The Canberra Monaro Express was a passenger train operated by the

New South Wales Government Railways The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. Management The agency was managed by a range of diffe ...

between Sydney, Canberra and

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. At the , Cooma had a po ...

from May 1955 until September 1988. It was formed by two four-carriage DEB railcar sets and replaced the steam-hauled '' Federal City Express''. After departing Sydney Central, it travelled via 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 Inv ...

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 ...

where it branched off to

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of 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 ...

. There the train divided, with one set going to Canberra, and the other to

. The train normally consisted of two DEB railcar sets of four carriages. In July 1973 it was cut back to a single four-carriage set serving both Canberra and Cooma, sometimes with a non air-conditioned 620/720 set attached when demand warranted. Reliability problems with the DEB sets saw locomotive hauled trains take over the service between June 1981 and August 1982. In 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 ...

era it was built up to seven-carriage DEB sets serving Canberra and Cooma, before the old practice of dividing the train at Queanbeyan, with three cars going to Cooma, was reverted to in March 1986. The final Canberra Monaro Express ran on 26 September 1988."Cooma" ''Railway Digest'' February 1989 page 55

References

{{Reflist Named passenger trains of Australia Passenger rail transport in New South Wales Railway services introduced in 1955 Railway services discontinued in 1988 Transport in the Australian Capital Territory 1955 establishments in Australia 1988 disestablishments in Australia Discontinued railway services in Australia