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

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, and to and from

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. 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 A ...

of New South Wales, it later became a subsidiary of

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

. 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 NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...

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 company specializing in intelligence, AI, and digital transformation. It is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washing ...

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'' was withdrawn, 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 Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 23,967 as of the 2021 census. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands reg ...

. The '' Intercapital Daylight'' 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 a June 1990 policy reversal, 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'' 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 and

. 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. In December 1994, a daylight service to Melbourne resumed by extending the '' Riverina XPT'' from

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

. 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. In March 1996, services were reintroduced to

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

and

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Ridge, ...

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

Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...

CityRail CityRail was a passenger railway brand operated by State Rail Authority, the State Rail Authority from 1989 to 2003 and by RailCorp from 2004 to 2013 with services in and around Sydney, Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle and Wollongong, the ...

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 gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

from May 2004. CountryLink was merged with the intercity services of

to form

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 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 Northern Rivers is the most northeasterly Regions of New South Wales, 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 Ri ...

and

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...

regions. Accordingly, the

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the state Legislative Assembly, with the governo ...

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 * Kempsey *

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal 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 a ...

* Grafton *

Cities and towns served by CountryLink coaches connecting off North Coast services included: Tea Gardens, Forster,

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie, sometimes shortened to Port Mac and commonly locally nicknamed Port, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane, on the Tasman Sea coast at the mouth of the ...

, Yamba, Moree, Lismore, Alstonville, Ballina, Byron Bay, Murwillumbah,

Tweed Heads Tweed Heads is a coastal city at the mouth of the Tweed River in the Northern Rivers region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tweed Heads is the northernmost town in New South Wales, and is located in the Tweed Shire local government ...

and

Surfers Paradise Surfing is a list of surface water sports, surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in Glossary of surfing, tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wind wave, wave of water, whic ...

North Western

The North Western region covers the state's

Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

, 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 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 a ...

where the service divided for

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

Scone A scone ( or ) is a traditional British and Irish baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often ...

* Tamworth *

Gunnedah Gunnedah () is a town in north-central New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire Local government in Australia, local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 8,338. Gunnedah is situated within the Liver ...

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire Local government in Australia, 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 Hi ...

* 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 no ...

, Inverell, Grafton, Glen Innes and Tenterfield.

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 (New South Wales), 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 ...

and the Broken Hill line to

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

Principal stations served by Xplorer trains were: * Bathurst * Orange * Parkes *

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

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, 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 ...

Mudgee Mudgee () is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), 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 gov ...

, Baradine,

Cowra Cowra () is a town in the Central West, New South Wales, 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 8,254. Cowra is located approximate ...

, Grenfell,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

, Parkes, Condobolin, 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. It is east of Bourke and west of Walgett on the Kamilaroi Highway, a ...

, Bourke, Warren and

Southern

The Southern region covers the state's

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

, South Coast,

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range, a cordillera syste ...

, South West Slopes,

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

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

and

Sunraysia Sunraysia is a region located in northwestern Victoria and southwestern New South Wales in Australia. The region is renowned for its sunshine, intensive horticulture including grapes and oranges. Its main centre is Mildura, Victoria. The are ...

regions plus the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

and parts of Victoria. Accordingly, the

Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the Executive (government), executive government of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. As a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutiona ...

(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 branch of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of the party or coalition with the Con ...

) 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, New Zealand, Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the ...

from Sydney Central station to

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

, with the line to

branching off south of

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

and the line to

at Junee. Principal stations served by XPT trains were: *

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. I ...

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 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had a population of 29,808 per the 2021 Australian Census. The city is located at the confluence, junction of the Ovens River, ...

Principal stations served by Xplorer trains were: *

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the Queanbeyan-Pale ...

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

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') 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 water' or 'sound ...

Bombala Bombala is a town in the Monaro, New South Wales, Monaro region of far southern New South Wales, Australia, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is approximately south-southwest of the state capital, Sydney, and south of the town of Cooma, Ne ...

, Eden,

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

, Bathurst,

, Condobolin,

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 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...

and

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative cen ...

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

. 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 of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

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

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates Regional rail, regional passenger rail and Intercity bus service, coach services in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. It provides passenger train services on five Commuter rail, ...

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 A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

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 ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' 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 map
Defunct railway companies of Australia Interstate rail in Australia Railway companies established in 1989 Railway companies disestablished in 2013 1989 establishments in Australia 2013 disestablishments in Australia