Canberra railway station

Canberra railway station is located on the NSW TrainLink Regional Southern Line in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. It is located in the Canberra suburb of Kingston.

History
The Commonwealth branch line to Canberra from Queanbeyan opened to goods traffic on Monday 25 May 1914. Construction of the 8.5 km rail link had commenced in March 1913, but was delayed due to a lack of railway sleepers. Construction recommenced in November and was completed in February 1914. By 1916 the railway had been extended across the future site of Lake Burley Griffin, to the site of the Sydney and Melbourne Buildings. The project was managed, and operated by the New South Wales Public Works Department on behalf of the Government of Australia.

In February 1916, just two years after the railway had been completed, flooding badly damaged the railway between Canberra and Queanbeyan, with rails and rail embankments washed away. The rail bridge over the Molonglo River was also destroyed.

Canberra Eastlake station opened on 21 April 1924, a decade after the goods railway. Passenger services had run between the Kingston Powerhouse and Queanbeyan for around six months prior to the station building opening. That service started on 15 October 1923, with two trains on weekdays to the Powerhouse (stopping at Molonglo siding) from Queanbeyan departing 6.45am and 3.45pm, returning 9.15am and 5.15pm and a 6.45am Saturday service, returning at 12.45pm.

In October 1926, the Great White Train visited Canberra station, attracting nearly 2,500 people. The train was established by the Australian-made Preference League as a traveling exhibition to promote Australian made goods and represented around thirty manufacturers from across New South Wales. The 230 yd-long, 16 carriage train arrived just before 2pm on Saturday 23 October and stayed until the following evening before heading to Queanbeyan for a three-day stay. Railway services were re-modelled with a new timetable in March 1927, ahead of the Federal Parliament moving to Canberra. A night through train to Sydney was introduced, with carriages departing from Canberra Eastlake station being attached to the Cooma Mail at Goulburn. A daily rail motor service connected passengers from Canberra with the lunchtime train to Sydney, also at Goulburn. Morning and evening trains also connected Canberra with Queanbeyan. In September through carriages from Melbourne were introduced, with Canberra-bound sleepers detatched at Goulburn and shunted to the Capital. By the end of 1927, six trains were arriving at Canberra on weekdays. The station came under the control of the Commonwealth Railways at this time.

By the late 1930s, the temporary station building had begun to receive criticism for its basic nature and lack of amenities. The station's office building was robbed by a suspected crime gang at Easter in 1933 and again a few days before Christmas in 1934. The Christmas railway robbery saw the door forced with an iron coupling bar and the safe being blown open. The suspected gang got away with just 258 pennies (A£1/1/6d or A$4.15), as only a few hours previously railway officials had removed £500 holiday takings from the safe. In September 1936 a new fast weekday service commenced from Sydney to Canberra - called the Federal City Express the service cut journey times to just 5 hours 59 minutes. At that time Senator Guthrie labelled the Goulburn-Canberra railway as the slowest in the British Empire.

The Canberra-Monaro Express replaced the Federal Capital Express when it came into daily service on 9 May 1955. The diesel-hauled air conditioned four-carriage train cut an hour off the travel time between Sydney and Canberra compared to the steam-hauled Federal City Express. The four-car train would divide at Queanbeyan with two carriages going to Canberra and two to Cooma.

In 1956 the ACT Advisory Council sent a comprehensive report to the Minister for the Interior Allen Fairhall, which noted the station was the "worst advertisement in Canberra".

In March 1961, an accident at Canberra station saw a 12-year-old boy lose his leg. Robert Wilkes had been playing on the locomotive turntable at the goods yard when he fell between the table and the track. A doctor had to amputate his right leg above the knee to free him.

