CountryLink was a passenger rail and road service brand that operated in regional areas

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

. Originally created as a business unit (or sub-brand) of the

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities Ac ...

of New South Wales, it later became a subsidiary of

RailCorp Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp) was an agency of the State of New South Wales, Australia established under the ''Transport Administration Act 1988'' in 2004. It was a division under the control of Transport for NSW since the latter' ...

, a

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party o ...

entity. CountryLink operated rail services using XPT and Xplorer rolling stock, with connecting coach services operated under contract by private operators.

History

CountryLink was established in January 1989 under the Transport Administration Act 1988 as a business unit of what was then the

to operate all non-metropolitan long distance passenger services. 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 Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (informally Booz Allen) is the parent of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., an American management and information technology consulting firm, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in Greater Washington, D.C., with 8 ...

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. 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 The Silver City Comet was a train service that operated from September 1937 until November 1989 between Parkes and Broken Hill in western New South Wales. It was the first air-conditioned train in Australia. Design The original engines were bu ...

'' was withdrawn, while in February 1990 the ''

Brisbane Limited The Brisbane Limited was an Australian passenger train operated by the New South Wales Government Railways between Sydney and Brisbane from 1888 until February 1990. History The Brisbane Limited originally operated from Sydney via the Main ...

'' 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 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 ...

'' was truncated to Tamworth with road coaches introduced from Sydney to

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. I ...

. The ''

Intercapital Daylight The Inter-Capital Daylight was a passenger train that operated between Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne from March 1956 until August 1991. History Until April 1962, the line between Sydney and Albury was of a different gau ...

'' ceased in August 1991 and the '' Sydney/Melbourne Express'' in November 1993 was replaced by an XPT in November 1993 following the delivery of additional stock. In policy reversal, in June 1990 the government announced that it would purchase 17 Xplorer carriages to reintroduce services to

and Moree and replace locomotive-hauled stock and coaches on services to

. This would release an XPT to operate a daily service to operate the ''

Grafton Express The Grafton Express is an Australian passenger train operated by NSW TrainLink between Sydney 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 se ...

'' replacing a weekly locomotive-hauled service that was reintroduced at the same time. The Xplorers entered service on the North Western service in October 1993 and on the Canberra service in December 1993. In November 1994 the government ordered a further four Xplorer carriages. In October 1990, the government announced that eight sleeper carriages would be ordered for use on overnight services to

Murwillumbah Murwillumbah ( ) is a town in far north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in the Tweed Shire, on the Tweed River. Sitting on the south eastern foothills of the McPherson Range in the Tweed Volcano valley, Murwillumbah is 848 km north-e ...

and

. These were included in an order placed with ABB Transportation,

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainl ...

in 1991 for four power cars and 13 trailers that was jointly funded by the New South Wales and Victorian Governments. In December 1994, a daylight service to Melbourne resumed by extending the '' Riverina XPT'' from

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – t ...

. In 1995 CountryLink trialled three

Swedish Railways Rail transport in Sweden uses a network of 15006.25 km of track, the 22nd largest in the world. Construction of the first railway line in Sweden began in 1855. The major operator of passenger trains has traditionally been the state-owned ...

X2000 ''X2000'' is a 1998 short film directed by François Ozon. Plot A naked man ( Bruno Slagmulder) wakes up in a luxury loft, which is a residential building in an unidentified European city, after a particularly wild New Year's Eve party of the ...

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. In March 1996, services were reintroduced to

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It ...

and Griffith using refurbished locomotive-hauled rolling stock honouring an election commitment by the Carr State Government. Following the electrification of the Illawarra line from

Dapto Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size. As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,730. History ...

Kiama Kiama () is a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra. One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. Kiama features several popular surfing beaches and caravan parks, and numerous alfresco cafes and restaurants ...

CityRail CityRail was a passenger railway brand operated by the State Rail Authority from 1989 to 2003 and by RailCorp from 2003 to 2013 with services in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities in New South Wales, Australi ...

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

, responsibility for CountryLink transferred to the new corporation in January 2004. With the closure of the Muwillumbah branch, services were cut back to

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

from May 2004. Countrylink was merged with the regional services of

to form

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 (Australia), Victoria, Queensland and South Austral ...

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.

