Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line

The T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line is a suburban rail line on the Sydney Trains network in the eastern and southern suburbs of Sydney. The line was constructed in the 1880s to Wollongong to take advantage of agricultural and mining potentials in the Illawarra area. In March 1926, it became the first railway in New South Wales to run electric train services.

Today, the railway consists of three connected lines: the original Illawarra line from the Sydney CBD to Waterfall; the Cronulla line from Sutherland to Cronulla, which opened in 1939 replacing an earlier tram service; and the Eastern Suburbs line from the Sydney CBD to Bondi Junction, which opened in 1979.

Operationally and historically, the entire line from the Illawarra Junction at Redfern to its terminus in Bomaderry on the South Coast was known as the Illawarra Line. However, since 1989, the suburban services to Waterfall and Cronulla have been marketed as the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line and interurban services south to Wollongong and Bomaderry as the South Coast Line. The line is coloured an azure blue on Sydney Trains timetables and other promotional materials.

Alignment

Eastern Suburbs Line

left|thumb|The viaduct across [[Woolloomooloo]]

The Eastern Suburbs Line runs between Bondi Junction in Sydney's east and Eveleigh, just south of the Sydney central business district. It is mostly underground, and consists of of bored tunnels and of cut and cover tunnels, with only above ground. In the Eastern Suburbs, three tunnels proceed in a westerly direction from Bondi Junction via Edgecliff and Kings Cross; in each of these tunnels there are stations. Between Bondi Junction and Edgecliff, there is a short open-air cutting in Woollahra, and between Edgecliff and Kings Cross, there is a short viaduct over Rushcutters Bay.

From Kings Cross, the line proceeds west towards the Sydney Central Business District on a viaduct that passes over the suburb of Woolloomooloo and the Eastern Distributor. The line then passes into a tunnel underneath the Art Gallery of New South Wales to a station underneath Martin Place. Turning south, the line proceeds through Town Hall, Central and Redfern stations, before emerging behind the Eveleigh Railway Workshops. The line is double track throughout, with turnback sidings at Martin Place and Bondi Junction for citybound trains, and at Central for trains from Bondi Junction. On 6 April 1881, Governor Augustus Loftus assented to Act 44 Vic. No. 28, which provided £1,020,000 for the construction of this railway, and proposed that the first section of , constituting approximately the present suburban route, be completed by 30 September 1884. With new contractors hired, the line was complete to Hurstville by 15 October 1884, Waterfall by 9 March 1886, and the whole line to Kiama was opened officially in Wollongong on 22 June 1887.

After duplication in 1890, the original lattice-girder Como Bridge across the Georges River was laid as gauntlet track. This arrangement remained in place for many decades, causing a notorious bottleneck on the line, until the New South Wales Government commissioned John Holland & Co to build a new bridge in 1969. Construction of the new bridge, made of prestressed concrete box girders, commenced in 1969 and was first used by the 18:17 service from Como on 19 November 1972. The old bridge, as well as a former alignment of the line between Mortdale and Oatley replaced in 1905, is now used as a rail trail for pedestrians and cyclists.

The Illawarra Line was the first railway electrified in New South Wales, and was built in conjunction with the construction of the City Railway between Central and St James, opening on 1 March 1926, a few months before the line was connected to the new underground railway. By November 1926 the electric overhead had passed Sutherland and continued to the branch line constructed to the Royal National Park.

By 1932, the Cronulla tramway had closed. Competing bus services had begun to run with unrestricted competition, and the tram line by this time was so full with services that trams often ran late due to holdups at the crossing loops and passengers missed their connections at Sutherland. The line suffered large losses in its later years, and the effect of the Great Depression at the time forced it to cease its services, the last passenger service operating on 3 August 1931. The goods service continued until 12 January of the next year.

Although the closure of the tramway allowed planning to go ahead for a railway, the planning for the replacement railway line suffered various delays in the 1930s due to funding issues: the line's construction competed with a proposal to electrify the Illawarra Line to Waterfall, and there were disputes over the point at which the line would connect to the main line. Two early proposals to join the line at Como and north of Sutherland Station were rejected. Despite the delays, Parliament finally gave approval to the line on 2 March 1936, and a route with five new stations was surveyed that would connect with the main line at the southern side of Sutherland station. The new line was opened on 16 December 1939.

Although a crossing loop was installed at Caringbah Station and Gymea Station when the line was opened, the single track line prevented the expansion of services to the Cronulla peninsula, and so in the 1980s, it was decided to duplicate a section of the line between Gymea and Caringbah, with Gymea, Miranda and Caringbah all receiving island platforms. The new section was opened on 15 July 1985. In the 2000s, the remaining single track sections were duplicated. These opened on 19 April 2010.

Eastern Suburbs Railway

thumb|left|The original railway network for the Sydney CBD planned by John Bradfield. The Eastern Suburbs line is drawn in blue.

