NSW TrainLink

History

In May 2012, the then Minister for Transport, Gladys Berejiklian announced a restructure of RailCorp. On 1 July 2013, NSW TrainLink took over the operation of regional rail and coach services previously operated by CountryLink; non-metropolitan Sydney services previously operated by CityRail; and responsibility for the Main North railway line from Berowra to Newcastle, the Main Western railway line from Emu Plains to Bathurst, and the South Coast railway line from Waterfall to Bomaderry.

On 21 August 2023, it was announced that the majority of intercity passenger services, crew and stations would move from NSW TrainLink to Sydney Trains.

The process of transferring intercity services from NSW TrainLink to Sydney Trains began in 2023. From 1 July 2024, NSW TrainLink's Intercity services were transferred to Sydney Trains.

Network

NSW TrainLink services operate in areas of lower population density, using a reserved seat ticketing system.

Train services

NSW TrainLink operates regional passenger services throughout New South Wales and interstate to Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne. All rail services utilise diesel rolling stock. For more details of each train line see List of NSW TrainLink train routes.

North Coast

North Coast services operate through the Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers and South East Queensland regions. Services operate on the Main North and North Coast lines, travelling between Sydney Central station and Roma Street station in Brisbane.

Principal stations served by XPT trains are:

• Taree
• Kempsey
• Coffs Harbour
• Grafton
• Casino
• Brisbane

See the full list of stations served.

Cities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off North Coast services include: Tea Gardens, Forster, Port Macquarie, Yamba, Moree, Alstonville, Lismore, Ballina, Byron Bay, Murwillumbah, Tweed Heads and Surfers Paradise.

North Western

North Western services operate through the Hunter, New England and North West Slopes & Plains regions. Services operate on the Main North line from Sydney Central station to Werris Creek. where the service divides for Armidale and Moree.

Principal stations served by Xplorer trains are:

• Singleton
• Muswellbrook
• Scone
• Tamworth
• Armidale
• Gunnedah
• Narrabri
• Moree

Cities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off North Western services include: Burren Junction (via Wee Waa), Inverell, Walcha, Grafton, Glen Innes and Tenterfield.

Western

Western region services operate through the Central Tablelands, Orana, and Far West regions. Services operate on the Main Western Line from Sydney Central station to Dubbo and the Broken Hill line to Broken Hill. Principal stations served by XPT trains are:

• Bathurst
• Orange
• Dubbo

Principal stations served by Xplorer trains are:

• Bathurst
• Orange
• Parkes
• Broken Hill

Cities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off Western services include Oberon, Mudgee, Baradine, Cowra, Grenfell, Forbes, Parkes, Condobolin, Lightning Ridge, Brewarrina, Bourke, Warren and Broken Hill.

Southern

Southern region services operate through the Illawarra, South Coast, Monaro, South Western Slopes, Southern Tablelands, Riverina, and Sunraysia regions, plus the Australian Capital Territory and parts of Victoria.

Services operate on the:

• Main Southern Line from Sydney Central station to Albury then continue on the North East line to Southern Cross station in Melbourne
• Bombala Line from south of Goulburn to Queanbeyan where services join the Canberra line to terminate inside the Australian Capital Territory at Canberra
• Hay Line from Junee to Yanco where services join the Yanco–Griffith line to Griffith

Principal stations served by XPT trains are:

• Goulburn
• Cootamundra
• Wagga Wagga
• Albury
• Wangaratta
• Melbourne

Principal stations served by Xplorer trains are:

• Moss Vale
• Goulburn
• Queanbeyan
• Canberra
• Cootamundra
• Griffith

Cities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off Southern services include: Wollongong, Bombala, Eden, Tumbarumba, Bathurst, Dubbo, Condobolin, Griffith, Mildura and Echuca.

Coach services

NSW TrainLink continued with the existing contracts entered into by CityRail and CountryLink for the provision of coach services.

On 1 July 2014, the Lithgow to Gulgong, Coonabarabran, Baradine services passed from Greyhound Australia to Ogden's Coaches.

In July 2014, Transport for NSW commenced the re-tendering process for most of the routes with the previous 24 contracts reorganised into 18 contracts. The new contracts commenced on 1 January 2015 for a five-year period, with an option to extend for three years if performance criteria are met. The services operated by Forest Coach Lines and Sunstate Coaches commenced new five-year contracts on 1 July 2016.