Network

CountryLink operated its own rolling stock over track managed by RailCorp in Sydney and the

Australian Rail Track Corporation The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation spanning 8,500km across five states, 39 worksites and more than 50 First Nations. ...

and

Rail Infrastructure Corporation Rail Infrastructure Corporation, later known as Country Rail Infrastructure Authority after July 2010, was a Government of New South Wales statutory corporation with responsibility for the management of the railway network in rural New South Wales, ...

outside of Sydney. The hub of its operation was

Sydney Central railway station Central is a heritage-listed railway station located in the centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The station is the largest and busiest railway station in Australia and serves as a major transport interchange for NSW TrainLink inter-c ...

North Coast

The North Coast region covers the North Coast,

Northern Rivers Northern Rivers is the most north-easterly region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between north of the state capital, Sydney, and encompasses the catchments and fertile valleys of the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed rivers. ...

and

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. Th ...

regions. Accordingly, the

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy was form ...

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

. Principal stations served by XPT trains were: *

Taree Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distr ...

* Kempsey *

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...

* Grafton *

Cities and towns served by CountryLink coaches connecting off North Coast services included:

Tea Gardens Tea Gardens is a locality in the Mid-Coast Council local government area, located near the southern extremity of the Mid North Coast and the northern extremity of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. At the Tea Gardens had a popul ...

, Forster,

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Se ...

, Yamba, Moree, Lismore, Alstonville, Ballina,

Byron Bay Byron Bay (Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a headla ...

Tweed Heads Tweed Heads is a town in New South Wales. It is located on the Tweed River in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Tweed Shire, next to the border with Queensland and adjacent to its "twin town" of Coolangatta, which is a suburb of the ...

and

Surfers Paradise Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...

North Western

The North Western region covers the state's

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

Northern Tablelands The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England regio ...

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 Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had ...

where the service divided for

and Moree. Principal stations served by Xplorer trains were: *

Singleton Singleton may refer to: Sciences, technology Mathematics * Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element * Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing * Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance ...

Scone A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component ...

* Tamworth *

Gunnedah Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricultu ...

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. ...

* Moree Cities and towns served by CountryLink coaches connecting off North Western services included:

Wee Waa Wee Waa () is a town located on the north-western slopes of the New England region in New South Wales, Australia. The town is within the Narrabri Shire local government area and is on the Namoi River. Wee Waa is north-west of Narrabri and nor ...

Inverell Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the ...

, Grafton, Glen Innes and

Tenterfield Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia. At the , Tenterfield had a population of 4,066. Tenterfield's proximity to many regional centres and its position on the route between Sydney and Brisbane led to its development as a ...

Western

The Western region covers the

Central Tablelands The Central Tablelands in New South Wales is a geographic area that lies between the Sydney Metropolitan Area and the Central Western Slopes and Plains. The Great Dividing Range passes in a north–south direction through 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 Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Go ...

and the Broken Hill line to

. Principal stations served by XPT trains were: * Bathurst *

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Principal stations served by Xplorer trains were: * Bathurst *

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

Cities and towns served by CountryLink coaches connecting off Southern services included:

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairi ...

Mudgee Mudgee is a town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area as well as being th ...

Baradine Baradine is a small town in north western New South Wales, Australia. At the , Baradine had a population of 593. Baradine is located on the Coonabarabran-Pilliga road, about midway between Coonabarabran and Pilliga. It is adjacent to Bar ...

Cowra Cowra is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 9,863. Cowra is located approximately above sea level, on the ...

, Grenfell,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

Condobolin Condobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the , Condobolin had a population of 3,486. History Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri pe ...

, Lightning Ridge

Brewarrina Brewarrina (pronounced 'bree-warren-ah'; locally known as "Bre") is a town in north-west New South Wales, Australia on the banks of the Barwon River in Brewarrina Shire. The name Brewarrina is derived from 'burru waranha', a Weilwan name for a ...

, Bourke, Warren and Broken Hill.

Southern

The Southern region covers the state's

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

, South Coast, Snowy Mountains,

South West Slopes The South Western Slopes, also known as the South West Slopes, is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range, extending from north of Dunedoo through central NSW and into ...

Southern Tablelands The Southern Tablelands is a geographic area of New South Wales, Australia, located south-west of Sydney and west of the Great Dividing Range. The area is characterised by high, flat country which has generally been extensively cleared and ...

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

and

Sunraysia Sunraysia is an illdefined district, sometimes incorrectly referred to as an economic region, located in northwestern Victoria and southwestern New South Wales in Australia. The region is renowned for its sunshine, intensive horticulture inclu ...

regions plus the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

and parts of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Accordingly, the Government of Victoria (though not the

ACT Government The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive authority of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The lea ...

