CountryLink was a passenger rail and road service brand that operated in regional areas of New South Wales, and to and from Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne.CountryLink train and coach network CountryLink Originally created as a business unit (or sub-brand) of the State Rail Authority of New South Wales, it later became a subsidiary of RailCorp.Rail Corporation of New South Wales NSW Government State Records CountryLink operated rail services using XPT and Xplorer rolling stock, with connecting coach services operated under contract by private operators.
Its services were taken over by NSW TrainLink.
History
CountryLink was established in January 1989 under the Transport Administration Act 1988 as a business unit of what was then the State Rail Authority to operate all non-metropolitan long distance passenger services.Transport Administration Act 1988 Government of New South WalesCityRail State Records NSW Government It inherited a fleet of XPT and locomotive-hauled passenger trains. Following the election of the Greiner State Government in March 1988, consultants Booz Allen Hamilton were commissioned to prepare a report into NSW rail services. On purely economic grounds, the report recommended closing all country passenger services as they were judged unviable, however this was not politically acceptable."CountryLink 2000" Railway Digest August 1989 If services were to be maintained, the report recommended an 'all XPT' option with an expanded network of coach services replacing many other services.
In November 1989, the Silver City Comet was withdrawn,"The Official Last Comet" Railway Digest February 1990 while in February 1990 the Brisbane Limited and Pacific Coast Motorail were withdrawn and replaced by XPT services, the Canberra XPT was withdrawn and replaced by locomotive-hauled stock and the Northern Tablelands Express was truncated to Tamworth with road coaches introduced from Sydney to Armidale."The New Timetable" Railway Digest March 1990 The Intercapital Daylight ceased in August 1991"Intercapital Daylight scrapped" Railway Digest September 1991 and the Sydney/Melbourne Express in November 1993 was replaced by an XPT in November 1993 following the delivery of additional stock."Major Passenger Train Changes Commence this Month" Railway Digest November 1993
In a June 1990 policy reversal, the government announced that it would purchase 17 Xplorer carriages to reintroduce services to Armidale and Moree and replace locomotive-hauled stock and coaches on services to Canberra. This would release an XPT to operate a daily service to operate the Grafton Express replacing a weekly locomotive-hauled service that was reintroduced at the same time.New "Explorer" trains for NSW Railway Digest July 1990 The Xplorers entered service on the North Western service in October 1993"Xplorer Enters Service" Railway Digest November 1993 and on the Canberra service in December 1993."No Big Bang for Canberra Xplorers" Railway Digest December 1993 In November 1994 the government ordered a further four Xplorer carriages.More Xplorer & Endeavour Cars Ordered Railway Digest December 1994
In October 1990, the government announced that eight sleeper carriages would be ordered for use on overnight services to Brisbane, Murwillumbah and Melbourne."XPT sleepers for North Coast trains" Railway Digest November 1990 These were included in an order placed with ABB, Dandenong in 1991 for four power cars and 13 trailers that was jointly funded by the New South Wales and Victorian Governments."NSW/Vic to share XPTs" Railway Digest January 1991"XPT trailer cars to be built in Victoria" Railway Digest August 1991
In December 1994, a daylight service to Melbourne resumed by extending the Riverina XPT from Albury."Sydney-Melbourne Daylight XPT Commences This Month" Railway Digest December 1994
In 1995, CountryLink trialled three Swedish Railways X2000 tilting train carriages. After conducting a statewide tour in March, they were used on Canberra services from April until June with two modified XPT power cars."So why do you call it a tilt train?" Railway Digest July 1995
In March 1996, services were reintroduced to Broken Hill and Griffith using refurbished locomotive-hauled rolling stock honouring an election commitment by the Carr State Government."First Broken Hill Passenger Blocked by Freight Derailment" Railway Digest May 1996 Following the electrification of the Illawarra line from Dapto to Kiama, CityRail was able to release one of its mechanically identical Endeavours and this was converted to an Xplorer to replace the locomotive-hauled stock.
With the formation of RailCorp, responsibility for CountryLink transferred to the new corporation in January 2004.Transport Administration Amendment (Rail Agencies) Bill NSW Parliament Hansard 2 December 2003"News" Railway Gazette International February 2004 page 63 With the closure of the Muwillumbah branch, services were cut back to Casino from May 2004."Murwillumbah XPT to end – line faces closure" Railway Digest June 2004 page 6Closure of the Casino to Murwillumbah rail service NSW Parliament 24 November 2004
CountryLink was merged with the intercity services of CityRail to form NSW TrainLink on 1 July 2013.
Patronage The following table lists patronage figures for the network during the corresponding financial year. Australia's financial years start on 1 July and end on 30 June. +CountryLink patronage by financial year from 1992–93 rowspan=3 Year 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999-00 Patronage(millions) 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.4 Reference rowspan=3 Year 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 Patronage(millions) 2.1 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.8 Reference rowspan=3 Year 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 Patronage(millions) 1.9 2.0 1.9 Reference
Network
CountryLink operated its own rolling stock over track managed by RailCorp in Sydney and the Australian Rail Track Corporation and Rail Infrastructure Corporation outside of Sydney. The hub of its operation was Sydney Central railway station.
