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 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. 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". 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 cards and soap to passengers. Electrification During its tenure the State Rail Authority completed a number of electrification projects: Gosford – Wyong April 1982 Wyong – Newcastle June 1984 Waterfall – Port Kembla February 1986 Riverstone – Richmond August 1991 Coniston – Dapto January 1993 Rolling Stock The State Rail Authority introduced new 80 Class, 81 Class and 86 Class locomotives used on both freight and country passenger services, K set, C set, Tangara, Millennium and V set double deck electric passenger trains and the XPT. It also placed an order for the 82 Class and 90 Class locomotives that were delivered to FreightRail in 1994. A fleet of Denning and Scania coaches was purchased to replace withdrawn country rail services. Booz Allen Hamilton review and restructure 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. In November 1988, before the report was complete, the North Coast Overnight Express to Grafton, the Northern Mail to Moree and Tenterfield, the Bathurst day train, the Western Mail to Dubbo and the Canberra Monaro Express to Cooma all ceased. 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 Nyngan – Bourke, Queanbeyan – Cooma and Glen Innes – Wallangarra lines would close. Several country passenger services ceased over the next few