A new solar-powered train will take you to Australia's hippy surf town Byron Bay

Australia’s ultimate surfie-hippy coastal town is now easily accessible via a solar-powered train, as Sarah Reid reports
Clock in: the Byron Bay Train, the £2.26 million brainchild of businessman Brian Flannery
Sarah Reid12 February 2018

Some days, the line of traffic crawling along the one road into Australia’s hippy town, Byron Bay, can snake almost five miles back from the centre. Until recently, the only way to avoid the gridlock was to cycle or walk. Now, what is claimed to be the world’s first fully solar-powered train is providing a similarly eco-friendly alternative.

Not that you’d know it was so cutting edge by looking at it. The train is a refurbished one from 1949 — fully restored in its shiny red heritage colours.

The £2.26 million brainchild of rich list Brian Flannery, who owns a resort in the area, the Byron Bay Train took its maiden voyage nine days before Christmas. By the second week of January, it had already clocked up its 10,000th passenger — not bad for a town with around the same number of permanent residents.

Running on a three-kilometre stretch of disused rail line, the train — which can hold 100 passengers with room for luggage, bikes and surfboards — connects the town to Byron’s Arts and Industry Estate.

Here, surfboard factories and lumber yards now sit shoulder-to-shoulder with a growing stable of eco-conscious cafés, health stores, yoga studios, co-working spaces and design boutiques. Stone and Wood Brewing Co has its HQ here, as do top local fashion exports including Spell & The Gypsy Collective and Zulu & Zephyr. Flannery’s Elements of Byron Resort opened near the train’s North Beach terminus in 2016, and late 2017 saw the first retailers — including hip Argentinian-inspired restaurant Barrio — move in.

Trundling through coastal swampland dotted with some of Byron Bay’s most expensive homes, the seven-minute, £1.70 train journey is a delight in itself. While I didn’t spot any wildlife on my trip, keep your eyes peeled. Wallabies bounding alongside the train and the odd goanna wandering across the tracks are already par for the course.

While there are trains in India that use solar technology to power carriage lighting systems, the 70-tonne Byron Train, which has 6.5 kilowatts of rooftop solar power panels charging a lithium battery, is thought to be the world’s first to be fully powered by the sun’s energy.

On top of the North Beach Station train shed there is a 30-kilowatt solar system that can be used to top up the train on cloudy days, or when the battery runs low after back-to-back return trips. The train was originally planned as a diesel service but the solar panels have done so well that diesel is only used as a back-up.

As my journey nears its end, I’m tempted to stay on for another lap. While solar technology is a while off being able to facilitate longer train journeys without stopping to recharge, it’s a thrill to experience what this 4.6 billion-year-old power source is capable of.

Details: Qantas flies to Sydney from Heathrow from £782. Connect to Ballina Byron Gateway with Jetstar from £60 return. Elements of Byron has doubles from £214, B&B. byronbaytrain.com.au

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