The Q Train’s award-winning charm

THE Bellarine Peninsula’s premier rail restaurant The Q Train is no stranger to awards.

Since its establishment in 2017, the purpose-built travelling restaurant has been regularly celebrated for its unique dining experience, the quality of its service and the role it plays in the region’s tourism industry.

Travelling between Drysdale and Queenscliff in restored Queensland Sunlander train carriages, the Q Train offers its patrons a three-hour fine dining experience complete with a five-course seasonal menu and stunning views of Swan Bay.

“I think people love the romance of rail that is embedded in so many of us,” owner and chief executive officer Marie-Claire Trotter said of The Q Train’s enduring appeal.

“It brings back evocative memories of so many people’s childhoods.”

The team remain firmly committed to local produce, with all of the food and beverages featured on The Q Train’s menu sourced from Geelong, the Bellarine and the Otways.

To further promote the region’s incredible producers, patrons are given colour-coded menus that allow them to identify and learn the history behind the local products they are consuming.

“It’s that genuine passion for promoting local, I think, that gets people excited and proud of coming on board,” Ms Trotter said.

“You’re getting this authentic taste of our region.”

Ensuring The Q Train’s offering is accessible and inclusive is also an ongoing passion project for the team, and the business has more recently joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program.

Using different coloured lanyards or pins, the program allows The Q Train’s staff to voluntarily share with patrons if they have a hidden or invisible disability.

“We say, very loudly and proudly that if you come on board and you see a server wearing a green sunflower pin or a green sunflower lanyard, they have chosen to make their hidden disability visible,” Ms Trotter said.

“And if you see a staff member wearing a white sunflower pin, those staff members have been trained to help people with hidden disabilities, and that’s been an amazing boost for staff morale.”

The Q Train has now also been named a finalist in the 2024 Geelong Business Excellence Awards, sponsored by LBW Business + Wealth Advisors.

Ms Trotter, who runs The Q Train with her husband Daniel, said the recognition was both exciting and humbling.

“We sacrifice a lot to make the business work and it is so nice to receive acknowledgement and recognition of hard work when you know that sacrifices are made to do it.”

But she said managers did not earn awards – teams do.

“Our team commit themselves, whether that’s in the kitchen or in the maintenance department…it’s everybody that works together to create a wonderful, hopefully award-winning, product.

“We hire based on values, so we make sure our team is committed to the same journey that we’re committed to, and we are guided by our moral compass.

“We don’t make the easy choice. We make the right choice.

“That is difficult and frustrating, but it makes you sleep at night, and I think in the end, it makes your business succeed.”

She said 2025 was already shaping up to be an exciting one for

The Q Train, as the team continues to increase its presence on the international tourism stage, and encouraged everyone to “watch this space”.

For more information, or to secure your tickets to the GBEA presentation event at The Pier Geelong on October 17, head to gbea.com.au