City Circle

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City Circle
Tangara T Car Set.jpg
A Tangara at Circular Quay (in July 2013), the halfway point of the City Circle.
Overview
Owner Transport Asset Holding Entity
Termini Central
Stations6
Service
Services T2 Inner West & Leppington Line
T3 Bankstown Line
T8 Airport & South Line
Operator(s) Sydney Trains
History
Opened20 December 1926 (1926-12-20) (first segment)
22 January 1956 (1956-01-22) (entire loop)
Technical
Line length6 km (3.7 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Bradfield Scheme Sydney CBD Railways alt.png
Sydney CBD Railways built.png
The original railway network for the Sydney CBD planned by John Bradfield, (left) and the network as it is today. The City Circle was built as planned and the Eastern Suburbs railway was built to a different alignment, though the Northern Beaches and Southern Suburbs line was never built.

The City Circle is a mostly-underground railway line located in the Sydney central business district and Haymarket, in New South Wales, Australia, that forms the core of Sydney's passenger rail network. The lines are owned by the Transport Asset Holding Entity, a State government agency, and operated under Transport for NSW's Sydney Trains brand. Despite its name, the City Circle is of a horseshoe shape, with trains operating in a U-shaped pattern. The constituent stations of the Circle are (clockwise): Central, Town Hall, Wynyard, Circular Quay, St James, Museum and back to Central.

Contents

History and description

The original concept for the City Railway was part of a report dated 1915 submitted to the government by chief railway engineer, John Bradfield, upon his return from overseas study, [1] with work commencing the following year. His concepts were largely based on the New York City Subway, which he observed during his time in New York City. [2] [3]

Built in stages, the first City Circle stations to open were the heritage-listed [4] Museum and St James, which both opened in 1926 as part of the initial electrification of Sydney railways. Next was the "western limb" through Town Hall and Wynyard, which opened in 1932 in conjunction with the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This section contains four tunnels. Two connected to the Harbour Bridge, while the two City Circle tunnels terminated at Wynyard. In 1956, the dead ends at St. James and Wynyard were joined and the "missing link", Circular Quay – was opened. Central and Circular Quay stations are above-ground (Circular Quay is elevated, directly underneath the Cahill Expressway), while the remainder are underground. Several unused railway tunnels also exist. The former tram tunnels at Wynyard, and other stub tunnels at St James are well known.

The City Circle is double track throughout, although it forms four tracks at Central as there are two ends of the same track. The outer track is known as the "City Outer" and is used by trains travelling clockwise around the City Circle. In the direction of travel it passes through Central platform 17, Town Hall platform 6, Wynyard platform 6, Circular Quay platform 2, St James platform 2, Museum platform 2. Trains can then either proceed to Central platform 22 or 23, depending on which line they are running on. Similarly, the inner track is known as the "City Inner" and is used by trains travelling anti-clockwise. It starts from Central platform 20 or 21, again depending on which line a train is coming from. It then passes through Museum platform 1, St James platform 1, Circular Quay platform 1, Wynyard platform 5, Town Hall platform 1 then Central platform 19.

Services and operations

The current service patterns generally consist of trains from the Bankstown Line and the Inner West & Leppington Line operating via the City Circle Outer. Trains from the Airport & South Line generally operate via the City Circle Inner. Some Bankstown line trains also operate via the City Circle Inner on weekdays, especially during peak hours. A set of flying junctions at Central enable this pattern to be varied.

Prior to the integration of the Eastern Suburbs line into the Illawarra Line in 1980, Illawarra line trains also operated around the City Circle.

Trains on the Western and Northern lines usually do not proceed around the City Circle but instead, proceed across the Harbour Bridge to the North Shore line and vice versa.

