Friends of the Rail Forum

A shot of the upper deck

Interior looks unexpectedly spartan. I had assumed that Aus interiors would have been similar to those in the UK and Europe with upholstered seats, carpeted floors, and soft, pleasant (and, equally as often, garish) colour schemes.

Yes, it is very spartan - I would never have guessed the location from the inside. I probably would have plumped for India or somewhere similar!

Are all Australasian trains similar?

All the suburban cars are spartan regardless of the model, the interurban cars have carpeted floors on the upper and lower deck, toilets (just) and drinking water kind of.
The Tangara's seats are fixed so that it isn't possible to flip them to suit direction of travel

Sorry, as for the rest of states, from what I can remember Melbourne's trains were also spartan but because they are privatised I think the exterior is quite garish.
Trains in Perth have the same set up as MetroRail