The Canberra Monaro Express was a passenger train operated by the

New South Wales Government Railways New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in the colony, and then the state, of New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. History The NSWGR built ...

between

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

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, New South Wales, Bega with the Riverina. ...

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, New Zealand, Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the ...

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

where it branched off to

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern 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 Queanbeyan-Pale ...

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

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

{{Named trains of New South Wales, state=collapsed Discontinued railway services in Australia Named passenger trains of 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