Sydney–Brisbane rail corridor

The Sydney–Brisbane railway corridor consists of the long standard-gauge main line between the Australian state capitals of Brisbane and Sydney, and the lines immediately connected to it.

Description

The main line consists of:

the Main North line from Sydney Central station to Telarah station, in Maitland, and
the North Coast line from Telarah to Roma Street station, Brisbane.

Freight trains operate along the entire corridor, as does a daily XPT passenger service, in addition to a service to Casino.

History

Originally the corridor consisted of standard gauge track in New South Wales and narrow gauge track in Queensland, which met at a break-of-gauge station at Wallangarra. In 1930 the NSW North Coast line was extended from Casino to Brisbane making through services possible, using a rail ferry for the river crossing in Grafton until the Grafton Bridge opened in 1932. The superseded Main Northern railway line, which went to Wallangarra, now terminates near Armidale.