The Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney starts at €89.99 for one passenger, as of 17 September 2026. A typical fare is €95.49. Both are the total including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so the price here is the price at checkout.

Who runs the Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney?

1 operators run the Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney: NSW TrainLink. Between them they file around 4 departures a day. The operator table on this page compares them on fare, journey time, cruising speed, fare conditions and what is provided on board.

Which terminal does the Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney use?

The Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney leaves from Melbourne City Centre station and arrives at North Sydney railway station. Allow about 44m for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one. That time is already inside every door to door figure quoted on this page.

When should I book the Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney?

Fares for the Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €70.19. The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time across the window is 241 percent, measured on 17 September 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.

How much CO2 does the Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney produce?

The Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney produces about 27.1 kg of CO2 per passenger over 820 km, which works out at roughly 33 grams per passenger kilometre. That figure is for the whole journey and for one traveller, not for the vehicle.

What is provided on board the Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney?

Operators on the Train from Melbourne CBD to Sydney publish Power sockets, Wi-Fi. That is what 1 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 6h 29m door to door. Where a carrier publishes nothing, this page lists nothing for it.

Where these numbers come from

Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.

Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.

Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.

Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon

On this page
Every figure above was computed for Melbourne CBD to Sydney on 17 September 2026: 820 km of route against 713 km in a straight line, 4 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €89.99, and 6h 29m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.

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Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.

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