The Grafton Express is an Australian passenger train operated by

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary interc ...

between

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and Grafton via the North Coast line. In February 1990, the long-standing '' Holiday Coast XPT'' was axed as part of a restructure of

CountryLink CountryLink was a passenger rail and road service brand that operated in regional areas New South Wales, Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne. Originally created as a business unit (or sub-brand) of the State Rail Authority of New South Wales, it l ...

services. With the other XPT services struggling to keep up with weekend demand, in June 1990 a service to Grafton was reinstated. It ran on Fridays only to Grafton and Sundays only to Sydney but during school holidays ran daily. It was formed of locomotive hauled HUB/ RUB stock with the

headcode A train reporting number in Great Britain identifies a particular train service. It consists of: * A single-digit number, indicating the class (type) of train, followed by * A letter, indicating the destination area, followed by * A two-digi ...

NL35/NL36."An Obituary to the Grafton Express" ''Railway Digest'' January 1994 page 34 Initially hauled by 86 class electric locomotives south of

Broadmeadow Broadmeadow is the geographic center of Newcastle city. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".442 class. The locomotive hauled ''Grafton Express'' last ran in November 1993. With the National Party having lost a number of

North Coast North Coast or Northcoast may refer to : Antigua and Barbuda * Major Division of North Coast, a census division in Saint John Parish Australia *New South Wales North Coast, a region Canada *The British Columbia Coast, primarily the communiti ...

seats in the 1990 Federal election in a policy reversal it was announced that Xplorer railcars would be purchased to extend the ''

Northern Tablelands Express The Northern Tablelands Express is a passenger train service in Australia operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors since June 1941. History The ''Northern Tablelands Express'' has operated from Sydney via the Main ...

'' with an XPT to be released to operate a daily service to Grafton. Thus in November 1993 the '' Grafton XPT'' began, a service that continues today.

References

{{NSWLocos, state=collapsed Named passenger trains of New South Wales Passenger rail transport in New South Wales Railway services introduced in 1990 1990 establishments in Australia