The original service called The Overland was the nightly train that ran between Adelaide and Melbourne. It was jointly owned by the Victorian and South Australian railways, until 1976 when Australian National took over the South Australian part of the operation. Australian National became the single operator of The Overland in 1994.
This service was taken over by Great Southern Railways following the sale of Australian National. In 1999 the remaining in service cars were repainted in a new colour scheme and logo graphics.
A completely new look for the Overland was launched in May 2007. This included a new colour scheme, refurbished car and the removal of all sleeping cars as it was now an exclusively daylight only service several times per week.
