View source for State Rail Authority

{{Short description|Rail transport agency in NSW, 1980–2003}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = 
| type            = [[Public Authority|Statutory Authority]]
| nativename      = 
| nativename_a    = 
| nativename_r    = 
| logo            = Sraheada.gif
| logo_width      = 200px
| logo_caption    = 
| seal            = 
| seal_width      = 
| seal_caption    = 
| picture         = 44213 44224 double jumbos broadmeadow loco 1990.jpg
| picture_width   = 
| picture_caption = Two 442 Class engines in State Rail livery
| formed          = 1 July 1980
| dissolved       = 31 December 2003
| preceding1      = [[Public Transport Commission]]
| superseding     = [[RailCorp]]
| jurisdiction    = [[New South Wales]]
| headquarters    = Sydney
| region_code     = 
| coordinates     = 
| employees       = 
| budget          = 
| minister1_name  = 
| minister1_pfo   = 
| minister2_name  = 
| minister2_pfo   = <!-- (etc.) -->
| chief1_name     = [[David Hill (businessman)|David Hill]]
| chief1_position = CEO
| agency_type     = 
| parent_agency   = 
| child1_agency   = 
| keydocument1    = {{Cite Legislation AU|NSW|act||Transport Authorities Act 1980}}
| website         = 
| footnotes       = 
| map             = 
| map_width       = 
| map_caption     = 
}}

The '''State Rail Authority''', a former [[statutory authority]] of the [[Government of New South Wales]], operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of [[New South Wales]] from July 1980 until December 2003.

==History==
[[File:Dia_0228.jpg|thumb|[[New South Wales 44 class locomotive|44]] & [[New South Wales 45 class locomotive|45]] south of [[Kyogle railway station|Kyogle]] in 1987]]
The ''Transport Authorities Act 1980'' separated the functions of the  [[Public Transport Commission]] (formerly responsible for all public transport) and established the State Rail Authority. The State Rail Authority assumed responsibility for trains, while the [[Urban Transit Authority]] responsibility for buses and ferries.<ref>{{Cite Legislation AU|NSW|act||Transport Authorities Act 1980}}</ref><ref>[http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=\Agency\540 State Rail Authority of New South Wales (I)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424002429/http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=%5CAgency%5C540 |date=24 April 2012 }} NSW Government State Records</ref>

In July 1982 a new colour scheme developed by [[Phil Belbin]] of red, yellow, orange and white was unveiled, which was commonly referred to as the "candy colours".<ref>"Genesis of the Candy Colours". ''[[Railway Digest]]'' August 1985</ref>  The ''L7'' logo used by the Public Transport Commission was retained, albeit with the dark and light blue replaced with red and orange. Around this time, they also gave [[playing card]]s and [[soap]] to passengers.{{cn|date=November 2022}} 

===Electrification===
During its tenure the State Rail Authority completed a number of electrification projects:
*[[Gosford railway station|Gosford]] – [[Wyong railway station|Wyong]] April 1982<ref>[http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=61760 Railway Sign Official Opening Gosford – Wyong Electrification 3 April 1982] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327234850/http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=61760 |date=27 March 2014 }} Powerhouse Museum Collection</ref> 
*Wyong – [[Newcastle railway station, New South Wales|Newcastle]] June 1984<ref>"The Official Opening of Newcastle Rail Electrification" ''Railway Digest'' July 1984</ref> 
*[[Waterfall railway station, Sydney|Waterfall]] – [[Port Kembla railway station|Port Kembla]] February 1986<ref>"Wollongong Electrification Open at Last" ''Railway Digest'' March 1986</ref>
*[[Riverstone railway station|Riverstone]] – [[Richmond railway station, Sydney|Richmond]] August 1991<ref>"Electric trains reach Richmond" ''Railway Digest'' September 1991</ref>
*[[Coniston railway station, New South Wales|Coniston]] – [[Dapto railway station|Dapto]] January 1993<ref>"Dapto electrics spark timetable changes" ''Railway Digest'' February 1993</ref>

