The T9 Northern Line is a suburban rail service operated by Sydney Trains, serving the Northern and parts of the Inner West suburbs of Sydney.

Since 2019, the line has been numbered T9 and is coloured red on maps and wayfinding information.

History

thumb|left|200px|Diagram of the Northern Line prior to 2009

Original incarnation (until 2013)

The traditional Northern Line was the suburban portion of the Main North railway line (Strathfield to Hornsby) which opened in 1886 and was electrified in 1926. When the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened, it connected railway services from the Main North line and the City underground onto the North Shore line.

Passenger services used to operate as the Main North Line (same name as the physical railway line) and was colour coded red on railway maps. It operated all the way to Cowan, until the service was truncated to Berowra in January 1992. The service, along with the North Shore Line service (yellow), later also ran along the North Shore railway line towards the City via the Harbour Bridge, forming a continuous loop via Strathfield, Epping and back to Hornsby.

thumb|200px|left|Diagram of the Northern Line between 2009 and 2013. The line is marked in red.

By 2006, the Northern Line was shown as running between Hornsby and North Sydney on network maps, no longer continuing up the North Shore. However, the majority of services actually continued past North Sydney as before. In October 2009, the Northern Line was changed to serve the newly opened Epping to Chatswood Rail Link (ECRL). The line was changed to operate in a spiral shape, starting from Hornsby, entering the ECRL at Epping, emerging at Chatswood and returning to Epping via the City and Strathfield.

Part of T1 (2013 to 2019)

In October 2013, the Northern Line, North Shore Line and Western line were merged to form the T1 North Shore, Northern & Western Line, which was colour coded yellow.

On weekdays, trains from the upper Northern Line (Hornsby via Macquarie University) joined up with the Western Line trains towards Richmond or Emu Plains, while trains from the lower Northern Line (Epping via Strathfield) joined up with the North Shore Line trains towards Hornsby or Berowra. On weekends, trains ran similar to prior to merger, where the lower Northern Line trains from Epping continue onto the upper Northern Line trains at Chatswood into Hornsby via Macquarie University.

In September 2018, the Epping to Chatswood line closed in order to be converted to metro standards as part of the Sydney Metro Northwest project. As a result, the service pattern in the 2006 timetable from Hornsby to Central via Strathfield was reinstated.

Reincarnation (since 2019)

thumb|300px|Diagram of the T9 Northern Line post-2019.

On 28 April 2019, as part of the integration with the Sydney Metro Northwest, the Northern Line branch was spin-off from the T1 Line and became a separate T9 Northern Line, though using the same rolling stock. The new line runs from Hornsby to Gordon via Strathfield (and vice-versa). The separated line runs a similar route to the pre-2009 incarnation of the line. It is also similarly colour-coded red.

Route

The line begins at Hornsby – a junction station with the North Shore Line. The line heads south to Strathfield via Epping using the Main North Line, crossing the Parramatta River between Rhodes and Meadowbank. At Strathfield, trains usually head onto a flyover over the 'Main lines', before heading east onto the Main Suburban Railway, usually using the middle 'Suburban' pair of the six tracks between Redfern and Strathfield. Trains pass through Redfern and Central, then through the western limb of the City Circle before heading across the Harbour Bridge. Trains then head north along the North Shore towards Gordon, where they usually terminate. Some services continue as T1 North Shore line trains (to Hornsby or Berowra).

For off-peak and weekend services, the T9 generally runs from Hornsby to Gordon via Epping, Strathfield and the North Shore. However, the route is split into two distinct stopping patterns during the morning and afternoon peak:

Anti-clockwise direction:

  • All stations from Hornsby to Epping, then Eastwood, West Ryde, Meadowbank, Rhodes, Strathfield, Burwood and then finally terminating at Central (Grand Concourse).
  • All stations from Epping to Strathfield, then Redfern, Central, then all stations to Gordon, then all stations to Hornsby or Berowra (continuing as T1 North Shore line).

Clockwise direction:

  • All stations from Gordon to Redfern, then Strathfield, and then all stations to Epping.
  • Central (Grand Concourse), then Burwood, Strathfield, Rhodes, Meadowbank, West Ryde, Eastwood, Epping, and then all stations to Hornsby.

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