The Bellarine Railway - Queenscliff Station — Attraction in Barwon South West

Swan Bay Express - Overall, we had a great time; however, there are a couple of improvements that could be made to ease the onboarding process. We arrived just before 11 am for the first departure. There was a long queue; we'd prebooked, but saw no signage of whether we needed to wait or be signed in as we boarded. Unfortunately, the young man at the window was somewhat frazzled and under stress due to some technical difficulties - obviously not his fault; however, he couldn't assist us. I think perhaps having more staff/volunteers assist on those busy days with queue management would have been helpful. Even a sign for pre-booked customers would have been beneficial, reducing the load on the ticket window and giving customers better direction. Dogs; online, it's specified there are zoned carriages for this; however, there is no option on the booking to advise that dogs will be joining aside from comments. Given the capacity limitations (especially on busy days) and the need to keep dogs separate from other customers on a fully booked schedule, this also seems to be a problem. I'd recommend adding a ticketing component similar to Pax, which already exists, for dogs that provides a passenger expectation for the number of dogs per service and applies a limit on the number that can be accommodated. In our case, we were very fortunate that a privately reserved carriage of passengers was willing to share with us. The staff did their best to assist us, but I was disappointed that this issue wasn't considered in advance, which caused additional stress to the staff and an unnecessary burden to other passengers while they searched for a suitable location for us. If dogs are allowed, there needs to be a framework in place to support it; otherwise, simply remove the offer or at least remove it on peak days when you'd rather paying customers fill all carriages.

Our family had a great time, and we'd still recommend it! However, we felt like a bit of a burden, and it didn't need to be that way. I felt stressed on your team's behalf and a bit awkward that we were affecting other passengers by following the information online. Hopefully, these comments are useful; that's my...

edit to reply to Kate: the booking wouldn't have our carriage details. we sat in the last carriage heading away from the station. it was the second set of single seats along the windows. to be honest, I didn't expect you to fix it :) I've just accepted it as an old train. glad to see that you're looking into it though!!!

just a warning for all parents: the windows on the train are very old and the LATCHES are not safe. I still crinch thinking about it. we got off the train at the end of the line to take photos of the locomotive when it went around to the other end. when we got back on the carriage, someone else opened the window at our seat. it was a bit warm so we left it open until the train moves again. I told my partner to hold our toddlers hands just in case. you can say it's mother's instincts. the next minute, the window, that was almost fully open, fell shut with a loud bang. there was a silence in the carriage as everyone looked at us. I stared at my partner as I didn't dare to look at my toddler for a second. he said "I got his hands!". needless to say, it was a relief and we were thankful that someone was looking over us. there would be no way that my toddler's hands (or anyone's hand!!) would survive that accident. PLEASE PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

it was fun for the little one. a bit underwhelming for parents as we hyped it up and imagined that he'd be over the moon lol but he was sufficiently impressed. He was most excited about the controller. had the biggest grin on his face when the controller spoke to him. a little frightened by the honking. overall a good experience. make sure you go early, 30+ minutes, to allow for parking and queueing up...

What a MASSIVE disappointment!!! Absolutely terrible communication and customer service. We arrived for an 11am departure to be told at 10.50am their was an issue with the train and it would be 35min late this wasn’t an issue, we thought we’ll take the kids for a walk to grab a coffee and head back we arrived back 25 minutes later to see a train departing 10 min earlier than had been advised.

We were basically told by Steven that it was our fault we chose to leave the platform that we should have used our common sense. Had we been advised the train would be 35 min late but to stay at the platform as the train would leave if the driver arrived earlier than expected, this was not the case as most families with small children opted to leave the station. We weren’t the only family to be waiting back on the platform with no train.

The kids are devastated as we travelled from Bendigo for this experience to be told we can have a refund or again wait around for the next train. We were repeatedly told this was not their fault that when the driver wants to leave he leaves despite advising everyone of a 35 min delay.

After reading reviews this is not surprising or...