===Rolling Stock===
The State Rail Authority introduced new [[New South Wales 80 class locomotive|80 Class]], [[New South Wales 81 class locomotive|81 Class]] and [[New South Wales 86 class locomotive|86 Class]] locomotives used on both freight and country passenger services, [[Sydney Trains K set|K set]], [[Sydney Trains C set|C set]], [[Sydney Trains T set|Tangara]], [[Sydney Trains M set|Millennium]] and [[NSW TrainLink V set|V set]] double deck electric passenger trains and the [[New South Wales XPT|XPT]]. It also placed an order for the [[New South Wales 82 class locomotive|82 Class]] and [[New South Wales 90 class locomotive|90 Class]] locomotives that were delivered to FreightRail in 1994. A fleet of [[Denning (bus manufacturer)|Denning]] and [[Scania AB|Scania]] coaches was purchased to replace withdrawn country rail services.<ref>"State Rail Coach Services – The Vehicles" ''[[Australian Bus Panorama]]'' 9/3 October 1993</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Inherited Locomotives and Multiple Units
!Name
!Image
!Build Year
!Withdrawn
|-
|[[New South Wales 42 class locomotive|42 Class]]
|[[File:4201 Return to Service Trip 16-09-2017.jpg|thumb|4201, 16/09/2017]]
|1955/1956
|1983
|-
|[[New South Wales 421 class locomotive|421 Class]]
|[[File:42103 GM22 Mildura.jpg|thumb|42103 and GM22]]
|1965/1966
|1986
|-
|[[New South Wales 422 class locomotive|422 Class]]
|
|1969/1970
|n/a
|-
|[[New South Wales 44 class locomotive|44 Class]]
|[[File:4466 4405 4461 4472 4465 4479 broadmeadow loco 1990.jpg|thumb|Several 44 Class locomotives]]
|1957/1967
|1997
|-
|[[New South Wales 442 class locomotive|442 Class]]
|[[File:Dia 0226.jpg|thumb|44231]]
|1970/1973
|1994
|-
|[[New South Wales 45 class locomotive|45 Class]]
|
|1962/1964
|1994
|-
|[[New South Wales 47 class locomotive|47 Class]]
|[[File:4705 broadmeadow loco 1990.jpg|thumb|4705]]
|1972/1973
|1989
|-
|[[New South Wales 48 class locomotive|48 Class]]
|[[File:48 Class Diesels at Narrabri West - panoramio.jpg|thumb|A pair of 48 Class Locomotives]]
|1959/1970
|n/a
|-
|[[New South Wales 49 class locomotive|49 Class]]
|[[File:Locomotive 4916 Thirlmere.jpg|thumb|4916]]
|1960/1964
|1995, later 1997
|-
|[[New South Wales 70 class locomotive|70 Class]]
|
|1960/1961
|1986
|-
|[[New South Wales 73 class locomotive|73 Class]]
|[[File:Candy 7318.jpg|thumb|7318]]
|1970/1973
|1987/1990
|-
|[[New South Wales 80 class locomotive|80 Class]]
|
|1979/1983
|2003
|-
|[[New South Wales X100 class locomotive|X100 Class]]
|[[File:X101 petersham.jpg|thumb|X101]]
|1962
|1992
|-
|[[New South Wales 46 class locomotive|46 Class]]
|
|1956/1968
|1996
|-
|[[New South Wales 85 class locomotive|85 Class]]
|
|1979/1980
|1998
|-
|colspan="4" align="center"|[[Railcar|Railmotors]]
|-
|[[CPH railmotor|CPH]]
|
|1923
|1985
|-
|BPH
|
|1934
|1983
|-
|[[Silver City Comet]]
|[[File:New South Wales Railway Museum 115.jpg|thumb|DP 104]]
|1937
|1989
|-
|[[New South Wales FP Paybuses|FP]]
|[[File:Pay Bus FP 8.JPG|thumb|168x168px|FP8]]
|1967
|1986
|-
|[[New South Wales 400/500 class railmotor|400/500 Class]]
|
|1938
|1983
|-
|[[New South Wales 600/700 class railcar|600/700 Class]]
|[[File:Railmotor.jpg|thumb|Byron bay solar train 600/700 rail motor waiting for its next service]]
|1949/1950
|1994
|-
