Olympic Park railway line | |
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Overview | |
Owner | Transport Asset Holding Entity |
Locale | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Stations | 1 |
Service | |
Services | T7 Olympic Park Line |
Operator(s) | Sydney Trains |
History | |
Opened | 13 July 1911 (Abattoirs) |
Closed | 1995 |
Reopened | 8 March 1998 (Olympic Park) |
Technical | |
Track length | 7 km (4.3 mi) |
Number of tracks | 3 |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
Electrification | 1,500 V DC from overhead catenary [1] |
The Olympic Park railway line is a railway line linking the Sydney Olympic Park precinct to the Main Suburban railway line at Flemington and Lidcombe. Originally opened as the Abattoirs branch in 1911, it was rebuilt and reopened as the Olympic Park railway line in 1998. Passenger services have since been running on it as the Olympic Park Line (numbered T7, grey).
The line opened on 31 July 1911 as the Abattoirs branch off the Main Suburban railway line to the abattoirs and State Brickworks at Homebush Bay (now Sydney Olympic Park). [2] It branched off via a triangular junction behind Flemington Maintenance Depot making it accessible from the Metropolitan Goods line. [3]
Two bridges carried the line over the Great Western Highway. On 11 January 1915, the Metropolitan Meat Platforms opened. [4] Further platforms opened at Abattoirs in December 1926, Brickworks in December 1939 and Pippita in October 1940 to serve a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation factory. [5] [6] [7] Sidings on the line served Dairy Farmers and Ford. [3]
On 27 February 1968, the three kilometre Homebush Saleyards Yard opened to service new cattle and sheep pens built to replace facilities at Flemington just beyond the Great Western Highway crossing. The loop was electrified to allow 46 class locomotives to operate services from the Main Western and Main Northern lines to the saleyards. [2] [3]
Passenger services were operated by CPH railmotors operating from Sandown via Lidcombe until November 1984. On 9 November 1984, the line beyond the Homebush Saleyards closed. After this the line (now only going to Pippita) would be served by Single Deck Suburban "Red Rattlers". [8]
The Saleyards Loop closed on 22 June 1991. [3] Pippita continued to be served by a sole daily service to Central until 20 October 1995, operated in its later days by a V set. [2] Only traces of the line remain beyond Pippita. The Dairy Farmers siding is still connected to the present-day Up Homebush Bay West Fork track, complete with catch points and a shunt signal. [9] Remnants of the track can also be seen between the siding and the western bridge across the Great Western Highway. There is no trace of the line past here. [10]
As part of Sydney's successful bid to hold the 2000 Olympic Games, a new Sydney Olympic Park precinct was built. Included was a railway that traversed a similar route to the former Abattoirs branch. The line was built with a balloon loop and the two track, four platform Olympic Park station. The line utilised the existing eastern bridge over the Great Western Highway which had previously only carried one track, but was wide enough to accommodate the two laid. The new line opened on 8 March 1998. [3] [11] [12]
Today, the line continues to transport people to and from major events occurring within the Sydney Olympic Park precinct, but also carries workers and residents of Olympic Park to and from the rest of the Sydney Trains network.
Olympic Park Line | |||||||||||||||
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Overview | |||||||||||||||
Service type | Commuter rail | ||||||||||||||
First service | 8 March 1998 | ||||||||||||||
Current operator(s) | Sydney Trains | ||||||||||||||
Route | |||||||||||||||
Termini | Lidcombe Olympic Park | ||||||||||||||
Average journey time | 6 minutes | ||||||||||||||
Line(s) used | Olympic Park railway line | ||||||||||||||
Technical | |||||||||||||||
Rolling stock | Lidcombe shuttle: M sets (weekdays), A sets (weekends and public holidays) Special events: A, B, T sets | ||||||||||||||
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Outside of special events, trains on the Olympic Park Line (T7) depart from a special platform at Lidcombe (platform 0, previously referred to as the Olympic Park Sprint Platform). Services operate with a frequency of one train every 10 minutes in each direction, dropping to 20 minutes at night. [13] The trip between Lidcombe and Olympic Park takes about five minutes each way. As of Friday 23 October 2020, 4-car M sets are scheduled for these trips on weekdays, while 8-car A sets are scheduled on weekends and public holidays. K sets were rostered until then, and until the S sets were retired, they were also rostered.