The full list of coach operators providing services as at January 2015 was:

• not included in January 2015 re-tendering process

From 2018, NSW TrainLink introduced several new road coach services on a trial basis:

• Brewarrina to Coolabah commenced May 2018
• Bourke to Dubbo commenced May 2018
• Tamworth to Port Macquarie
• Tamworth to Scone, had ceased by November 2018
• Tamworth to Dubbo
• Campbelltown to Goulburn commenced September 2018
• Goulburn to Canberra commenced September 2018, made permanent in June 2023
• Forster to Coffs Harbour commenced April 2019
• Wagga Wagga to Queanbeyan commenced April 2019
• Broken Hill to Adelaide commenced June 2019, made permanent in June 2023
• Broken Hill to Mildura commenced June 2019, made permanent in June 2023
• Anglers Reach to Cooma commenced December 2019
• Bigga to Goulburn commenced December 2019
• Delegate to Nimmitabel commenced December 2019
• Goodooga to Dubbo commenced December 2019
• Moree to Walgett commenced December 2019

Rolling stock

Main article: NSW TrainLink rolling stock

The entire NSW TrainLink fleet is maintained by Sydney Trains either directly or via a Sydney Trains contract with UGL Rail.

Future fleet

A fleet of bi-mode CAF Civity trains is scheduled to replace the XPT, Xplorer and Endeavour fleets as part of the NSW TrainLink Regional Train Project.

Performance

Patronage surged on regional trains in 2023, reversing pandemic-era losses and increasing a further three percent, with a particular increase in ridership on Sydney-Melbourne services. 107,000 monthly journeys were made on regional trains in 2023.

Regional services are considered on-time if they operate within ten minutes of their scheduled time. The target is for 92 percent of intercity services (formerly operated by NSW TrainLink) and 78 percent of regional services to operate on-time. In 2017–18 NSW Trains met both the Intercity target and the regional target. However, it failed to meet the Intercity target during peak hours. These results partially reverse a trend of failing to meet punctuality targets. Since the organisation commenced operations in 2013–14, NSW Trains has never met the intercity peak punctuality target. Regional train services have achieved their punctuality target twice, in 2015–16 and 2017–18. The 2015–16 result was the first time NSW Trains or its predecessor RailCorp had achieved the target in 13 years.

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. Major events that affected the number of journeys made or how patronage is measured are included as notes.

Depots

The XPT fleet is maintained at the XPT Service Centre and the Endeavour and Xplorer fleets at Eveleigh Railway Workshops. The new bi-mode fleet will be maintained at a new facility, Mindyarra Maintenance Centre, in Dubbo.

