Australia's first mail coach was established in 1828 and was crucial in connecting the remote settlements being established to the larger centres. The first mail contracts were issued and mail was transported by coach or on horseback from Sydney to the first seven country post offices – Penrith, Parramatta, Liverpool, Windsor, Campbelltown, Newcastle and Bathurst. The Sydney to Melbourne overland packhorse mail service was commenced in 1837. From 1855 the Sydney to Melbourne overland mail coach was supplanted by coastal steamer ship and rail. The rail network became the distributor of mail to larger regional centres there the mail coach met the trains and carried the mail to more remote towns and villages.