Speed control and reduced overlap

For more information about signalling, see Australian railway signalling
Up until the City Circle Resignalling of the 1990s, the western stations of the line were signalling such that a following train could enter the platform while the previous train was still departing. The signal granting access to the platform would show a restrictive aspect (probably calling-on - red over red over small amber - which indicates that the train can proceed but the block is not necessarily clear) and train stops spread along the platform would control the speed of the following train. This allowed these stations to deal with 42 trains per hour in either direction provided sub 40 second dwell times. The 1990s resignalling changed the older eastern stations to follow a similar operation. At some point the system was changed again to provide additional safety. Signals on the City Circle can no longer display a calling-on aspect, but can display low-speed (red over red over small green - which means that the block is clear but to proceed slowly, not exceeding 25 kilometres per hour (16 mph)). Consequently, trains can no longer enter the platform while a previous train is departing and the system cannot handle more than 20 trains per hour.

Original 1932 operation of speed controlled trips on the City Circle. Sydney Trains Trip Dropping Example.gif
Original 1932 operation of speed controlled trips on the City Circle.

Stations

The line has six stations.

NameCodeDistance from
Central (km)		OpenedNotes
km mi
Central CEN0028 February 1855 [5] [6] [7]
Town Hall THL1.210.7528 February 1932 [6]
Wynyard WYD2.051.2728 February 1932 [8]
Circular Quay CQY2.971.8522 January 1956 [9]
St James SAJ4.42.720 December 1926 [10] [11]
Museum MSM4.993.1020 December 1926 [11] [12] [4]
After Museum , the line loops back to Central

See also

Related Research Articles

Circular Quay railway station Railway station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Circular Quay railway station is a heritage-listed elevated commuter rail station that is located on the City Circle route, serving the Circular Quay precinct of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. It is served by Sydney Trains T2 Inner West & Leppington, T3 Bankstown and T8 Airport & South line services.

Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line Rail service in Sydney, New South Wales,Australia

The Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line is a commuter railway line in the eastern and southern suburbs of Sydney and is a part of the Sydney Trains network. 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.

Wynyard railway station, Sydney Heritage-listed railway station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Wynyard railway station is a heritage-listed underground commuter rail station located in the north-west precinct of the Sydney central business district, in New South Wales, Australia. The station opened on 28 February 1932 to coincide with the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

St James railway station, Sydney Heritage-listed railway station in Sydney, New South Wales,Australia

St James railway station is a heritage-listed underground commuter rail station that is located on the City Circle, at the northern end of Hyde Park in the Sydney central business district of New South Wales, Australia. It is served by Sydney Trains T2 Inner West & Leppington, T3 Bankstown & T8 Airport & South line services. It is named after the nearby St James' Church and provides a direct link to the Sydney Airport international and domestic railway stations. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

Museum railway station Railway station in Sydney, Australia

Museum railway station is a heritage-listed underground commuter rail station that is located on the City Circle route at the southern end of Hyde Park in the Sydney central business district of New South Wales, Australia. The station is served by Sydney Trains T2 Inner West & Leppington and T3 Bankstown T8 Airport & South lines. The station is named after the nearby Australian Museum. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

Bondi Junction railway station Railway station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Bondi Junction railway station is located on the Eastern Suburbs line, serving the Sydney suburb of Bondi Junction. It is served by Sydney Trains T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line services and NSW TrainLink South Coast Line services.

Eastern Suburbs railway line Railway line in Sydney, New South Wales

The Eastern Suburbs Railway is a commuter railway line in Sydney constructed in the 1970s. It is operated by Sydney Trains and has stations at Martin Place, Kings Cross, Edgecliff and Bondi Junction. In addition, it has dedicated platforms at Town Hall, Central and Redfern stations. All of these stations are underground. The Eastern Suburbs railway connects with the Illawarra line at Erskineville, forming the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line. The line features turnbacks at Central, Martin Place and Bondi Junction. There is also a rarely used cross-over or 'turnout' at Edgecliff. It operates a service every 3 to 5 minutes during weekday peak hours and 8 to 10 minutes at all other times.

South Coast railway line, New South Wales Railway line in New South Wales, Australia

The South Coast railway line is a commuter and goods railway line in New South Wales, Australia. Beginning at the Illawarra Junction, the line primarily services the Illawarra and South Coast regions of New South Wales, and connects Sydney and Bomaderry through Wollongong and Kiama.

