From 1973, the "Gold Coast Motorail" provided passenger and car transport between Sydney and Murwillumbah, along with the introduction of the "North Coast Overnight Express" in 1978 to meet increasing popular demand. The "Gold Coast Motorail" took 26,000 reservations at Murwillumbah station alone in its first year of operation and in 1980, that number had increased to a staggering 51,000. The services cost $11.5 million annually to run, but the profit was over $22.5 million - nearly double than what they cost to run.