History of the Canberra Branch

Canberra was officially incorporated in 1913, to a plan by famed architect Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion. Learning his craft in Chicago, one of the largest rail hubs in the USA, Griffin recognised the importance of railways to a city, and so included them as a pivotal part of his initial plan.

According to Griffin’s plan, the railway would have slewed south after leaving Queanbeyan, before curving northwards to pass through the prestigious suburbs of Riverbourne, Lakebourne and Eastlake (approximately Symonston, Narrabundah and Kingston today), before arriving in the city via an imposing causeway over the artificial lakes, and entering a grand terminus in the city centre. There would also have been provisions to extend the railway to Yass, creating a loop with the Main South Line.

For the city’s construction, a temporary branch line was built from Queanbeyan to Kingston, for the transportation of building materials, workers, and fuel for the brand new power station. A rudimentary station building was erected to provide basic amenities.

On May 25, 1914, locomotive 1210 - once the pride of the New South Wales Railways, now little more than a humble goods engine - became the first revenue-earning train to arrive in the National Capital, hauling a train of coal and construction materials.

Griffin’s relationship with the Government was quite tense from the onset, and the outbreak of the First World War forced him to cut more and more from his original plan. His artificial lakes and the aforementioned suburbs were all scrapped, and his grand line to Civic never eventuated. Instead, the railway remained where it was, with more sidings and loco servicing facilities installed. By this time, Griffin had already returned to the US, and he cut ties with the project in 1920 on bad terms. The Federal Capital Advisory Committee oversaw the remaining construction.

The Yarralumla Brickworks was opened in 1913, to supply bricks for the new city. At first, materials were transported by traction engines, but with the commencement of the new Parliament building (now known as Old Parliament House) in 1923, a faster mode of transportation was needed. A 3’6” narrow gauge railway was built from the brickworks to the Kingston power house, via the Parliament construction site. It was operated by two former WAGR S class tank engines, named ‘Princess’ and ‘Duchess’. In 1926, the railway was extended across the Molonglo River into Civic, to aid in the construction of the Sydney and Melbourne Buildings. A third locomotive was bought to handle the increased traffic, this time a Hudswell, Clarke saddle tank that had previously operated for the Wallaroo Mining Co.

With the opening of Parliament House in 1927, the railway was considered an eyesore and ripped up. The locomotives were all sold on and eventually scrapped.

Perhaps the biggest embarrassment in Canberra’s rail history, the Civic Branch was opened as a construction line from Kingston to Civic in 1921. It was Griffin’s final concession over his line to the city, which he had advocated for strongly despite the cuts to his plan. Lightly and cheaply built, it closely followed his original route, but was single track and had a light wooden trestle over the river instead of a grand causeway. The route of Jerrabomberra Creek was realigned to avoid building a second bridge, but this was ultimately the railway’s undoing…

In 1922, less than 18 months since its opening, record flooding in the area utterly destroyed the bridge over the Molonglo River. Rerouting the Jerrabomberra Creek, as well as the bridge’s poor construction (the supports were set obliquely to the river’s flow, acting as nets for any debris in the river), caused the floodwaters to wipe out all the central supports, and wash away much of the embankments either side. There was much debate about whether the railway should be rebuilt or not. In 1925, another flood washed through and destroyed whatever was left of the bridge, and the line was abandoned for good. With it went any hope of a station in Civic, or an extension to Yass. The tracks around Civic (now Garema Place) were realigned and regauged for use by the brickwork's tramway when it came to Civic in 1926, and were removed with its closure. The last of the Civic branch wasn’t demolished until around 1940.

Canberra’s railway station was opened to the public in 1927, with the opening of Parliament House. A brand new station building, architecturally reminiscent of the Hotel Canberra, was built just down the platform from the original 1914 building. This too, however, was considered ‘temporary’, and in later years was criticised for its basic nature. The railway continued to live out a fairly quiet existence, though it did enjoy its fair share of named expresses, such as the Federal City Express and Cooma Mail.

In 1962, upon withdrawal, locomotive 1210 was presented to the people of Canberra, and mounted on static display outside the station where she had made history some 48 years earlier.

In 1966, the station and corresponding rail yards were all extensively rebuilt. The original buildings were both knocked down and replaced with the building that stands to the present day - in true Canberra fashion, being considered a ‘stop-gap’ solution while a better station site was determined!

With the rise of diesel power, Canberra became a stop on the Canberra-Monaro Express, as well as the airconditioned Canberra Express. The closure of the line from Queanbeyan to Bombala in the 1980s saw a significant cutback to rail services into Canberra, and this section has also been threatened with closure multiple times in the ensuing years. The high-speed XPT trains were used on the Canberra branch from 1983 until the mid-1990s, but today passenger services are handled by the Xplorer units.