Grafton Express (NSW TrainLink) - Australia
Grafton Express (NSW TrainLink)
The Grafton Express is an Australian passenger train operated by NSW TrainLink between Sydney and Grafton via the North Coast line.
In February 1990 the long-standing Holiday Coast XPT was axed as part of a restructure of CountryLink services. With the other XPT services struggling to keep up with weekend demand, in June 1990 a service to Grafton was reinstated. It ran on Fridays only to Grafton and Sundays only to Sydney but during school holidays ran daily. It was formed of locomotive hauled HUB/RUB stock with the headcode NL35/NL36.
Initially hauled by 86 class electric locomotives south of Broadmeadow, however from March 1992 it was hauled by diesel locomotives throughout usually a 442 class. The locomotive hauled Grafton Express last ran in November 1993.
With the National Party having lost a number of North Coast seats in the 1990 Federal election in a policy reversal it was announced that Xplorer railcars would be purchased to extend the Northern Tablelands Express with an XPT to be released to operate a daily service to Grafton. Thus in November 1993 the Grafton XPT began, a service that continues today
Grafton Express Overview
Service Type: Passenger train
Status: Operational
First Service: June 1990
Current Operator(s): NSW TrainLink
Route Start: Sydney
Route End: Grafton
Distance Travelled: 696 kilometres
Service Frequency: daily in each direction
Line Used: North Coast
Rolling Stock: XPT
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