Sydney to Melbourne train
Trains from Sydney to Melbourne start at €88.34 and take 5h 38m at their fastest.
The Trains from Sydney to Melbourne starts at €88.34 and takes 5h 38m door to door, run by 1 operator over 713 km, with around 12 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 60 days before departure.
- 5h 38mDoor to door
- 4h 54mMoving
- €88.34From
- 23.5 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 | €77.89 | 5h 33m | 140 km/h | Refundable | Power outlets, Wi-Fi |
The trip ends at North Melbourne. Everything past the gates belongs to somebody else, the rooms included.
Where to stay in Melbourne
Filter by neighborhood and by nightly price, and the map tells you what is a walk and what is a cab.
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When to book Sydney to Melbourne
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €39.2390 days
- €24.9360 days
- €26.0345 days
- €29.8830 days
- €35.3821 days
- €48.5814 days
- €57.387 days
- €56.283 days
- €80.481 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €24.93.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 223 percent. The most expensive point is €80.48, 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.
- €45.28Sun
- €40.33Mon
- €37.03Tue
- €40.33Wed
- €51.33Thu
- €48.58Fri
- €48.03Sat
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Sydney
- North Sydney railway station
- Rookwood railway station, Sydney
- APM Siding
Melbourne
- North Melbourne
- Melbourne Central
- Kew railway station, Melbourne
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 713 km against 713 km in a straight line, a detour of 2 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- First and last departure
- The first service of the day leaves Sydney at 06:08 and the last at 21:08, across 12 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 30m | 1h 20m | 3h 10m | €75.66 | 180.8 kg | 64 |
| Train | 5h 38m | 4h 54m | 44m | €88.34 | 23.5 kg | 12 |
| Coach | 10h 5m | 9h 21m | 44m | €37.03 | 19.3 kg | 12 |
Questions about Sydney to Melbourne
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 Sydney to Melbourne take?
The Train from Sydney to Melbourne takes 5h 38m door to door, of which 4h 54m is spent moving. The route runs 713 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 Sydney to Melbourne cost?
The Train from Sydney to Melbourne starts at €88.34 for one passenger, checked on September 28, 2026. A typical fare is €102.92. 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 Sydney to Melbourne?
1 operators run the Train from Sydney to Melbourne: NSW TrainLink. Between them they file around 12 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 Sydney to Melbourne use?
The Train from Sydney to Melbourne leaves from North Sydney railway station and arrives at North Melbourne. 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 Sydney to Melbourne?
Traveling from Sydney to Melbourne by Flight costs €75.66 and takes 4h 30m door to door, against 5h 38m 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 Sydney to Melbourne?
Fares for the Train from Sydney to Melbourne bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €24.93. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time across the window is 223 percent, measured on September 28, 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.
How much CO2 does the Train from Sydney to Melbourne produce?
The Train from Sydney to Melbourne produces about 23.5 kg of CO2 per passenger over 713 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 Sydney to Melbourne?
Operators on the Train from Sydney to Melbourne publish Power outlets, Wi-Fi. That is what 1 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 5h 38m 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 Sydney to Melbourne on September 11, 2026: 713 km of route against 713 km in a straight line, 12 services a day, 1 operators, a cheapest fare of €88.34, and 5h 38m 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 Melbourne and elsewhere in Australia. None of it is ours to sell.
Things to do in Melbourne
Timed entry, guided walks and half-day trips out of Melbourne, with free cancellation on most of it.
See Melbourne on KlookOr browse GetYourGuide
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