Southern Highlands Line

This article is about the NSW TrainLink service. For the physical railway line, see Main Southern railway line.
Southern Highlands Line

Endeavour railcar at Moss Vale in December 2008
Overview
Service type Intercity rail
Locale Macarthur, Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands, New South Wales
First service 19 May 1869 (1869-05-19)
Current operator(s) NSW TrainLink
Route
Start Campbelltown, Central
Stops 22
End Goulburn
Distance travelled 224 km (139 mi)
Line used Main South
Technical
Rolling stock Endeavour railcar, R Set
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Track owner(s) RailCorp

The Southern Highlands Line is a NSW TrainLink passenger train service on the Main South line that serves the Macarthur, Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands regions of New South Wales.

History

The Main South line opened in stages to Picton in 1863, Moss Vale in 1867 and Goulburn in 1869.[1]

In 1919, a new section of line opened between Picton and Mittagong, with the original section becoming the Picton-Mittagong loop line.[2] Originally a single track line, it was later doubled with the exception of the Picton-Mittagong loop line.

Services

Most services operate between Campbelltown and Moss Vale with a limited number extending to Sydney Central and Goulburn.[3] All services are operated by Endeavour railcars.

Rail replacement bus services operate between Picton and Bowral paralleling the Picton-Mittagong loop line and Bundanoon and Wollongong paralleling the Moss Vale-Unanderra line. A daytime bus service also operates between Moss Vale and Goulburn.[3] Some stations are also served by NSW TrainLink XPT and Xplorer services from Sydney to Canberra, Griffith and Melbourne.[4]

Up until the mid-1990s, most services on the line operated through to Sydney Central. Named trains that operated on the line included the Goulburn Day Train and Southern Highlands Express. In the late 1980s, air-conditioned HUB/RUB carriages were introduced. These would later be joined by Budd and Tulloch carriages and DEB railcars.[5]

In 1994, all were replaced by Endeavour railcars.[6] Most services were altered to operate only as far north as Campbelltown connecting with CityRail electric services to Sydney.

As of 2014-15, the Southern Highlands Line experiences significantly worse peak hour on-time running performance than other suburban and intercity lines.[7]

Stations

Name Code
[8]		 Distance from
Central		 Railway Suburbs serviced Connecting Services
Central - Campbelltown (Peak hour services)
Central SYD 0.0 km Main Suburban Sydney, Strawberry Hills,
Ultimo, Surry Hills
Glenfield GFD 41.9 km Main South Glenfield ■ Airport, Inner West & South Line
■ Cumberland Line
■ South West Rail Link
Campbelltown - Goulburn
Campbelltown CAM 54.7 km Main South Campbelltown ■ Airport, Inner West & South Line
■ Cumberland Line
■ Southern Region
Macarthur MCU 56.5 km Ambarvale, Blair Athol, Glen Alpine ■ Airport, Inner West & South Line
Menangle Park MEK 62.8 km Menangle Park, Gilead
Menangle MGE 65.3 km Menangle
Douglas Park DPK 73.3 km Douglas Park, Wilton
Picton PIC 85.2 km Picton, Maldon Picton-Bowral loop line bus
Tahmoor TAH 94.4 km Tahmoor, Couridjah, Buxton, Thirlmere
Bargo BZG 102.8 km Bargo, Yanderra and Pheasants Nest
Yerrinbool YEB 116.3 km Yerrinbool, Colo Vale, Hill Top, Alpine
Mittagong MIT 131.5 km Mittagong, Braemar, Balaclava,
Willow Vale, Welby, Aylmerton		 Picton-Mittagong loop line bus
■ Southern Region
Bowral BWL 136.3 km Bowral, Berrima, East Bowral Picton-Mittagong loop line bus
■ Bundanoon - Wollongong Coach
■ Southern Region
Burradoo BUO 138.8 km Burradoo
Moss Vale MSV 145.7 km Moss Vale, Bong Bong, Robertson,
Sutton Forest, Burrawang		 ■ Bundanoon - Wollongong Coach
■ Southern Region
Exeter EXT 155.8 km Exeter ■ Bundanoon - Wollongong Coach
Bundanoon BUN 162.2 km Bundanoon ■ Bundanoon - Wollongong Coach
■ Southern Region
Penrose PRS 171.4 km Penrose
Wingello WNE 177.1 km Wingello
Tallong TJG 185.3 km Tallong
Marulan MRX 192.9 km Marulan
Goulburn GUL 224.0 km Goulburn ■ Southern Region

    Stopping patterns

    Towards Goulburn
    • Campbelltown: all stations to Moss Vale.
    • Campbelltown: (Afternoon peak hour service) all stations to Goulburn.
    • Central: (Afternoon peak hour service) Glenfield, Campbelltown, then all stations to Goulburn.
    • Central: (Afternoon peak hour service) (Saturdays, Sundays & Public Holidays only) Glenfield, Campbelltown, then all stations to Moss Vale.
    • Moss Vale: all stations to Goulburn.
    Towards Campbelltown
    • Goulburn: all stations to Moss Vale, then Bowral, Mittagong, Tahmoor, Picton, Macarthur and Campbelltown.
    • Goulburn: (Morning peak hour service) all stations to Moss Vale, then Bowral, Mittagong, Tahmoor, Picton, Macarthur, Campbelltown, Glenfield and Central.
    • Goulburn: (Morning peak hour service) (Saturdays, Sundays & Public Holidays only) all stations to Campbelltown, then Glenfield, Central.
    • Moss Vale: all stations to Campbelltown.
    • Moss Vale: (Morning peak hour service) (Saturdays, Sundays & Public Holidays only) all stations to Campbelltown, then Glenfield, Central.

    References

    1. ↑ Main South Line NSWrail.net
    2. ↑ Bayley, William A (197x). Picton-Mittagong Loop Line Railway. Bulli: Austrail Publications. ISBN 0-909597-14-6.
    3. 1 2 "Southern Highlands line timetable" (PDF). NSW Trainlink. 18 April 2015.
    4. ↑ "Southern timetable" (PDF). NSW Trainlink. 20 October 2013 [Updated 30 June 2014].
    5. ↑ "Southern Passengers" Railway Digest January 1989 page 21
    6. ↑ "New Timetable Sees Demise of Loco-Hauled Services" Railway Digest July 1994
    7. ↑ . Audit Office of New South Wales http://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/publications/latest-reports/financial/volume-six-2015-transport/service-delivery/5-service-delivery. Retrieved 26 November 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
    8. ↑ Bozier, Rolfe. "New South Wales Railways: NSW Station Codes". Archived from the original on 13 June 2002. Retrieved 23 May 2015.

    Further reading

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