The Minister for Shipping and Transport, Sir Gordon Freeth, announced in August 1965 that a new terminal building would be built in Canberra. At that time the location of the new terminal was unclear and a new site on Majura Rd adjacent to Woolshed Creek near the airport was reserved for a new station. Surveys we undertaken at this time for the proposed Canberra-Yass railway line, along which the Marjura Rd station would sit. A map was released by the Department of Shipping and Transport in September that year, showing new tracks running from east of the existing station at Kingston northwards along the Majura Rd corridor, crossing the Federal Hwy near the present-day Horse Park Dr. The route has since been used for the Majura Pkwy dual carriage-way.

In January 1966, the construction contract for a new railway terminal at the existing site in Kingston was awarded to T.H. O'Connor of Fyshwick. The new building was built alongside the existing structure on the same platform, which would later be demolished. The new building would be a combined passenger, parcels and administrative centre.

The terminal building was opened by the Minister for Transport & Shipping, Gordon Freeth on 26 October 1966. Built at a cost of $160,000, it was intended to be another temporary solution until a new, permanent home for railway opened closer to the airport "somewhere in the Pialligo area". Following trials in 1982, the high performance XPT train sets came into operation from Canberra station in August 1983, with a day return service to Sydney, the Canberra Express. The scheduled journey time was 4 hours 15 minutes, a reduction of 35 minutes from the previous service.

Canberra station, along with the line to Queanbeyan, was owned and staffed by the Commonwealth Railways and later Australian National although services were always operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors. Despite numerous attempts to transfer the loss making line to the Government of New South Wales, it remained in Federal Government hands until May 1985 when it was transferred to the State Rail Authority.

Steam locomotive 1210 that had hauled the first train into Canberra in May 1914, was displayed on a plinth outside the station from January 1962 until September 1984, when it was moved to the Canberra Railway Museum and returned to service in 1988.

The final Canberra Monaro Express departed Canberra station for Cooma on Saturday 26 November, 1988. The cancellation of the service also removed the evening service from Canberra to Sydney, and was part of state-wide rail cuts in regional areas. NSW Minister for Transport Bruce Baird noted that passengers has been putting up with 'poor travelling conditions and deteriorating carriages'. Withdrawn services were replaced with road coaches.

After just six-and-a-half years in service, the last XPT train departed Canberra station for Sydney. Around 250 people crowded the platform on Friday 9 February, 1990 as the train departed amid protest from regular train users and local politicians. State Rail cited falling passenger numbers for the cancellation of the XPT, which was replaced with a daily return service using older rolling stock that was around an hour slower.

In 1993 State Rail launched its new country flagship train, Xplorer, to replace the 'tired, rundown' system, with the first service arriving at Canberra station on Thursday 16 December. The Xplorer trains promised to cut 40 minutes off the Canberra-Sydney journey, bringing it back into line with times achieved 10 years earlier. NSW Minister for Transport, Bruce Baird, said the trains would be a 'major drawcard in attracting people back to rail services'. Within nine months the new trains and improved journey time had led to a 50 per cent increase in passenger numbers. Initially the Canberra-Sydney Xplorer trains were just two carriages, but were expanded to three carriages in 1995.

From 23 April 1995, the X 2000 tilt train ran between Canberra and Sydney for a seven-week trial. Two daily services ran in addition to the three daily Xplorer services, with a journey time 45 minute shorter. The service departed at 10.45am and 6.30pm, arriving Sydney at 2.10pm and 9.58pm respectively.

In August 2017, NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro annouced the replacement of the state's entire regional rail fleet, including the Xplorer trains serving Canberra station. The new Regional Rail fleet will operate with bi-mode diesel-electric hybrid technology, which will allow the fleet to run on overhead power when operating on electrified sections of the train network. No date has been published for the commencement of the new trains from Canberra station.

The ACT Government announced plans in March 2023 to build a new multi-modal station next to the current terminal building as part of the Eastlake urban redevelopment. The plans include co-location of the Canberra Railway Museum and integration of a future light rail line.

Transport for NSW announced in 2024 that Canberra station would receive an accessibility upgrade, as part of the NSW Government’s $800.7 million Safe Accessible Transport program. Works could include upgraded external paths, ramps, kiss and ride areas and enhanced signage.