Bankstown Line Commuter rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

The Bankstown Line is a commuter rail line operated by Sydney Trains in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It serves Canterbury-Bankstown and parts of the Inner West and Western Sydney. The Bankstown railway line is the physical railway line which carries the section of the Bankstown Line between Sydenham and Birrong.

Oak Flats railway station Railway station in New South Wales, Australia

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Albion Park railway station Railway station in New South Wales, Australia

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Dapto railway station Railway station in New South Wales, Australia

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Unanderra railway station Railway station in New South Wales, Australia

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Railways in Sydney

Sydney, the largest city in Australia, has an extensive network of passenger and freight railways. The passenger system includes an extensive suburban railway network, operated by Sydney Trains, a metro network and a light rail network. A dedicated freight network also exists. Future expansion of the light rail network includes the Parramatta Light Rail. Existing light rail services are the Inner West Light Rail and the CBD & South East Light Rail.

Illawarra Junction

The Illawarra Junction is a major railway junction located near the Eveleigh Railway Workshops, in the inner western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This complex junction joins a number of different lines and yards. There are two pairs of tracks from the Illawarra railway line from the south and three pairs of tracks from the Main Suburban railway line from the west.

Various railway lines have been proposed for Sydney, Australia, including both heavy rail extensions to the existing network, and more recently proposals for metro style lines–one of which was completed in 2019.

Inner West & Leppington Line

The Inner West & Leppington Line is a commuter rail service currently operated by Sydney Trains, serving the inner west and south-western regions of Sydney, Australia. Consisting of 37 stops, the service commences from the City Circle, then heads west to Granville. The line branches at this point; services either head northwest to Parramatta or south to Leppington. A third terminus at Homebush is used when the part-time Parramatta branch isn't operating. The line commenced operations on 26 November 2017, replacing the T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line.

Bankstown railway line Railway line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

The Bankstown railway line is a railway line serving the Canterbury-Bankstown and Inner West regions of Sydney between the stations of Sydenham and Lidcombe.

Sydney Metro City & Southwest Rapid transit project

Sydney Metro City & Southwest is a 30 km (19 mi) rapid transit project currently under-construction in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The project will extend the Metro North West Line from Chatswood on the North Shore, to Bankstown in the city's south-west via the Sydney central business district. The centrepiece of the project is a new 15.5 km (9.6 mi) twin-tunnel rail crossing under Sydney Harbour and through the city to Sydenham. Together with planned improvements to the Main Western line, the project is expected to increase capacity on the Sydney rail network by up to 60%, and allow for the movement of over 100,000 extra commuters across the network every hour.

References

  1. ↑ Wylie, R. F. (June 1971). "50 Years – A Long Time". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin : 140–143.
  2. ↑ "Housing can deliver John Bradfield's vision". The Daily Telegraph . 4 November 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "A once-visionary rail plan for Sydney lost in time". The Daily Telegraph . 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Museum railway station". New South Wales State Heritage Register . Office of Environment & Heritage.
  5. ↑ Bozier, Rolfe, "New South Wales Railways: NSW Station Codes" . Retrieved 19 June 2002.
  6. 1 2 Forsyth, J. H., ed. (1988–1993). "Main Suburban & Branches – Illawarra & Branches". Stations & Tracks. Sydney: State Rail Authority of New South Wales. 1: 42–44. The Eastern Suburbs Railway platforms for Town Hall and Central stations opened 23 June 1979.
  7. ↑ Forsyth, J. H., ed. (1988–1993). "Main Suburban & Branches – Illawarra & Branches". Stations & Tracks. Sydney: State Rail Authority of New South Wales. 1: 42–44, 101–128, 206–208, passim, except where noted.
  8. ↑ Wynyard Station NSWrail.net
  9. ↑ Circular Quay Station NSWrail.net
  10. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald 21 December 1926 pp. 11-12
  11. 1 2 "60 Years Ago". Railway Digest : 398. December 1986.
  12. ↑ Museum Station NSWrail.net
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