FEATURE/The 2000 Olympic Flame Makes Tracks inAustralia Indian Pacific Train to Carry...

Feature and Travel Editors/Sports and Entertainment Writers

FEATURE...

--(BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES)

On Monday, July 10 at 9:30 p.m. Australia's transcontinental passenger train, the Indian Pacific, will carry the Olympic torch on a 30-hour journey through the Australian

Outback. Beginning in the town of Kalgoorlie, with its fanciful Victorian architecture, the train will pass small outback settlements such as Loongana, Ooldea, Tarcoola, and Pimba before arriving at Port August, its final rally point, on Wednesday, July 12 at 5;00 a.m.

On board, the Olympic flame will be housed in a special carriage, protected by a three-person security team, and accompanied by a contingent of representatives from the Sydney Olympic Games Organizing Committee, media and sponsors. For the event, the train, will be extended to 50 cars - 30 for passengers and 20 for accompanying support vehicles. In fact, it will take approximately 20 minutes to walk from one end of the train to the other.

Cook Hosts 2000 Outback Games [pilcrow (paragraph sign)] At the town of Cook - population 3 -- the Indian Pacific Torch Train will stop for nearly 2 1/2 hours to refuel and take on water. To mark the event, which represents one of the Olympic Flame's longest stops in its global journey from Mt. Olympus in Greece to Sydney's Olympic Stadium, the town will stage the "2000 Outback Games." Western Australia Olympic representatives, government officials and locals will invade the tiny town to participate in a grand outback relay. The event will include a golf contest (closest to the pin on Cook`s desert golf course), a swimming relay in the dirt-filled swimming pool, and a host of other desert sporting spectacles. The medal ceremony will take place in grand outback style at the official Raw Prawn Barbecue to the strains of Waltzing Matilda.

The Olympics and Beyond: Traveling on the Indian Pacific

While the Flame Train journey will be limited to invited representatives, the train will continue its regular, twice-weekly coast-to-coast service between Sydney and Perth during the Olympics and beyond. At 65 hours and 2,705 miles, the Indian Pacific has been called "an adventure that spans Australia." Travelers pass through Australia's Blue Mountains; the sand dunes and desert grasses of New South Wales; the mining town of Broken Hill, noted for its art colony; and the Nullarbor Plains which boasts the longest straight stretch of railway track in the world, at nearly 300 miles.

First class, per person price for the entire Sydney-Perth journey costs $959 through June 2000, $944 from July 1 - August 31 and November 16 - March 31, 2001. Per person price for travel from September 1 - November 15 is $1,133. Shorter segments are also available between Sydney and Adelaide and Adelaide-Perth. First class prices include all meals.

For reservations and more information on the Indian Pacific, including vacation packages and/or tours incorporating travel on the train, contact your travel agent or ATS Tours, 1-800-423-2880. Information, including detailed pricing and timetables, is also available by keying in www.atstours.com on the internet, and selecting Rail Australia.