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Railway lines

City Underground

The creation of a city railway was a central concern for town planners in Sydney from almost the moment that the first railway was opened in 1855. Initially the main terminus was in Cleveland Paddocks on the outskirts of the city, meaning commuters coming into town were required to alight from the train and transfer to trams, hansom cabs or omnibuses to continue into the city. The underground City Circle, and the city as we know it, took one hundred years to be completed.

Sydney's Metropolitan Goods Lines

The Metropolitan Goods Lines, which spread throughout the Sydney suburbs from 1916 onwards, have played a key role in the industrialization of the city and the development of many suburbs. While some of these lines have become disused, others have been repurposed as light rail for the contemporary city.

The North Shore Line

The North Shore Line, which runs from Hornsby to St Leonards, opened on 1 January 1890. It was Sydney’s first purely suburban railway.

Botany Goods Line

Freight line that runs from Marrickville to Port Botany. After the proposal for the line being approved by the New South Wales Parliament in 1913, work commenced on the line in 1915 then ceased in 1917 before beginning again in 1921. The line opened in October 1925 and was extended in 1929 to provide access to the Bunnerong Power Stations.

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Darling Harbour - Sydney Yards Goods Line

Railway line specifically for freight built in 1855 between the Sydney yards, near today's Central Station, and Darling Harbour. Extensions to the line followed in the early 20th century. Part of the line was converted into an elevated urban pedestrian walkway and park, called The Goods Line, in 2012.

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Eastern Suburbs railway line

Railway line that runs between Redfern and Bondi Junction, usually as an extension of the Illawarra line. Proposed as part of Bradfield's design for the city rail network in 1926, it wasn't opened until 1979.

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Illawarra railway line

Suburban railway line constructed in the 1880s that runs from the city to Sydney's southern suburbs and then on to Wollongong and Kiama. The Cronulla branch line from Sutherland was opened in 1939.

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Main Western Line

Extension of the suburban western line from Sydney to western New South Wales, with the line running to Bourke in the far west via the Blue Mountains and Bathurst. Also known as the Great Western Railway, the first extension of the line from Parramatta to Blacktown was completed in 1860, and then from Blacktown to Penrith in 1863. The extension beyond Penrith began in 1867 and was completed at Bourke in 1885.

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North Shore railway line

Sydney's first purely suburban railway line that runs from the city to Hornsby in Sydney's north.

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Royal National Park railway line

Short 1.9km branch line between Loftus railway station and the Royal National Park railway station that opened in 1886 to provide access to a military training camp in the park at Audley. The line closed in 1991 but was reopened in 1992 as part of the Sydney Tramway Museum's facilities.

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Southern Sydney Freight Line

Dedicated 36-kilometre single track line that runs from south of Macarthur to Enfield West which was built by the Australian Rail Track Corporation for freight trains.

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Sydney Metro Northwest

Fully automated metro railway line between Epping and Rouse Hill Station. The project was initially known as the North West Rail Link.

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Zig Zag Railway

Railway which required four large cuttings and three stone viaducts to overcome an otherwise insurmountable climb up the eastern side of the Blue Mountains. Closed as a commercial line in 1910 it re-opened as a tourist railway in 1975.

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Bird's eye view of Sydney showing the proposed city and suburban electric railways 1915

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By

JJC Bradfield

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[MB4 811.17gme/1915/1]

(Mitchell Map Collection)

Construction of the railway at Circular Quay March 1948

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From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[GPO1 43604]

Existing and projected Sydney railways 1926

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Contributed By

State Archives & Records New South Wales

[12685_a007_a00704_8735000169r]

Map of Suburban Rail Lines c1932

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Contributed By

State Archives & Records New South Wales

[12685_a007_a00704_8735000175r]

Marrickville Railway Station, near tram terminus [Subdivision near Sydenham railway station] c1881

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By

Hardie & Gorman Pty Ltd

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[MAP Folder 99, LFSP 1454]

(Marrickville Railway Station, near tram terminus : choice level building & business fronting good, main macadamised thoroughfares in the centre of population : for auction sale on the ground, Saturday Jany. 31st at 3 p.m. / Hardie & Gorman, Auctioneers, John Sands Litho)

North Shore railway terminus (St Leonards) c1890s

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Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.obj-142827586]

Paying Passengers on the Electric Service 1 March 1926

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Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[The Sun, 1 March 1926 (Final Extra), p14 via Trove]

Railway map Sydney Suburban Railway 1939

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By

New South Wales. Office of the Commissioner for Railways

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[c030540002 / M1 811.12/1939/1]

(Published and presented with the Compliments of the Commissioner for Railways) Reverse of map of Sydney City Underground Railways. (Mitchell Library)