North Coast The North Coast region covers the North Coast, Northern Rivers and South East Queensland regions. Accordingly, the Government of Queensland made a contribution to the provision of these services. North Coast region services appeared on the network map in red. Services ran along the Main North and North Coast lines from Sydney Central station to Roma Street station in Brisbane.CountryLink North Coast timetable CountryLink 11 October 2009
Principal stations served by XPT trains were: Taree Kempsey Coffs Harbour Grafton Casino Brisbane
Cities and towns served by CountryLink coaches connecting off North Coast services included: Tea Gardens, Forster, Port Macquarie, Yamba, Moree, Lismore, Alstonville, Ballina, Byron Bay, Murwillumbah, Tweed Heads and Surfers Paradise.
North Western The North Western region covers the state's Hunter, Northern Tablelands and North West regions. North Western region services appeared on the network map in orange. Services ran along the Main North line from Sydney Central station to Werris Creek where the service divided for Armidale and Moree.North Western timetable CountryLink 23 October 2011
Principal stations served by Xplorer trains were: Singleton Scone Tamworth Armidale Gunnedah Narrabri Moree
Cities and towns served by CountryLink coaches connecting off North Western services included: Wee Waa, Inverell, Grafton, Glen Innes and Tenterfield.
Western The Western region covers the Central Tablelands and Western regions. Western region services appeared on the network map in yellow. Services ran along the Main Western Line from Sydney Central station to Dubbo and the Broken Hill line to Broken Hill.CountryLink Western timetable CountryLink 23 October 2011
Principal stations served by XPT trains were: Bathurst Orange Dubbo
Principal stations served by Xplorer trains were: Bathurst Orange Parkes Broken Hill
Cities and towns served by CountryLink coaches connecting off Southern services included: Oberon, Mudgee, Baradine, Cowra, Grenfell, Forbes, Parkes, Condobolin, Lightning Ridge Brewarrina, Bourke, Warren and Broken Hill.
Southern
The Southern region covers the state's Illawarra, South Coast, Snowy Mountains, South West Slopes, Southern Tablelands, Riverina and Sunraysia regions plus the Australian Capital Territory and parts of Victoria. Accordingly, the Government of Victoria (though not the ACT Government) made a contribution to the provision of these services. Southern region services appeared on the network map in green. Services ran along the Main South line from Sydney Central station to Albury before continuing on the North East line to Southern Cross station in Melbourne, with the line to Canberra branching off south of Goulburn and the line to Griffith at Junee.CountryLink Southern timetable CountryLink 11 October 2009
Principal stations served by XPT trains were: Goulburn Cootamundra Wagga Wagga Albury Wangaratta Melbourne
Principal stations served by Xplorer trains were: Goulburn Queanbeyan Canberra Cootamundra Griffith
Cities and towns served by CountryLink coaches connecting off Southern services included: Wollongong, Bombala, Eden, Tumbarumba, Bathurst, Dubbo, Condobolin, Griffith, Mildura and Echuca.
Rolling stock The final CountryLink fleet consisted of two train types, XPT (19 power cars and 60 carriages) and Xplorers (23 carriages).Our fleet CountryLink The XPT fleet was maintained at the purpose built XPT Service Centre. The Xplorer fleet was maintained at the Xplorer-Endeavour Service Centre. +Fleet (italics = in service today under TfNSW)ClassImageTop Speed (km/h)In service (under Countrylink)XPT Diesel Multiple Units1931989–presentXplorer Diesel Multiple Units1451993–presentXP2000/2009 (Tilt Train mod)193April 1995 – June 1995X2000 Tilt Train (non powered cars only)n/aApril 1995 – June 1995HUB coachesn/a1989–1994 1996 – April 2000RUB coachesn/a1989–1994 1996 – April 2000Stainless Steel coachesn/a1989–199373 Class Locomotive641989–2013
Road coaches The Public Transport Commission had first introduced coaches in September 1975 when six Dennings were introduced to replace all train services out of Dubbo. Coaches replaced many branch line rail services over the next few years and by 1987 the State Rail Authority had 36 Denning, Hino and Scania coaches operating throughout the state.State Rail Coach Services – The Vehicles Australian Bus Panorama issue 9/3 October 1993
CountryLink adopted the model used by V/Line in Victoria and contracted out the provision of these services to private operators, with services transferring to the successful bidders between November 1989 and June 1990.Coach Services of the New South Wales State Rail Authority Australian Bus Panorama issue 9/2 September 1993
Coaches were originally painted in CountryLink's grey, white and blue livery. Following the transfer of the administration of coach services to the Department of Transport in July 1992, operators were not required to repaint coaches dedicated to CountryLink duties, thus most operated in the livery of their owners."DoT to run CountryLink buses" Railway Digest June 1992 This policy was later reversed and coaches once again were painted in CountryLink livery.
The full list of coach operators providing services at the time CountryLink ceased in June 2013 were: