Transcontinental Grandeur

Covering 4352km and four days, across Australia’s arid inland, the Indian Pacific is one of the world’s most celebrated train journeys.

- Phil Jarratt

A STOCKY MAN in an Akubra hat, R.M. Williams striped shirt, blazer and moleskins, that all seem a little too much for this warm Perth morning, Indian Pacific train manager Dean Duka, 49, positively beams as he welcomes guests, relieves them of their luggage and ushers them along the platform towards their carriages.

Of course, this is not Dean’s main job – he has 30 staff for the details – but this is his style. He’s a hands-on kind of guy, eager to lead by example. A former boxer, weightlifter and mountain biker, in 2013 he led Great Southern Rail (GSR) colleagues in a cycling challenge across the Nullarbor Plain, following the train line that is his workplace and passion, raising $30,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Dean has the engaging manner of a man you want to know more about. But there’s no time now. There are schedules to keep, luggage to be loaded and lists to check. He looks at his watch. “Let’s meet at my office on the train at 4pm.”

Musician James Ross has finished his welcome set and is packing his guitar away as the guests leave the East Perth Terminal and head down the platform. We walk together to the far end of the 750m train, and he explains that he’ll be the resident musician for our four-day journey, a troubadour moving from car to car, breaking up the day when the spinifex view begins to pall.

From the moment we board the Indian Pacific we are in the hands of a small army of people dressed identically to Dean, whose voice periodically rumbles from the speakers. The uniforms are smart, combining the classic bush cool of R.M. Williams with elements of chic workplace fashion.

This, I discover, is the art of award-winning fashion designer Juli Grbac, who had previously made a bold fashion statement with Virgin Australia’s cabin crew.