In 1916, a plan for the city railways, and an Eastern Suburbs extension was drawn up by the Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Railway Construction, John Bradfield. It was given subsequent approval by Parliament. Bradfield's plan entailed building a City Circle loop, with an extension through to the Eastern Suburbs by means of a viaduct over Woolloomooloo. The line was to extend to Rosebery and Waterloo, with ten stations, linking with the Illawarra Line near Erskineville station.

Upon the passing of the City and Suburban Electric Railways (Amendment) Act in 1947, construction finally commenced on a variation of the Bradfield's proposal. Two lines would be built: one proceeding on a viaduct out to Kings Cross, then eventually to Bondi Beach. Another line would head from St James via Taylor Square and the Sydney Cricket Ground, extending to Kingsford, with a proposal to extend from Taylor Square to Coogee. Construction commenced on sites around Central station but ceased in 1952 due to a recession. and the expansion of concourse areas at Bondi Junction and Martin Place stations did not proceed.

Bondi Junction had originally been intended only as an intermediate turnback station before the extension to Kingsford was abandoned. As part of the Rail Clearways Program, the $77 million Bondi Junction Turnback project saw a new rail crossover was built between the single-track tunnels, enabling 20 trains an hour, up from 14, to use the station. The work was completed in time for the introduction of a new timetable on 28 May 2006.

Operation

thumb|right|300px|Route diagram of T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line

Rolling stock

New South Wales T set 8-car EMUs
New South Wales H set 4/8-car EMUs

File:2020-04-08 Tanraga train T45 at Heathcote railway station, Sydney (cropped).jpg|Tangara T sets

File:H49 (45785868011).jpg|Oscar H sets

</gallery>

Trains

left|thumb|A steam service stands at [[Hurstville railway station|Hurstville c. 1910. This was typical of the services on the line before the introduction of electric services.]]

In addition to Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line trains, the Illawarra railway line carries interurban and freight traffic. The Cronulla branch line and the Eastern Suburbs Railway are exclusively used by passenger trains.

Historically, passenger services were provided to the Sydney Central by steam locomotives. The first services to Hurstville were run by steam locomotives of the Q.158 and R.285 classes. When the City Underground opened to St James in 1926, a new electric service was provided to run there. From the time when the line to the Royal National Park was electrified, passengers received a steam train service at first, then when this became expensive, it was replaced by a rail motor service. This arrangement continued until the line was electrified to Waterfall, and the Eastern Suburbs Line was opened. Trains typically operate with 12 services per hour in peak, six services per hour in off-peak, and four to six services per hour on weekends and public holidays.

Map

Stations

The line currently has 33 operating stations. Only three stations or platforms have closed, the two stations on the Royal National Park Branch (the main station, which closed in 1991, and the platform for the Scout's Camp, which closed in 1947), and the station on the Woronora Cemetery branch, which also closed in 1947.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" id="toc"

!Name

!Distance from Central (km)

!Opened

|Sydney, Darling Harbour

|Central (underground)

|1979

|Central, Strawberry Hills Ultimo, Surry Hills, Haymarket

|Redfern (underground)

|1.32

|1980

|Illawarra Relief

|Redfern, Waterloo, Darlington The University of Sydney

|Sydenham

|5.30

|1884

| rowspan=16|Illawarra

|Sydenham, Marrickville, St Peters

|Tempe

|6.84

|1884

|Tempe, Undercliffe (Earlwood)

