Canberra Xplorer

The only passenger train to Australia’s capital: three Xplorer railcars a day take the 1914 branch past the wind farms above Lake George.

Australia’s capital is reached by a single modest railcar service, and the Canberra Xplorer wears that duty well. Out of Sydney it climbs into the Southern Highlands, pauses at Goulburn’s grand 1869 station, then takes the 1914 branch across sheep paddocks and the wind-farmed escarpment above Lake George. The final bend follows the Molonglo River into Kingston, a short hop from Parliament House.

Stations

1. 0 kmCentral
2. 46 kmCampbelltown
3. 122 kmMittagong
4. 127 kmBowral
5. 136 kmMoss Vale Station
6. 153 kmBundanoon
7. 215 kmGoulburn Station
8. 252 kmTarago
9. 283 kmBungendore
10. 311 kmQueanbeyan Station
11. 319 kmCanberra Station

The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them.

Along the way

• Southern Highlands towns of Mittagong and Moss Vale
• Goulburn’s 1869 station
• Tarago sheep country
• Wind farms above Lake George
• Bungendore village station
• Molonglo approach to Kingston

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 2666822 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within 42 m of them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 14 m from it
• The operator publishes this line's timetable: NSW TrainLink — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
• Wikipedia has an article for this line
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the Canberra Xplorer?

The Canberra Xplorer runs 321 km from Sydney to Canberra.

How long does the Canberra Xplorer take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 4 h 10 min for the 321 km. That is an average of 77 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 145 km/h.

Who runs the Canberra Xplorer?

NSW TrainLink, with Xplorer DMU.

How old is the Canberra Xplorer?

The line has been in service since 1914. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How often does the Canberra Xplorer run?

3× daily each way.

View on the world railway map →

Read more on Wikipedia ↗