|[[New South Wales 620/720 class railcar|620/720 Class]]
|
|1961
|2007
|-
|[[New South Wales 600/700 class railcar|660/760 Class]]
|
|1973
|1994
|-
|[[New South Wales 900/800 class railcar|DEB Set]]
|[[File:HPF 954 Interior.JPG|thumb|140x140px|HPF 954]]
|1951/1960
|1994
|-
|[[New South Wales 1100 class railcar|1110 Class]]
|
|1961
|1993
|-
|[[New South Wales 1200 class railcar|1200 Class]]
|
|1970
|1993
|-
|[[New South Wales Standard suburban carriage stock|Standard Suburban Stock]]
|[[File:Sydney Red Rattler at Flemington.jpg|thumb|174x174px|F1]]
|1925/1926
|1992
|-
|[[New South Wales Tulloch suburban carriage stock|Tulloch Single Deck Stock]]
|
|1950
|1992
|-
|[[New South Wales Sputnik suburban carriage stock|Sputnik Stock]]
|
|1957
|1993
|-
|[[New South Wales U set|U Set "U Boat"]]
|[[File:NSW U set (CF 5003) at the Junee Roundhouse Museum.jpg|thumb|126x126px|CF 5003]]
|1958
|1996
|-
|[[New South Wales Tulloch double deck carriage stock|Tulloch Double Deck Stock]]
|[[File:New South Wales Railway Museum 117.jpg|thumb|188x188px|C3804]]
|1964
|1980/2004
|-
|[[New South Wales V set|V Sets]]
|[[File:Blue Mountains line.jpg|thumb|160x160px|V25]]
|1970
|n/a
|-
|[[New South Wales S set|S Sets]]
|
|1972
|2019
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Inherited Coach Stock
!Name
!Image
!Build Year
!Withdrawn
|-
|[[New South Wales S type carriage stock|S Type]]
|
|1935
|1989
|-
|[[New South Wales N type carriage stock|N Type]]
|
|1939
|late 1980s
|-
|[[New South Wales HUB type carriage stock|HUB Type]]
|[[File:FH 2230.JPG|thumb|162x162px|FH 2230]]
|1948
|1994, later 2000
|-
|[[New South Wales RUB type carriage stock|RUB Type]]
|
|1949
|1994, later 2000
|-
|[[New South Wales stainless steel carriage stock|Stainless Type]]
|
|1961
|1993
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Pre-Booz Locomotives, Multiple Units and Coaches
!Name
!Image
!Build Year
!Withdrawn
|-
|[[New South Wales 81 class locomotive|81 Class]]
|
|1982/1986
|n/a
|-
|[[New South Wales XPT|XPT]]
|
|1982
|n/a, proposed 2027
|-
|[[Sydney Trains K set|K Set]]
|[[File:Suburban DD set CT 573.jpg|thumb|138x138px|R16 (original classification)]]
|1981
|n/a
|-
|[[New South Wales C set|C Set]]
|
|1986
|2021
|-
|[[Sydney Trains T set|T Set "Tangara"]]
|[[File:T90 (Tangara) at Central Station, Sydney.jpg|thumb|144x144px|T90]]
|1988
|n/a
|-
|[[New South Wales 86 class locomotive|86 Class]]
|
|1983/1985
|2002
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Post-Booz Locomotives and Multiple Units
!Name
!Image
!Build Year
!Withdrawn
|-
|[[New South Wales 82 class locomotive|82 Class]]
|[[File:Goods train - panoramio.jpg|thumb|131x131px|8223]]
|1994/1995
|n/a
|-
|[[New South Wales 90 class locomotive|90 Class]]
|
|1994
|n/a
|-
|[[New South Wales 48 class locomotive|PL Class]]
|
|1999/2001
|n/a
|-
|[[New South Wales Xplorer|Xplorer]]
|[[File:Countrylink-Xplorer-2502-at-Central.jpg|thumb|164x164px|P2]]
|1993
|n/a
|-
|[[New South Wales Endeavour railcar|Endeavour]]
|[[File:CityRail-Endeavour-2803.jpg|thumb|162x162px|N3]]
|1992
|n/a
|-
|[[Sydney Trains T set|G Set]]
|[[File:Cityrail-Tangara-G6-ext.jpg|thumb|158x158px|G6]]
|1994
|converted to T sets in 2010
|-
|[[Sydney Trains M set|M Set]]
|[[File:Cityrail-millennium-M32-ext.jpg|thumb|163x163px|M32]]
|2002/2005
|n/a
|}

