The Southern Highlands Line is an Intercity rail service operated by

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 ...

that services the Macarthur, Southern Highlands and

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 ...

regions of

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 ...

. First operating in 1869, the service runs from across the

Main Southern railway line The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs from Sydney to Albury, near the Victorian border. The line passes through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and Riverina regions. ...

through to , with peak hour services extending the route to . The railway service operates alongside a bus route from to , operating on the route of the

Picton – Mittagong loop railway line Picton may refer to: Places *Picton Castle, in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK *Picton, Cheshire, England, UK *Picton (ward), an electoral ward of the Liverpool City Council, England, UK * Picton, New South Wales, Australia * Picton, Western Australia, a ...

, and a regional coach service from to on the

South Coast Line The South Coast Line is an intercity rail service operated by NSW TrainLink that services the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The service runs from , and runs the entire length of the eponymous South Coast railway line to . T ...

, operating on the corridor of the

Unanderra–Moss Vale railway line The Unanderra–Moss Vale railway line is a cross country railway line in New South Wales, Australia. The line branches from the Illawarra line at Unanderra and winds west up the Illawarra escarpment to join the Main South line at Moss Vale. ...

. One of only two routes on the NSW TrainLink intercity network to run entirely on non-electrified railway lines, the Southern Highlands Line is operated with a rolling stock solely consisting of Endeavour railcars, with most services only using two cars. The service spans 169 kilometers of railway, making it the most extensive route on the NSW TrainLink network apart from the Blue Mountains Line's '' Bathurst Bullet'' service. The route also spans 22 stations, making it also the route with the lowest number of stops. An additional 2 stations and 55 kilometers of railway are traversed by Southern Highlands trains at peak hours.

History

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 ...

opened in stages to Picton in 1863,

Moss Vale Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. It is located on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass. Moss Vale has severa ...

in 1867 and

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 ...

in 1869. In 1919, a new section of line opened between Picton and

Mittagong Mittagong () is a town located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town acts as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is situated at an elevation of . The town ...

, with the original section becoming the Picton-Mittagong loop line. 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

. All services are operated by NSW TrainLink using Endeavour railcars. Rail replacement bus services operate between Picton and

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, about ninety minutes southwest of Sydney. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and Highlands. Bowral once served ...

paralleling the Picton-Mittagong loop line and

Bundanoon Bundanoon is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire, on Gandangarra and Dharawal Country (where these two countries meet). It is an Aboriginal name meaning "place of deep gullies" and was forme ...

and

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 w ...

paralleling the Moss Vale-Unanderra line. A daytime bus service also operates between Moss Vale and Goulburn. Some stations are also served by NSW TrainLink XPT and Xplorer services from Sydney to

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 ...

, Griffith 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 ...

. 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 The Southern Highlands Express was an Australian passenger train operating on the Main South line in New South Wales from Sydney to Goulburn. It was the last service out of Sydney rostered to be hauled by steam locomotive, 3801 hauling the fin ...

''. In the late 1980s, air-conditioned HUB/ RUB carriages were introduced. These would later be joined by Budd and

Tulloch Tulloch may refer to: People with the surname * Alexander Bruce Tulloch (1838–1920), Major-general in the British Army, author * Bert Tulloch, English footballer *Bitsie Tulloch, American actress * Francis Tulloch (born 1940), Jamaican politici ...

carriages and DEB railcars. In 1994, all were replaced by Endeavour railcars. Most services were altered to operate only as far north as Campbelltown connecting with

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the operator of the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid urban-suburban rail system with a central underground core that covers over of track and 170 ...

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.

History

Services

Stations

Patronage

References

Further reading