Southern Highlands Line

The Main South line opened in stages to Picton in 1863, Moss Vale in 1867 and Goulburn in 1869.^[1]

In 1919, a new section of line opened between Picton and Mittagong, with the original section becoming the Picton-Mittagong loop line.^[2] Originally a single track line, it was later doubled with the exception of the Picton-Mittagong loop line.

Most services operate between Campbelltown and Moss Vale with a limited number extending to Sydney Central and Goulburn.^[3] All services are operated by Sydney Trains using Endeavour railcars.

Rail replacement bus services operate between Picton and Bowral paralleling the Picton-Mittagong loop line and Bundanoon and Wollongong paralleling the Moss Vale-Unanderra line. A daytime bus service also operates between Moss Vale and Goulburn.^[3] Some stations are also served by NSW TrainLink XPT and Xplorer services from Sydney to Canberra, Griffith and Melbourne.^[4]

Up until the mid-1990s, most services on the line operated through to Sydney Central. Named trains that operated on the line included the Goulburn Day Train and Southern Highlands Express. In the late 1980s, air-conditioned HUB/RUB carriages were introduced. These would later be joined by Budd and Tulloch carriages and DEB railcars.^[5]

In 1994, all were replaced by Endeavour railcars.^[6] Most services were altered to operate only as far north as Campbelltown connecting with Sydney Trains electric services to Sydney.

As of 2014–15, the Southern Highlands Line experiences significantly worse peak hour on-time running performance than other suburban and intercity lines.^[7]

• New South Wales Endeavour Railcar 2 or 4-car DMUs

The following table shows the patronage of each line of the NSW TrainLink Intercity network for the year ending 30 June 2025, based on Opal tap on and tap off data.^[8]