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The Dictionary of Sydney
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Arrival of the first railway train at Parramatt...

Arrival of the first railway train at Parramatta from Sydney 1857

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Economy Parramatta The Railways of Sydney: Shaping the City and its Commerce Transport

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Trains

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Granville Parramatta

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Sydney to Parramatta Railway

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Granville railway station

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Mason, Walter G

National Library of Australia

Economy

With the arrival of Europeans, the traditional economy of Aboriginal clans was disrupted, and gave way to the convict economy of the Commissariat and government stores. But this closed economy was soon opened by free settlement, whaling and sealing, shipping and farming success, making Sydney the port for a vast hinterland. Depressions and booms alternated, bringing poverty and prosperity to the city. Sydney's growth and diversity mean that regional economies now exist within the Sydney region.

Parramatta

Named for its traditional owners, the Burramattagal, Parramatta was the site of the second European settlement in Sydney, and an early successful farm. Until the 1850s many governors preferred to live in Parramatta Government House. The railway arrived in 1857 and the town became prosperous, with its own suburbs by the 1870s, business and industrial districts, and large medical and educational institutions.

Transport

Sydney's transport has been shaped by the geography of the city, changing economic and social needs, technological limitations and advances, and political considerations. From walking tracks and animal haulage to the commuting city of today, transport has also shaped the city itself, opening up new areas and choking others. Carts, ferries, trains, trams, buses and cars have all figured in Sydney's transport history.

The Railways of Sydney: Shaping the City and its Commerce

Across the world, steam railways and electric tramways facilitated the expansion of the small cities of pre-industrial times into vast metropolises. This essay explores the role of railways in shaping the Sydney metropolis we know today.

Trains

Parramatta

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Western suburb built on the land of the Burramattagal people. Sydney's second European settlement, it began as a government farm in 1788 and has many heritage listed sites. It is now the commercial hub of Greater Western Sydney.

Sydney to Parramatta Railway

The colony's first major line connecting six stations at Sydney, Newtown, Ashfield, Burwood, Homebush, and Parramatta Junction near Granville. It was extended to the current Parramatta station on 4 July 1860.

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Granville railway station

Station originally known as Parramatta Junction, which was the final stop of the first railway, opened in 1855. Renamed Granville in 1880, the station was the site of the Granville railway disaster in 1977, when 83 people died after a train derailed and hit the Bold Street overpass.

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Granville

Western industrial and residential suburb, south of Parramatta. Named after the British Foreign Secretary, it grew rapidly in the 1880s and 1890s following the construction of the rail link from Sydney to Parramatta, thanks to its road, rail and water access.

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