===Booz Allen Hamilton review and restructure===
[[File:44218 7317 broadmeadow loco roundhouse 1990.jpg|thumb|[[New South Wales 442 class locomotive|44218]] in [[FreightCorp]] livery alongside [[New South Wales 73 class locomotive|7317]] in the candy livery at [[Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot]] circa 1990]]

Following the election of the [[Nick Greiner|Greiner State Government]] in March 1988, consultants [[Booz Allen Hamilton]] were commissioned to prepare a report into NSW rail services. In November 1988, before the report was complete, the ''[[North Coast Overnight Express]]'' to [[Grafton railway station, New South Wales|Grafton]], the ''[[Northern Mail]]'' to [[Moree railway station|Moree]] and [[Tenterfield railway station|Tenterfield]], the [[Bathurst railway station, New South Wales|Bathurst]] day train, the ''[[Western Mail (train)|Western Mail]]'' to [[Dubbo railway station|Dubbo]] and the ''[[Canberra Monaro Express]]'' to [[Cooma railway station|Cooma]] all ceased.<ref>"End of the Passengers but Not the Politics" ''Railway Digest'' December 1989</ref>

After receiving the Booz Allen Hamilton report, the government released its response in July 1989 under the title ''CountryLink 2000''. It was announced the number of staff employed on country rail operations would fall from 18,000 to 10,000, including the withdrawal of staff from 94 country railway stations and the [[Main Western railway line|Nyngan – Bourke]], [[Bombala railway line|Queanbeyan – Cooma]] and [[Main Northern railway line|Glen Innes – Wallangarra]] lines would close.

Several country passenger services ceased over the next few years including the ''[[Silver City Comet]]'', ''[[Northern Tablelands Express]]'', ''[[Canberra Express|Canberra XPT]]'', ''[[Brisbane Limited]]'', ''[[Gold Coast Motorail|Pacific Coast Motorail]]'', ''[[South Coast Daylight Express]]'', ''[[Intercapital Daylight]]'' and ''[[Sydney/Melbourne Express]].'' These were replaced either by [[New South Wales XPT|XPT]] sets, EMU/DMU sets or coaches. Coach services which had been operated by the State Rail Authority's own fleet were contracted out to private operators. The report had recommended closing all country passenger services as they were judged unviable, however this was not politically acceptable.<ref>"CountryLink 2000" ''Railway Digest'' August 1989</ref><ref>Moore, M Lagan, B. ''SRA takes axe to 8000 jobs'' ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' 14 July 1989</ref>

The State Rail Authority was divided into business units: 
*[[CityRail]]: responsible for suburban and interurban passenger services 
*[[CountryLink]]: responsible for country passenger services 
*[[FreightCorp|FreightRail]]: responsible for freight services 
*Rail Estate: responsible for rail property

CityRail adopted a blue and yellow colour scheme including ''L7'' logo, CountryLink a blue, white and grey scheme and FreightRail a blue and yellow scheme.

===July 1996 restructure===
On 1 July 1996, the State Rail Authority was restructured into four distinct entities by the ''Transport Administration Amendment (Rail Corporatisation and Restructuring) Act 1996''<ref>[http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/sessionalview/sessional/act/1996-56.pdf Transport Administration Amendment (Rail Corporatisation and Restructuring) Act 1996] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101223028/http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/sessionalview/sessional/act/1996-56.pdf |date=1 January 2015 }} New South Wales Parliament 1996</ref><ref name="Agency#2599">[http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=\Agency\2599 State Rail Authority of New South Wales (II)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423234949/http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=%5CAgency%5C2599 |date=23 April 2012 }} NSW Government State Records</ref> to separate infrastructure from operations as required by the ''Competition Policy Reform Act 1995''.<ref>[http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2004A04938 Competition Policy Reform Act 1995] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904183220/http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2004A04938 |date=4 September 2012 }} Australian Parliament 20 July 1995</ref><ref>"State Rail Restructure Announced" ''Railway Digest" May 1996 page 7</ref><ref>[http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/file/0018/747/StateRail_Annual_Report_1996-1997.pdf Annual Report 30 June 1997] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325012656/http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/file/0018/747/StateRail_Annual_Report_1996-1997.pdf |date=25 March 2013 }} State Rail Authority</ref> This was part of the process of moving to an [[Open access (infrastructure)|open access]] regime.

