CountryLink was a passenger rail and road service brand that operated in regional areas of New South Wales, and to and from Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne.

[1] Originally created as a business unit (or sub-brand) of the State Rail Authority of New South Wales, it later became a subsidiary of RailCorp.

CountryLink was established in January 1989 under the Transport Administration Act 1988 as a business unit of what was then the State Rail Authority to operate all non-metropolitan long distance passenger services.

Following the election of the Greiner State Government in March 1988, consultants Booz Allen Hamilton were commissioned to prepare a report into NSW rail services.

On purely economic grounds, the report recommended closing all country passenger services as they were judged unviable, however this was not politically acceptable.

[13] In October 1990, the government announced that eight sleeper carriages would be ordered for use on overnight services to Brisbane, Murwillumbah and Melbourne.

[14] These were included in an order placed with ABB, Dandenong in 1991 for four power cars and 13 trailers that was jointly funded by the New South Wales and Victorian Governments.

After conducting a statewide tour in March, they were used on Canberra services from April until June with two modified XPT power cars.

[18] In March 1996, services were reintroduced to Broken Hill and Griffith using refurbished locomotive-hauled rolling stock honouring an election commitment by the Carr State Government.

[19] Following the electrification of the Illawarra line from Dapto to Kiama, CityRail was able to release one of its mechanically identical Endeavours and this was converted to an Xplorer to replace the locomotive-hauled stock.

[28] Principal stations served by XPT trains were: Cities and towns served by CountryLink coaches connecting off North Coast services included: Tea Gardens, Forster, Port Macquarie, Yamba, Moree, Lismore, Alstonville, Ballina, Byron Bay, Murwillumbah, Tweed Heads and Surfers Paradise.

[36][37] "CountryLink currently operates a number of train services that move relatively small numbers of passengers," the inquiry has concluded, noting that the high cost of maintenance and the need to replace rolling stock "makes these services very expensive ... they are expected to become even more expensive in the future."

Mr Watkins also said in front of news crew that the refurbishment of the XPTs would also encourage more people to use the trains.

[40] In May 2012, the newly elected O'Farrell State Government announced RailCorp would be restructured, with CountryLink and the regional services of CityRail incorporated into NSW TrainLink in July 2013.