During major events at Sydney Olympic Park, train services run direct from the intercity platforms of Central, also sometimes stopping at Redfern and Strathfield. The Lidcombe shuttle trains are also built up to 8 cars. After larger events, west-bound trains from Olympic Park are sometimes extended beyond Lidcombe to Blacktown via the Western line, and to Glenfield and Campbelltown via the Main South line, using platforms 2 and 4 at Lidcombe instead. These services are normally run by 8-car A, B or T sets.
T7 route diagram | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending 30 June 2022. Because these figures are based on Opal tap on and tap off data, passengers are not counted when travelling to major events where the event ticket also allows travel on public transport services.
41,980,000 | |
23,077,000 | |
11,198,000 | |
27,775,000 | |
3,503,000 | |
605,000 | |
16,879,000 | |
10,415,000 |
In 2022, funding was made available for the planning of a proposed 2-km-long rail trail—a shared cycling and walking path—following the partially-disused Abbatoirs branch rail corridor between Lidcombe station and Sydney Olympic Park. It will reuse two now disused rail bridges to cross Parramatta Road and the M4. It will run generally parallel to the Olympic Park railway line over much of its route. The objective of the rail trail is to provide a safe active transport route into Olympic Park, expanding the existing cycling and walking options available there. [15] [16]
Homebush Bay is a bay on the south bank of the Parramatta River, in the west of Sydney, Australia. The name is also sometimes used to refer to an area to the west and south of the bay itself, which was formerly an official suburb of Sydney, and has now become the suburbs of Sydney Olympic Park, Wentworth Point and part of the neighbouring suburb of Lidcombe, all part of the City of Parramatta. Homebush Bay is located 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) west of the Sydney central business district.
Homebush railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Suburban line in Homebush in the Municipality of Strathfield local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed and built by the New South Wales Government Railways and opened on 26 September 1855. In addition to being located on the Main Suburban line, the station is also located on the Main South and Main Western railway lines. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Olympic Park railway station is located on the Olympic Park line, serving the Sydney suburb of Sydney Olympic Park. It is served by Sydney Trains T7 Olympic Park Line services. The station is also frequently used to terminate trains from other lines during periods of trackwork.
Strathfield railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Suburban line in the Sydney suburb of Strathfield in the Municipality of Strathfield local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The station is served by Sydney Trains T1 North Shore & Western Line, T9 Northern Line and T2 Inner West & Leppington Line suburban services as well as NSW TrainLink Intercity and regional services. The station is located on the Main Northern and Main Western railway lines, forming a major junction for regional and suburban rail services. The station and associated infrastructure was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
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.
Lidcombe railway station is located on the Main Suburban line, serving the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe. It is served by Sydney Trains T1 Western, T2 Inner West & Leppington, T3 Bankstown and T7 Olympic line services.
Berala railway station is located on the Main Southern line, serving the Sydney suburb of Berala. It is served by Sydney Trains T3 Bankstown line services.
Flemington railway station is located on the Main Suburban line, serving the Sydney suburb of Flemington. It is served by Sydney Trains T2 Inner West & Leppington line services. Due to the naming dispute of the suburb and the importance of the neighbouring Sydney Markets, the station has been proposed to be renamed as Sydney Markets railway station.
Flemington, officially gazetted as "Homebush West" since 1992, is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Flemington is located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield, with a small unpopulated area in Cumberland Council.
North Strathfield railway station is located on the Main Northern line, serving the Sydney suburbs of North Strathfield, North Homebush and Concord West. It is served by Sydney Trains T9 Northern Line services.
Regents Park railway station is located on the Main Southern line, serving the Sydney suburb of Regents Park. The station is heritage-listed in the state heritage register for New South Wales. It is served by Sydney Trains T3 Bankstown line services.
Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially named Sydney Olympic Park. The area was part of the suburb of Lidcombe and known as "North Lidcombe", but between 1989 and 2009 was named "Homebush Bay". The names "Homebush Bay" and, sometimes, "Homebush" are still used colloquially as a metonym for Stadium Australia as well as the Olympic Park precinct as a whole, but Homebush is an older, separate suburb to the southeast, in the Municipality of Strathfield.
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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.
The Sandown Line is a short former industrial railway line in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It began life as the Bennett's Railway, opening on 17 November 1888. The line diverges from the Carlingford line just south of Camellia station.
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The Ropes Creek Line is a closed railway line in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia.
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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.
Pippita railway station was a railway station on the former Abattoirs line in Sydney, New South Wales. The station opened on 4 October 1940 and closed on 20 October 1995. The Olympic Park line, which extends over the former Abattoirs branch, connects to the network on the Main South line at the site of the former station.