References

References

1. (30 May 2025). "NSW government reaches agreement with rail unions after bitter dispute". The Sydney Morning Herald.
2. Saulwick, Jacob (15 May 2012). [http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/railcorp-job-cuts-first-of-many-unions-20120515-1yo93.html#ixzz1uwKcuUpH "RailCorp job cuts first of many: unions"] {{Webarchive. link. (27 February 2014 ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'')
3. [http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-news/ruthless-railcorp-reforms-planned-as-middle-management-axed/story-fnb5f12x-1226355250747 "Ruthless RailCorp reforms planned as middle management axed"] ''[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). The Daily Telegraph]]'' 15 May 2012
4. [http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/12155/RailCorp_Annual_Report_2011-2012.pdf Annual Report 30 June 2012] {{Webarchive. link. (25 March 2013 RailCorp)
5. [http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/7021/RailCorp_Corporate_Plan.pdf Corporate Plan 2012/13] {{Webarchive. link. (25 March 2013 RailCorp)
6. Wood, Alicia. (16 November 2012). "700 jobs to go as RailCorp gets the axe". [[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney).
7. [[Minister for Transport (New South Wales). (21 August 2023). "Agreement reached for New Intercity Fleet".
8. (21 August 2023). "Agreement reached for New Intercity Fleet".
9. (2024-10-29). "Orange community having a say on rail services".
10. {{Cite New South Wales transport timetables. North Coast Region
11. {{Cite New South Wales transport timetables. North West Region
12. {{Cite New South Wales transport timetables. Western Region
13. {{Cite New South Wales transport timetables. Southern Region
14. New NSW TrainLink Rural Coach Service Contracts ''[[Australian Bus]]'' issue 68 March 2015 page 20
15. link. (31 December 2014 NSW eTendering 11 July 2014)
16. link. (21 October 2016 NSW eTendering 19 July 2016)
17. link. (21 October 2016 NSW eTendering 19 July 2016)
18. [https://transportnsw.info/regional/nsw-trainlink-regional-coach-trials NSW TrainLink Regional Coach trials] {{Webarchive. link. (13 December 2018 Transport for NSW)
19. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101102159/https://transportnsw.info/document/2983/flexible-transport-brewarrina.pdf Brewarrina to Coolabah timetable] NSW TrainLink May 2018
20. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101102413/https://transportnsw.info/document/2982/flexible-transport-bourke.pdf Bourke to Dubbo timetable] NSW TrainLink May 2018
21. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101104215/https://transportnsw.info/document/4211/goulburn-to-sydney-timetable.pdf Campbelltown to Goulburn timetable] NSW TrainLink September 2018
22. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101103939/https://transportnsw.info/document/3888/goulburn-to-canberra-timetable.pdf Goulburn to Canberra timetable] NSW TrainLink September 2018
23. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101103705/https://transportnsw.info/document/4034/foster-to-coffs-harbour-timetable.pdf Forster to Coffs Harbour timetable] NSW TrainLink April 2019
24. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101104657/https://transportnsw.info/document/4035/wagga-to-canberra-timetable.pdf Wagga Wagga to Queanbeyan timetable] NSW TrainLink April 2019
25. [https://web.archive.org/web/20191026070940/https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/about/news-events/news/ministerial/2019/190614-arriving-now-broken-hill-mildura-and-adelaide-coach-services.html Arriving now – Broken Hill to Mildura and Adelaide coach services] [[Roads & Maritime Services]] 13 June 2019
26. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101103317/https://transportnsw.info/document/4218/broken-hill-adelaide-mildura-coach-timetable.pdf Broken Hill to Adelaide & Mildura timetable] NSW TrainLink June 2019
27. (26 June 2023). "NSW makes multiple coach trials permanent {{!}} News".
28. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101095808/https://transportnsw.info/document/4749/coach-trials-canberra-cooma.pdf Cooma to Anglers Reach timetable] NSW TrainLink December 2019
29. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101095935/https://transportnsw.info/document/4639/tl269_coach_trials_digital_a4_bigga-goulburn_wcag.pdf Goulburn to Bigga timetable] NSW TrainLink December 2019
30. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101100258/https://transportnsw.info/document/4636/tl269_coach_trials_digital_a4_delegatetonimmitabel_wcag.pdf Delegate to Nimmitabel timetable] NSW TrainLink December 2019
31. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101100928/https://transportnsw.info/document/4634/tl269_coach_trials_digital_a4_goodoogadubbo_wcag.pdf Goodooga to Dubbo timetable] NSW TrainLink December 2019
32. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200101101318/https://transportnsw.info/document/4633/coach-trials-moreetowalgett_wcag.pdf Walgett to Moree timetable] NSW TrainLink December 2019
33. (26 September 2019). "Regional Rail". Transport for NSW.
34. [https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/newsroom-and-events/media-releases/new-regional-train-fleet-on-track NSW Region train fleet on track] {{Webarchive. link. (15 August 2017 Transport for New South Wales 14 August 2017)
35. [http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/passenger/single-view/view/nsw-regional-train-fleet-to-be-replaced.html NSW region train fleet to be replaced] {{Webarchive. link. (19 August 2017 ''[[Railway Gazette International]]'' 15 August 2017)
36. Bajkowski, Julian. (2023-12-19). "Commuters dump planes for trains… in Australia".
37. "Our performance". Sydney Trains.
38. "NSW Trains Annual Report 2017–18". NSW Trains.
39. (18 June 2017). "NSW Trains 2016–17 Annual Report". NSW Trains.
40. "NSW Trains 2015–16 Annual Report Volume 1". NSW Trains.
41. "Transport for NSW Annual Report 2014–15". Transport for NSW.
42. (18 June 2017). "NSW Trains 2015–16 Annual Report". NSW Trains.
43. (18 June 2017). "NSW Trains 2016–17 Annual Report". NSW Trains.
44. "NSW Trains Annual Report 2017–18". NSW Trains.
45. "Train Patronage – Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW.
46. (2 September 2024). "NSW TrainLink Annual Report". NSW Trains.
47. (2019-09-30). "NSW chooses bi-mode option for regional train replacement".
48. [http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/australia-nz/nsw-seeks-private-finance-for-regional-fleet-replacement.html NSW seeks private finance for regional fleet] {{Webarchive. link. (18 August 2017 ''[[International Railway Journal]]'' 15 August 2017)
49. (31 May 2017). "Regional Rail".