Rail Corporation New South Wales

Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp) is a statutory authority of the State of New South Wales with responsibility for the administration, operation and maintenance of the Sydney suburban and interurban CityRail network. RailCorp is also responsible for operating rural passenger services, under the CountryLink brand, and provides commercial and government freight operators with access to the Sydney metropolitan area rail network.

In January 2004, after much criticism and public perceptions of blame shifting between units of the State Rail Authority for operational failings, RailCorp was formed taking over the passenger train operations of CityRail and CountryLink, and responsibility for maintaining the greater metropolitan network from the Rail Infrastructure Corporation.

The current Chief Executive of RailCorp is Rob Mason, appointed in 2008 to replace the inaugural Chief Executive, Vince Graham. Initially governed by a Board of Directors as a State owned corporation, RailCorp was reconstituted as a statutory authority on 1 January 2009. Changes to the resulted in abolition of the Board effective 1 July 2010 and the repositioning of RailCorp as an entity under Transport NSW. This was followed by further structural changes under the Transport Legislation Amendment Act 2011, which saw Transport NSW replaced by Transport for NSW, which was established as a controlled entity of the Department of Transport, with Rail Corporation New South Wales a controlled entity of Transport for NSW. RailCorp reports to the Minister for Transport, presently Gladys Berejiklian.

Restructure 2012/13
In May 2012 the Minister for Transport announced a restructure of RailCorp which will take effect from July 2013:
 * establish Sydney Trains to operate services in the Sydney Metropolitan area bounded by Berowra, Richmond, Emu Plains, Macarthur and Waterfall
 * establish NSW TrainLink to operate all other passenger services including those of CountryLink
 * transfer capital projects and planning functions to Transport for New South Wales
 * create a specialist division responsible for train cleaning
 * create a customer service division
 * see RailCorp's function become asset owner
 * offer voluntary redundancies to 750 management and support staff

Lines operated
Some of the suburban lines it operates are:


 * Northern Line (Hornsby to Epping via Macquarie Park, Central and Strathfield)
 * North Shore & Western Line (Berowra to Emu Plains or Richmond via Chatswood, Central and Parramatta)
 * South Line (Museum to Campbelltown via Granville)
 * Inner West Line (Museum to Liverpool via Regents Park)
 * Bankstown Line (Town Hall to Liverpool or Lidcombe via Bankstown)
 * Airport & East Hills Line (Town Hall to Macarthur via the Airport or Sydenham)
 * Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line (Bondi Junction to Waterfall or Cronulla via Central)
 * Carlingford Branch Line (running from Clyde to Carlingford, also providing services to Rosehill Racecourse)
 * Cumberland Line (peak-hourly running from Blacktown to Campbelltown)

Corruption investigation
In 2007 and 2008 RailCorp was investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. In a series of seven reports released during 2008, the ICAC reported that more than A$21 million in improper contracts and deals through the procurement of services in just three years. In June 2009, RailCorp terminated the contract of Vicki Coleman, its Chief Information Officer, and it was claimed that she was at the centre of claims of dishonesty and corruption. The ICAC recommended charges against 33 people; yet by April 2012, only eight people had faced the courts. Those that received custodial sentences included Allan Michael Blackstock (4½ years) and Renea Hughes (3½ years). Youssef was directed to undertake community service. Further charges are expected to be laid on others, and several are still waiting the outcome of criminal proceedings.

In light of the corruption issues, as well as complaints about poor service and overcrowding, there were media reports in 2008 that the Rees government would abolish RailCorp.

Emergency response
RailCorp maintains a statewide Emergency Response Unit. The function of this unit is to attend incidents, such as derailments. Formerly known as the State Rail Fire Service, the unit is based in Sydney and respond to emergency incidents involving the rail network including automatic fire alarms within the underground and nearby stations. The unit also undertakes cross-training with Fire and Rescue NSW. The unit is currently equipped with a number of vehicles including Mercedes and International pumpers and a speciality rapid rail response unit which is able to travel via the road and rail network for rescue operations. The unit's motto is Semper Paratus, translated from Latin to mean Always Ready.