) 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 The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

from Sydney Central station to

before continuing on the North East line to Southern Cross station in

, with the line to Canberra branching off south of

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

and the line to Griffith at

Junee Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

. Principal stations served by XPT trains were: *

* Cootamundra *

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had an estimated urban population of 19,318 at June 2018. Wangaratta has recorded a population growth rate of almost 1% annually ...

Principal stations served by Xplorer trains were: *

* Queanbeyan * Canberra * Cootamundra * Griffith Cities and towns served by CountryLink coaches connecting off Southern services included:

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...

, Bombala, Eden,

Tumbarumba Tumbarumba ( ) is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, about southwest of the state capital, Sydney. Tumbarumba is located on the periphery of the Riverina and South West Slopes regions at the western edge of the Snowy Mountains. The s ...

, Bathurst, Dubbo,

, Griffith,

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

and Echuca.

Rolling stock

The final CountryLink fleet consisted of two train types, XPT (19 power cars and 60 carriages) and Xplorers (23 carriages). The XPT fleet was maintained at the purpose built XPT Service Centre. The Xplorer fleet was maintained at the Xplorer-Endeavour Service Centre.

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

had 36 Denning, Hino and

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...

coaches operating throughout the state. CountryLink adopted the model used by

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...

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. 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 The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

in July 1992, operators were not required to repaint coaches dedicated to CountryLink duties, thus most operated in the livery of their owners. 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:

Parry Report 2005

Ministerial Inquiry

On 9 December 2003, the Minister for Transport Services released Professor Tom Parry's Final Report of the Ministerial Inquiry into Sustainable Transport. Known as the "Parry Report" it recommended refocusing CountryLink, and to adjust fare structures.NSW Ministry of Transport – Ministerial Inquiry into Sustainable Transport (Parry Report)
Ministry of Transport 27 January 2004 "CountryLink currently operates a number of train services that move relatively small numbers of passengers," the inquiry has concluded, noting that the high cost of maintenance and the need to replace rolling stock "makes these services very expensive ... they are expected to become even more expensive in the future." At the time of the report operating expenditure is around five times as much as revenue gained through ticket sales.CountryLink: Reform program offers significant improvements
CountryLink 27 September 2005 The Inquiry also noted that in the year ended June 2003, CountryLink incurred $29.9 million in costs associated with advertising, booking and selling tickets, against $43.5 million in fare revenue. "This is more than two-thirds of the revenue received from passengers and is excessive," the Inquiry report stated. The Inquiry made eight specific recommendations for "refocusing CountryLink": *review the allocation of costs to CountryLink to improve the transparency of government railway accounts *seek efficiencies in the marketing of tickets *align subsidies to CountryLink with the benefits to the community *seek to have the ACT Government contribute to the cost of the Sydney-Canberra service *explore alternatives to rail on a case-by-case basis for all rural and regional routes *include CountryLink in integrated regional transport planning *establish "Solutions Teams" to assess various areas of CountryLink's operations *review fare structures and discounting

Government response

In 2005 the State Government announced a rationalisation of ticket offices across the CountryLink network, but ruled out the closure of further rail services in the immediate future. Ticket prices increased on 1 November. Transport minister John Watkins told the '' Sydney Morning Herald'' that "To protect commuters who want a continued rail option, the Government has made a number of changes to booking options in an effort to secure CountryLink's future and boost patronage." Mr Watkins also said in front of news crew that the refurbishment of the XPTs would also encourage more people to use the trains. However the Opposition questioned how price increases would increase patronage.

Restructure

In May 2012, the newly elected O'Farrell State Government announced

would be restructured, with CountryLink and the regional services of CityRail incorporated into

in July 2013.

Publication

CountryLink published an in-house journal, ''Freight Rail & Countrylink Xpress'', in conjunction with Freight Rail.Welcome to Your Xpress ''Freight Rail & Countrylink Xpress'' issue 1 December 1989 page 1

References

{{Reflist

External links

CountryLink network mapRailPage Australia XPT Page
Information on design, construction, rolling stock and operations Defunct railway companies of Australia Interstate rail in Australia Railway companies established in 1989 Railway companies disestablished in 2013 Australian companies established in 1989 Australian companies disestablished in 2013