Services
Canberra is the terminus for the New South Wales Xplorer service by NSW TrainLink from the Central railway station, Sydney. It is also served by NSW TrainLink road coach services to Cootamundra, Bombala and Eden. V/Line coach service to Bairnsdale also operates via the station.

New location proposals
The current site of Canberra's railway terminal is broadly accepted to be accidental, owing to a lack of consensus and political will to agree on a suitable location. Even as Australia's most planned city, no agreement has been reached for a permanent home for the city's railway, with no fewer than eight separate locations considered over the past 100 years. Canberra's current station building is the city's second temporary rail terminal.

In 1925 plans for the city of Canberra were gazetted, which included a railway extending from Kingston to Dickson via Russell and the city. Stations on this line were planned in 1918 to include Russell, Anzac Parade, Ainslie Ave and MacArthur Ave. The short-lived Kingston to Civic goods railway was constructed along this route in 1921.

In 1938 the Federal Minister of the Interior John McEwen stated in Parliament that the Kingston station was temporary and that the "site of the permanent railway station for Canberra is in Civic Centre" and that the "present station is well off the route of the permanent railway". Though in 1940, the rails that had been laid in anticipation of a permanent Civic Line were removed and by the 1950s, locations south of the lake for the new station were under consideration, including Bowen Place (adjacent to Kings Ave bridge) and State Circle (adjacent to Parliament House).

Garema Place
Civic Centre Station opened in 1921 in what is now known as Garema Place, on a temporary line that was to be later replaced with a permanent construction. The station served the Brickworks Railway from Yarralumla and a goods railway from Kingston via Russell. The main railway was cut off from Kingston in the floods of 1922, but the rail corridor remained reserved for a future line until 1950 when the Canberra City Plan was altered and the railway corridor, which was not seen as 'modern', was abandoned in favour of urban development.

Woolshed Creek
In 1965 the Commissioner for Commonwealth Railways, Keith Smith, announced that a site of about four chains (88 yards) had been set aside for a new passenger terminal to the west of Woolshed Creek in Piallago, adjacent to Majura Rd. The land was chosen because it was flat, there were no drainage problems, and it was close to the city and airport. The site was also along the proposed Canberra to Yass railway line and high-speed line to Sydney, which were being planned at the time. The new temporary station was instead built in Kingston, with the Woolshed Creek passenger terminal site and proposed railway corridor being later used for vehicular transport following the construction of Majura Parkway, which opened in 2016.

Jerrabomberra Creek
The ACT Government published plans for Canberra's East Lake area in 2010 that would see the removal of most of its railway infrastructure, making way for urban development. A new passenger railway station was proposed to sit between Jerrabomberra Creek and the Monaro Highway.

Canberra City Cooyong Street
In 2013 a report by the Federal Labor government proposed a three-platform station under Ainslie Avenue – north of Cooyong Street and the Canberra Centre. The location would require four kilometres of tunnel passing through Mount Ainslie. The proposed location is a close approximation to the city station included in Walter Burley Griffin's plan for Canberra.

Canberra Airport
In 2016 the ACT Government and Canberra Airport backed moving Canberra Station 1 km further from the city to a new location at the airport. The Government intended passengers to transfer there with the future light rail service to the city. In 2021 there were no fewer than 16 daily coach services between Canberra's CBD and Sydney Central, yet none between Canberra Airport and Sydney, bringing in to question the demand for a high-speed rail terminal at the airport. Should the airport be chosen as the new location, Canberra station would be 7 km from the CBD, the furthest distance of any Australian capital other than Darwin.

In 2017, the ACT Government announced it had protected from development a fork-shaped railway corridor stretching from Eaglehawk on the ACT-NSW border heading southeast to Canberra Airport with an alternative branch southwest to Ainslie Ave. The route runs roughly parallel to Majura Parkway. The ACT Government also indicated it was no longer content for Canberra to be on a spur-line between Sydney and Melbourne and was in discussions with the Federal Government on including Canberra on the main line of any high-speed rail route proposal.

