Melbourne to Canberra train
Trains from Melbourne to Canberra start at €63.59 and take 4h 13m at their fastest.
The Trains from Melbourne to Canberra starts at €63.59 and takes 4h 13m door to door, run by 1 operator over 466 km, with around 5 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 60 days before departure.
- 4h 13mDoor to door
- 3h 29mMoving
- €63.59From
- 15.4 kgCO2
The cheapest and the fastest on September 28, 2026
Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.
No bookable itinerary on the day this page prices, so none is shown.
Rail operators
Speed, flexibility and what is on board. Nothing here is a rating, because we have not earned one.
| Operator | From | Fastest | Typical speed | Flexibility | On board |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW TrainLink | €54.79 | 3h 55m | 140 km/h | Refundable | Power outlets, Wi-Fi |
That is the traveling done. What happens after you walk out into Canberra is not something we sell.
Rooms within reach of Canberra railway station
Hotels and apartments near downtown, most of them with free cancellation, on a map that shows what is walkable.
Search Canberra on AgodaOr compare on Booking.com
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Melbourne to Canberra
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €26.0390 days
- €18.3360 days
- €25.4845 days
- €22.7330 days
- €31.5321 days
- €33.7314 days
- €44.187 days
- €50.233 days
- €54.631 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €18.33.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 198 percent. The most expensive point is €54.63, 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.
Which departure day costs least
Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.
- €38.13Sun
- €26.58Mon
- €26.03Tue
- €29.33Wed
- €33.73Thu
- €32.08Fri
- €33.18Sat
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Melbourne
- North Melbourne
- Melbourne Central
- Kew railway station, Melbourne
Canberra
- Canberra railway station
- Burbong railway station
- Queanbeyan railway station
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 80% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 20% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 466 km against 466 km in a straight line, a detour of 1 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Sydney, Wollongong. The gap between arriving and leaving is 55 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 at 06:08 and the last at 17:17, across 5 departures. The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.
Trains against the other ways to make this journey
The same corridor, door to door, with every mode that runs it.
| Mode | Door to door | Moving | At the ends | From | CO2 | Per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight | 4h 12m | 1h 2m | 3h 10m | €59.73 | 118.1 kg | 2 |
| Train | 4h 13m | 3h 29m | 44m | €63.59 | 15.4 kg | 5 |
| Coach | 7h | 6h 16m | 44m | €26.03 | 12.6 kg | 3 |
Questions about Melbourne to Canberra
The questions people actually ask about this trip, 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 to Canberra take?
The Train from Melbourne to Canberra takes 4h 13m door to door, of which 3h 29m is spent moving. The route runs 466 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 to Canberra cost?
The Train from Melbourne to Canberra starts at €63.59 for one passenger, checked on September 28, 2026. A typical fare is €71.29. 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 to Canberra?
1 operators run the Train from Melbourne to Canberra: NSW TrainLink. Between them they file around 5 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 to Canberra use?
The Train from Melbourne to Canberra leaves from North Melbourne and arrives at Canberra 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.
Is the Train the best way from Melbourne to Canberra?
Traveling from Melbourne to Canberra by Flight costs €59.73 and takes 4h 12m door to door, against 4h 13m by Train. Which is better depends on whether the money or the hours matter more on this trip. The comparison table on this page shows every mode side by side.
When should I book the Train from Melbourne to Canberra?
Fares for the Train from Melbourne to Canberra bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €18.33. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time across the window is 198 percent, measured on September 28, 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.
How much CO2 does the Train from Melbourne to Canberra produce?
The Train from Melbourne to Canberra produces about 15.4 kg of CO2 per passenger over 466 km, which works out at roughly 33 grams per passenger kilometer. That figure is for the whole journey and for one traveler, not for the vehicle.
What is provided on board the Train from Melbourne to Canberra?
Operators on the Train from Melbourne to Canberra publish Power outlets, Wi-Fi. That is what 1 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 4h 13m door to door. Where a carrier publishes nothing, this page lists nothing for it.
Where these numbers come from
Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.
Schedules, seat counts and fares are generated by our own model until the supplier contracts are signed. Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance are real. We would rather say that on every page than let a modeled number pass for a filed one.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Melbourne to Canberra on September 10, 2026: 466 km of route against 466 km in a straight line, 5 services a day, 1 operators, a cheapest fare of €63.59, and 4h 13m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Related journeys
Plenty of what is worth seeing sits outside Canberra and elsewhere in Australia. None of it is ours to sell.
What to book in Canberra before you go
The tickets worth having in advance, because the line at the door is usually the whole morning.
See Canberra on KlookOr browse GetYourGuide
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.