All aboard! daylesford’s tourist train to local winery

Visitors to Victoria’s spa country can soon enjoy a trip on a tourist railway from Daylesford to Passing Clouds Winery to take in all the best features of a trip to the Hepburn Shire – food, wine, beautiful scenery and relaxation.

Visiting Passing Clouds Winery in Musk today, Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas, officially opened the new train platform that will service the tourist route, commencing operation on Sunday 22 July.

The new tourist experience has been made possible thanks to a Victorian Government grant of $30,000 to Passing Clouds to expand its tasting room and build the railway platform as a stop for the existing tourist train.

The winery has worked in partnership with Spa Country Railway to establish a train platform within strolling distance of the cellar door, so the tourist train can deliver tourists directly to the winery.

Visitors can purchase tickets at the Daylesford Market for the Spa Country Railway to Passing Clouds, where they can enjoy wine tasting or a pre-booked meal. Passing Clouds also offers a package where patrons board the train at Daylesford market, enjoy a four-course lunch with matched wines at the winery, before being taken safely back to Daylesford by train.

The project received support from the Government’s Wine Growth Fund, which assists Victoria’s many unique wine regions and encourages wine businesses to innovate and grow in a range of areas aligned to the Victorian Wine Industry Development Strategy.

Grants from round one and round two of the Wine Growth Fund represent a $1.6 million investment by the Andrews Labor Government in Victoria’s wine industry.

Victoria’s wine industry comprises of 800 wineries and 3,000 vineyards, employing 12,000 people and generating $1.5 billion each year.

Quote attributable to Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas
"The tourist offerings of Daylesford and the surrounding region just keep getting better. Now, visitors can enjoy a fun and scenic trip from town to nearby winery, Passing Clouds, to sample the very best local produce."

"The Wine Growth Fund aims to grow the industry by providing innovative growers, organisations and projects with funding to expand. It supports activities from the vineyard to the cellar door and beyond."