|Wolli Creek

|7.30

|2000

|Wolli Creek, Arncliffe

|Arncliffe

|8.42

|1884

|Arncliffe

| rowspan=13|

|Banksia

|9.60

|1906

|Banksia, Arncliffe, Rockdale

|Rockdale

|10.41

|1884

|Rockdale, Bexley

|Kogarah

|11.61

|1884

|Kogarah, Bexley

|Carlton

|12.74

|1887

|Carlton, Bexley

|Allawah

|13.69

|1925

|Allawah

|Hurstville

|14.84

|1884

|Hurstville, Hurstville South

|Penshurst

|16.12

|1886

|Penshurst

|Mortdale

|17.06

|1897

|Mortdale

|Oatley

|18.28

|1886

|Oatley

|Como

|21.24

|1885

|Como, Como West

|Jannali

|22.22

|1931

|Jannali

|Sutherland

|24.46

|1885

|Sutherland

!colspan=6 style=background:#|Sutherland – Waterfall

|Loftus

|26.29

|1886

|rowspan=4|Illawarra

|Loftus, Yarrawarrah

| rowspan=4|

|Engadine

|30.75

|1920

|Engadine, Woronora Heights

|Heathcote

|33.15

|1886

|Heathcote

|Waterfall

|38.74

|1886

|Waterfall

!colspan=6 style=background:#|Sutherland – Cronulla

|Kirrawee

|26.64

|1939

| rowspan=6|Cronulla

|Kirrawee

| rowspan=6|

|Gymea

|27.94

|1939

|Gymea

|Miranda

|29.51

|1939

|Miranda

|Caringbah

|31.51

|1939

|Caringbah

|Woolooware

|33.60

|1939

|Woolooware

|Cronulla

|34.81

|1939

|Cronulla

Stopping patterns

The stopping patterns on the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line have generally been determined by several different termini. The steam era saw these termini change quite frequently as more terminating facilities were constructed: the first trains on the line after the Waterfall extension in 1887 either ran to Hurstville (16 per day), Sutherland (two per day) and Waterfall (two per day), with all trains stopping at every intermediate station. By 1907, however, Como and Oatley had been added to the list of termini, with nine and seven trains per day respectively. Seven trains per day at this time also ran to Sutherland, and one to Waterfall. Most trains terminated at Hurstville. In the 2019–2020 financial year, this figure was 95.2%.

Planning experts recognised a need to expand capacity on the Eastern Suburbs Line. In 2002, former CityRail chairman Ron Christie released a report, the "Long-term strategic plan for rail", which outlined the critical infrastructure that would need to be built between then and 2050 to ensure the long-term survival and operation of the CityRail network. The report highlighted the problems facing the network at that time and noted that capacity on Illawarra Line trains was often at 120%, and that 180% was not unexpected. Christie said that by 2011 there would be no capacity on the Eastern Suburbs Line for trains coming from the Illawarra Line. To address this, the NSW Government constructed the Bondi Junction Turnback, which enables an additional six trains per hour to terminate at the station. To take advantage of the new infrastructure, a new timetable was introduced in May 2006 which reduced the overcrowding.

A second project, the full duplication of the Cronulla branch line, was completed in 2010. This increases the capacity of the branch line from four to eight trains per hour. The line between Oatley, Sutherland and Cronulla also received signalling upgrades to allow more services to run at shorter intervals. A new timetable with extra services was introduced on 10 October 2010.

It was proposed in the 2007 NSW State Plan that by 2017, the line capacity between Hurstville and Sutherland will be amplified to allow extra services to and from Cronulla, as well as for services accessing the Mortdale Maintenance Centre. The 2010 Metropolitan Transport Plan made no mention of the project. As of 2021, this project had not taken place but in August 2020, the New South Wales Government had announced an alternative project, the installation of a new rail crossover at Hurstville that would enable 20% more services in peak hour. The crossover project is planned to be completed by 2022.

Metro and light rail proposals

Over the years, there have been a number of proposals to replace/supplement all/part of the Illawarra line with metro/light rail services. None of these have eventuated, as of 2023.

Co-ordinator General of the state's rail industry Ron Christie's "Long-term strategic plan for rail" report issued in 2001, suggested that several "metro" lines be built to service new areas and to relieve capacity on existing lines. These included a metro line to supplement the Illawarra Line. The route would go from Cronulla to Miranda along the existing tracks, then along a reserved corridor for the F6 Southern Freeway up to Sydney Airport. The line would then extend to the Sydney CBD then to Sydney's Northern Beaches via Chatswood. Christie suggested that even if the entire line were not to be built, the first stage between Cronulla, the Airport and the City would provide "essential capacity relief" for the Illawarra line which would be "severely capacity-constrained" within two decades. Both heavy rail and light rail were mooted as alternatives.
Christie was not the only person to suggest the F6 Corridor as an alternative. In 2002, the then Minister for Transport Carl Scully officially abandoned the corridor, reserved since 1951 for the extension of the Southern Freeway north to St Peters, and suggested that light rail, bus-only roads or high-frequency train services could run on the corridor. He wished to encourage innovative public transport solutions in the area, while maintaining the green space available near Botany Bay. The plan received support from environmental groups, with environmental transport group EcoTransit proposing their own light rail line to supplement the Illawarra Line on the reservation, called the "Bay Light Express".
Since 2005, however, the future of an alternative corridor was in doubt, with the then State Treasurer Michael Costa announcing that the corridor would again be reserved for a motorway. By 2019, construction of the first stage of the M6 Motorway had been approved for part of the corridor, between Arncliffe and Kogarah.
In 2012, when the new Sydney Metro Northwest was announced, it was proposed that at a later date the line would be extended across Sydney Harbour and then split between and on the Illawarra line. However subsequent plans no longer mention the Illawarra Line.

References

Citations

Sources

; Books and articles

; Web sites

– information, pictures and data on the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line.

External links

Sydney Trains timetable – Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line timetable
Neety's Train Page: ESR/Illawarra Line: Names and Meanings – meanings of station names on the line, and photos of stations.
New South Wales Government State Plan
Public Transport Ticketing – includes pictures of the original tickets sold on the Eastern Suburbs Line in 1979.
Railpix Australia – Quality Rail images: The Illawarra Line

Alignment

Eastern Suburbs Line

Eastern Suburbs Railway

Operation

Rolling stock

Trains

Map

Stations

Stopping patterns

Metro and light rail proposals

See also

References

Citations

Sources

External links