Town Hall railway station

Town Hall railway station is the second-busiest railway station on the Sydney Trains network (after Central station), located in Sydney, Australia. Located underground, it is situated in the Sydney central business district, under the street in front of the Sydney Town Hall, which the station is named after, about 1.2 km north of Central.

History
The station is built on the site of Sydney's earliest colonial cemetery. In 2008, part of this cemetery was being excavated from under the Town Hall.

The station opened on 28 February 1932. It was built with six platforms, which were split over two levels with three platforms on each level. When the station opened, only four of the platforms were in use: platforms 1, 2 and 3 on the upper level and platform 6, served by escalators, on the lower level. The other two platforms were built in preparation for a proposed western suburbs line from the city to Gladesville, as envisaged under the Bradfield scheme. This line was never built, and the platforms (4 and 5) remained disused until they were taken over for use for the Eastern Suburbs line when it was constructed in the 1970s.

The station concourse had a major restructure in 2005 when the shops inside were closed to make way for the increasing crowds.

In April 2006, Transport Minister John Watkins announced plans for a $2 million inquiry into concept designs for upgrading the station. The station requires upgrading due to a large number of people using the station per day (70,000), and needs congestion relief to cater for an expected 2% yearly increase in commuters using the station. Clyde Livingstone, a former Mayor of Burwood Council has been the Station Master since 1982.

On 23rd August 2019, a Tangara set, T50, was stopped on platform 3 due to a loose roof hatch on driving trailer car D6223. The hatch was dangerously close to overhead wiring, so power had to be isolated for the hatch to be removed. This resulted in an entire service day of delays and cancellations, with replacement buses being unable to handle the demand. It is likely that T50 may have hit an external object prior to entering the City tunnels, as scratches were detected on the affected hatch.

Station Configuration
Town Hall has two levels, each with three platforms - physically two island platforms, but set up so that one faces two tracks and the other faces the other track. The station has stairs, escalators and lifts connecting the concourse with the platforms, providing access for wheelchairs. These facilities were constructed during 2003-2004. Stairs connect the concourse with platforms 1-3, while platforms 4-6 are connected via escalators. The western side of the platform area (platforms 3/5/6) are served by one lift, and the eastern side (platforms 1/2/4) are accessed by the other. The station's configuration means that easy cross-platform transfer is available for some services.

The station is an easy walk to the Galeries Victoria and World Square shopping centres, with walkways linking directly to the station. It is also linked to other shopping centres such as the Queen Victoria Building, Town Hall Square and the Pavilion Plaza. Other popular City destinations within access of the station include Darling Harbour and the Chinatown precinct. The Sydney CBD's flagship Woolworths supermarket is also linked with the station concourse.

Some gatelines at Town Hall are fitted with the new, taller gates. To manage passenger flow around the station during peak times, sometimes all gates at one gateline will be set to the same direction.

Platforms and Services
The station is served by eighteen to twenty-four trains per hour in each direction, with additional trains during weekday peak hours.