There are currently no published plans for a direct heavy railway connecting Queanbeyan, Canberra Airport and a station in Canberra City along preserved Majura rail corridors. The 11 km route could provide an alternative gateway for Canberra, aligning with the NSW Government's commitment to faster rail between Canberra and Sydney. In 2018 the NSW Government announced its intent to "look at" a light rail connection between Queanbeyan and Canberra, without indicating a route preference.

Ipswich Street
A further location for Canberra's railway terminal was proposed in 2019 by the Fyshwick Business Association, which submitted a response to the ACT Government's 2020-21 Budget Consultation to move the passenger railway station 1.5 km south east to 16 Ipswich Street. The group supporting proposals that the current station site in Kingston be "freed-up" for redevelopment.

Newcastle Street
In November 2022, the Fyshwick Business Association released another proposal dubbed the Eastwick Greenline, which centred on relocating the railway terminal further east to Newcastle Street to form a multi-model transport hub, linked to a future transport corridor by converting the existing heavy railway between Fyshwick and Kingston to light rail. The proposal includes extending the existing railway approximately 3km north to Canberra Airport, which would create an 'eastern loop' line when the line from the city to the airport along Constitution Ave is constructed.

The Causeway
ACT Government plans to move Canberra station were re-ignited in 2022 as part of a consultation on the re-development of the surrounding East Lake area. Under revised plans released in March 2023, a railway terminal building and platforms are to be constructed approximately 100m to the east of the current station building along the existing rail alignment. The new terminal will form part of a multimodal transport hub and include the co-location of the Canberra Railway Museum. The current station building would be demolished under the plan in order that The Causeway be extended south to meet Burke Crescent. Indicative plans show the Rapid Network extending along the existing railway towards Fyshwick, suggesting the line could be converted to Tram-Train status allowing heavy and light rail to share tracks.

Kingston to Civic Centre Station
Civic Centre Station opened in 1921 and was Canberra's second rail terminus, after the Commonwealth rail line was extended from Kingston. The station also served the Brickworks Railway, which crossed the river near Stotts Crossing. It was operational for little over a year on possibly Australia's shortest lived railway, though hopes of its reopening lasted over 25 years. Walter Burley Griffin's original Canberra plan included a railway to come to Canberra City, with stations on the north, east and south. In December 1916 the Federal Public Works Committee tabled its report on the city railway at Canberra in the House of Representatives. They unanimously agreed with the general direction of the permanent railway in the Griffin plan, but that there was no reason for anything other than a temporary surface railway until the development of the city warranted a permanent line. Reports suggest construction on the 3.5 mile temporary line to the City had begun by July 1918, with the bridge over the Molonglo River. The line officially opened on 15 June 1921 and ran from the Power House siding near Cunningham Street in Kingston, heading north on a causeway and across the Molonglo River. The urban area around the former railway is still known as The Causeway. A siding was provided to the north of the river at Russell for the workers camp that was there. The line curved to the north west in Reid, behind St Johns Church and the TAFE, terminating at Civic Centre Station, in what is now Garema Place. The station included loop sidings and a platform with room for eight four-wheeled vehicles. Finally, a line continued to the north to Eloura Street in Braddon where there was a marshalling yard.

The track was owned and maintained by the Commonwealth Railways with trains operated by the New South Wales Government Railways.

On Wednesday 26 July 1922, a flood on the Molonglo River washed away the legs on the trestle bridge, leaving the bridge deck suspended by the rails and sagging into the water. The bridge remnants were removed entirely during the city clean up in preparation for the arrival of the Duke of York for the opening of parliament in 1927. The removal of the bridge left a locomotive and rake of railway trucks stranded on the City side of the Commonwealth railway, meaning another temporary bridge over the Molonglo river had to be constructed for their safe return to Kingston.

