Railways in Canberra

Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is served by a heavy rail line to New South Wales, and a light rail system, Canberra Metro. NSW TrainLink regional trains run from Canberra to Sydney.

The line to Queanbeyan, New South Wales was opened to goods traffic in 1914, with passenger services beginning in 1923. Passenger trains to Sydney were introduced in 1927. The city's masterplan included suburban rail and tramways. Light rail was introduced in 2019, providing Canberra with a local service.

Canberra station is the terminus for a thrice-daily Xplorer service operated by NSW TrainLink from Sydney. The journey takes about four hours.^[1] The city's light rail system provides service within the city itself as part of Canberra's public transport network.

Canberra has a railway museum, and a miniature railway.^[2]

The masterplan for Canberra devised by Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin included a railway that was to run from Queanbeyan to the current Canberra railway station in Kingston then north along the causeway and over the Molonglo River to Russell, along Amaroo Street to Civic and then north out of the city along Lonsdale and Ijong Streets. But aside from the current section, the only other part constructed was the line as far as Civic, albeit to temporary standards to carry construction materials; it was removed in 1940. The masterplan also proposed the construction of a tram network. Canberra's modern-day light rail system follows part of the Griffins' proposal.^[3][4][2]

The Commonwealth branch line to Canberra from Queanbeyan opened to goods traffic on Monday 25 May 1914.^[5] Construction of the 8.5-kilometre (5.3 mi) rail link had commenced in March 1913, but was delayed due to a lack of railway sleepers.^[6] Construction recommenced in November and was completed in February 1914.^[7][8] By 1916 the railway had been extended across the future site of Lake Burley Griffin,^[9] to the site of the Sydney and Melbourne Buildings. The project was managed, and operated by the New South Wales Public Works Department on behalf of the Government of Australia.^[10]

In February 1916, just two years after the railway had been completed, flooding badly damaged the railway between Canberra and Queanbeyan, with rails and rail embankments washed away. The rail bridge over the Molonglo River was also destroyed.^[11]

Canberra Eastlake station^[12] opened on 21 April 1924, a decade after the goods railway. Passenger services had run between the Kingston Powerhouse and Queanbeyan for around six months prior to the station building opening.^[13] That service started on 15 October 1923, with two trains on weekdays to the Powerhouse (stopping at Molonglo siding) from Queanbeyan departing 6.45am and 3.45pm, returning 9.15am and 5.15pm and a 6.45am Saturday service, returning at 12.45pm.^[14]

Railway services were re-modelled with a new timetable in March 1927, ahead of the Federal Parliament moving to Canberra. A night through train to Sydney was introduced, with carriages departing from Canberra Eastlake station being attached to the Cooma Mail at Goulburn. A daily rail motor service connected passengers from Canberra with the lunchtime train to Sydney, also at Goulburn. Morning and evening trains also connected Canberra with Queanbeyan.^[15] In September through carriages from Melbourne were introduced, with Canberra-bound sleepers detached at Goulburn and shunted to the Capital.^[16][10] By the end of 1927, six trains were arriving at Canberra on weekdays. The station came under the control of the Commonwealth Railways at this time.^[17][18]

In September 1936 a new fast weekday service commenced from Sydney to Canberra, the Federal City Express. The service cut journey times to just 5 hours 59 minutes. At that time Senator Guthrie labelled the Goulburn-Canberra railway as the slowest in the British Empire.^[19]

The Canberra-Monaro Express replaced the Federal Capital Express when it came into daily service on 9 May 1955. The diesel-hauled air conditioned four-carriage train cut an hour off the travel time between Sydney and Canberra compared to the steam-hauled Federal City Express. The four-car train would divide at Queanbeyan with two carriages going to Canberra and two to Cooma.^[20]

A survey was completed in September 1965 for the proposed Canberra-Yass railway line, along which the Marjura Rd station would sit. A map was released by the Department of Shipping and Transport in September that year, showing new tracks running from east of the existing station at Kingston northwards along the Majura Rd corridor, crossing the Federal Hwy near the present-day Horse Park Dr.^[21] The route has since been used for the Majura Pkwy dual carriage-way.

A new terminus was opened by the Minister for Transport & Shipping, Gordon Freeth on 26 October 1966.^[10][22][23] Built at a cost of $160,000, it was intended to be another temporary solution until a new, permanent home for railway opened closer to the airport "somewhere in the Pialligo area".^[24]

Following trials in 1982,^[25] the high performance XPT train sets came into operation from Canberra station in August 1983, with a day return service to Sydney, the Canberra Express. The scheduled journey time was 4 hours 15 minutes, a reduction of 35 minutes from the previous service.^[26]

The line to Queanbeyan was owned and staffed by the Commonwealth Railways and later Australian National although services were always operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors. Despite numerous attempts to transfer the loss making line to the Government of New South Wales, it remained in Federal Government hands until May 1985 when it was transferred to the State Rail Authority.^[27][28][29]

The final Canberra Monaro Express departed Canberra station for Cooma on Saturday 26 November 1988.^[30] The cancellation of the service also removed the evening service from Canberra to Sydney, and was part of state-wide rail cuts in regional areas. NSW Minister for Transport Bruce Baird noted that passengers has been putting up with 'poor travelling conditions and deteriorating carriages'. Withdrawn services were replaced with road coaches.^[31]

After just six-and-a-half years in service, the last XPT train departed Canberra station for Sydney. Around 250 people crowded the platform on Friday 9 February 1990 as the train departed amid protest from regular train users and local politicians. State Rail cited falling passenger numbers for the cancellation of the XPT, which was replaced with a daily return service using older rolling stock that was around an hour slower.^[32]

In 1993 State Rail launched its new country flagship train, Xplorer, to replace the 'tired, rundown' system, with the first service arriving at Canberra station on Thursday 16 December.^[33][34] The Xplorer trains promised to cut 40 minutes off the Canberra-Sydney journey, bringing it back into line with times achieved 10 years earlier. NSW Minister for Transport, Bruce Baird, said the trains would be a 'major drawcard in attracting people back to rail services'.^[33] Within nine months the new trains and improved journey time had led to a 50 per cent increase in passenger numbers.^[35] Initially the Canberra-Sydney Xplorer trains were just two carriages, but were expanded to three carriages in 1995.^[36][37]

From 23 April 1995, the X 2000 tilt train ran between Canberra and Sydney for a seven-week trial. Two daily services ran in addition to the three daily Xplorer services, with a journey time 45 minute shorter. The service departed at 10.45am and 6.30pm, arriving Sydney at 2.10pm and 9.58pm respectively.^[38]

In August 2017, NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro announced the replacement of the state's entire regional rail fleet, including the Xplorer trains serving Canberra station.^[39] The new Regional Rail fleet will operate with bi-mode diesel-electric hybrid technology, which will allow the fleet to run on overhead power when operating on electrified sections of the train network. No date has been published for the commencement of the new trains from Canberra station.^[40]

The ACT Government announced plans in March 2023 to build a new multi-modal station next to the current terminal building as part of the Eastlake urban redevelopment. The plans include co-location of the Canberra Railway Museum and integration of a future light rail line.^[41]

The Canberra Metro light rail system opened in April 2019, its development coinciding with a resurgent focus on urban train transport in Australia.^[42][43] Prior to its implementation, public mass transportation within the city itself was provided by buses only.

• Canberra Railway Museum
• High-speed rail in Australia
• Rail transport in New South Wales
• Transport in Canberra