The entities were:<ref name="Agency#2599"/>
*[[FreightCorp|Freight Rail Corporation]]: responsible for freight services
*Rail Access Corporation: responsible for managing track and providing access to public and private operators
*Railway Services Authority: responsible for track and rolling stock maintenance
*State Rail Authority: passenger service operator consisting of [[CityRail]] and [[CountryLink]]

===February 1998 restructure===
Another restructure in February 1998 saw the State Rail Authority split into four operating divisions:<ref name="Agency#2599"/><ref>[http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/file/0019/748/StateRail_Annual_Report_1997-1998.pdf Annual Report 30 June 1998] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325021412/http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/file/0019/748/StateRail_Annual_Report_1997-1998.pdf |date=25 March 2013 }} State Rail Authority</ref>
*CityRail Stations
*CountryLink
*Operations
*Passenger Fleet Maintenance

===January 2001 restructure===
In January 2001, the Rail Access Corporation and Railway Services Authority were merged into the [[Rail Infrastructure Corporation]] that took responsibility for ownership and maintenance of the infrastructure.<ref>[http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=\Agency\2151 Rail Infrastructure Corporation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423232933/http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=%5CAgency%5C2151 |date=23 April 2012 }} NSW Government State Records</ref><ref>[http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/file/0017/773/RIC_Annual_Report_2000-2001.pdf Annual Report 30 June 2001] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325013519/http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/file/0017/773/RIC_Annual_Report_2000-2001.pdf |date=25 March 2013 }} Rail Infrastructure Corporation</ref>

===January 2004 restructure and wind down===
In January 2004, after much criticism and public perceptions of blame shifting between units for operational failings, [[RailCorp]] was formed taking over the passenger train operations from the residual State Rail Authority (CityRail and CountryLink) and responsibility for maintaining the greater metropolitan network from the [[Rail Infrastructure Corporation]].<ref>[http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=\Agency\3840 Rail Corporation of New South Wales] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429110313/http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=%5CAgency%5C3840 |date=29 April 2013 }} NSW Government State Records</ref><ref>[http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/file/0015/1329/RailCorp_Annual_Report-2003-2004.pdf Annual Report 30 June 2004] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325055249/http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/file/0015/1329/RailCorp_Annual_Report-2003-2004.pdf |date=25 March 2013 }} RailCorp</ref>

By June 2006 much of the operational function had been transferred, with the State Rail Authority in the process of being wound down.<ref>[http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/3874/StateRail_Annual_Report_2005-2006.pdf Annual Report 30 June 2006] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325041459/http://www.railcorp.info/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/3874/StateRail_Annual_Report_2005-2006.pdf |date=25 March 2013 }} State Rail Authority</ref>

==Publication==
From September 1981 until June 1989, ''State Wide'' was the SRA's [[House organ|inhouse journal]].<ref>[https://records-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/search?sortby=rank&vid=61SRA&lang=en_US&offset=0&query=any,contains,NRS-15577&mfacet=rtype,include,SERIES,1 "State Wide" Rail Staff Newsletter] Western Sydney Records Centre</ref>

==See also==
* [[RailCorp]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links== 
{{commonscat-inline}}

{{Rail management structures in New South Wales|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Defunct railway companies of Australia]]
[[Category:Defunct government entities of New South Wales|Railway]]
[[Category:Australian companies disestablished in 2003]]
[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 2003]]
[[Category:Australian companies established in 1980]]
[[Category:Railway companies established in 1980]]