The tracks along the Kingston to Civic Centre line were removed in March 1940 due to wartime demands for iron, though this was not seen as permanent closure of the rail corridor. A map of Canberra published in December 1940, nine months after the rails were removed, shows the planned railway route from present day Fyshwick, deviating south to Narrabundah along Kootara Cresent, then north over the Causeway to the City via Russell. From Braddon, the line was planned to extend northwards along present-day Lonsdale Street, parallel to Northbourne Avenue. In 1946 the Braddon Progress and Welfare Association called for the North Canberra railway to be re-established, noting that people has purchased property on the north-side of Canberra on the understanding that a railway would be provided. The Association further noted that construction of a railway from Canberra to Yass was an ultimate objective of the Canberra plan.

In February 1950 the Minister for the Interior announced the National Capital Planning and Development Committee (a predecessor to the NCA) had abandoned plans for a Canberra City railway, noting there were distinct disadvantages in having a railway in the centre of a city's development 'from a modern point of view', such as the undesirability of level crossings and the cost of cuttings to avoid these. Having carefully considered the 'railway problem', the NCPDC advised there was 'no necessity to provide for a railway route within the City', and the reserved railway corridor should be developed for other purposes. The Government was quick to act on the decision and by March that year proposals to convert the Railway Reserve between Cooyong Street and Girrahween Street to minor industrial leases were criticised by residents of neighbouring Torrens Street who wanted to preserve pine trees along the corridor as open space. The Railway Reserve in Braddon was reclassified as a road and named Lonsdale Street by June. By 1953 the City end of the railway corridor was being sold off for retail and business development along the newly constructed Garema Place and Bunda Street, both of which were Gazetted in October 1952.

Such was the rush to remove the railway in favour of lucrative land sales, sections of remnant tracks were simply paved over. A decade after the Canberra City railway was abandoned by the NCPDC, workers unearthed railway tracks while constructing Ainslie Avenue near City Square (now Civic Square) in January 1961. In the early 1970s rails were unearthed during construction of the extension of the Griffin Centre, which at the time stood on the corner of Bunda and Genge Streets.

Brickworks tramway
A narrow gauge 1,067-millimetre line ran from the Yarralumla brickworks, which opened in 1913, to the Kingston Powerhouse via the site of Old Parliament House. The line passed along Adelaide Avenue and round the north of State Circle. A branch went to the Hotel Canberra. The brickworks tramway was extended to Civic by 1916. It crossed the Molonglo River on a bridge near Scotts Crossing. The older track was reduced to the 3+1/2 ft by shifting one rail. The tramway terminated at Civic Centre station. The tramway was dismantled on 9 May 1927 as a cleanup for the opening of Parliament House.

Railways planned but never built
The building of a railway between Canberra and Yass was specified in the Seat of Government Acceptance Act 1909, and plans were made to extend the existing Canberra line to Yass in 1924 and 1934. The proposal was last considered by the government in 1971 but was not considered to be economically justified.

During World War I plans were drawn up for a railway to the Tuggeranong Arsenal. The route ran from the Queanbeyan line via Macarthur, Fadden, Erindale, Wanniassa and Oxley to a station in north east Greenway. There was also to be a hospital near the Kambah Wool Shed, a small-arms factory near Pine Island, and a civic centre. The line was not constructed.

A plan was also drawn for a Canberra to Jervis Bay line in 1914, which would connect Canberra with what was to be its port. As part of this scheme, a route was considered to link Yass to Canberra, and ultimately to Jervis Bay, around 1917. Little was heard of this project after 1921.

The viability of a rail line from Canberra to Eden via Cooma was investigated after the NSW Government funded a $1 million study in 2018. The proposed route would include reinstating the majority of the disused Bombala Line, extending 100 km to the coast at the southern end of the line and north 3.5 km from HMAS Harman to Canberra Airport. In October 2020, the viability study found the proposal would not be economically viable, given the costs associated with extending the line through challenging terrain to the coast.