Central railway station


 * For other uses of Central see: Central (disambiguation)

Central Railway Station (also known as Sydney Terminal) is located at the southern end of the Sydney CBD and is the largest railway station in Australia. It services almost all of the lines on the Sydney Trains network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services. It houses the operations of The Rail Corporation New South Wales. It sits beside Railway Square and is officially located in Haymarket. It is also the station closest to the University of Technology Sydney at Broadway.

History
Sydney’s Central station has changed three times since 1855. On this year the first terminal station was built in an area known as ‘Cleveland Paddock’, located between Devonshire and Cleveland Streets. The station consisted of a single 30m wooden platform in a corrugated iron shed. Despite the construction of additional railway sheds and yards, by the early 1870s the station was not able meet the needs of the expanding railway network.

The second Central station opened 1874 on the same site as the first. It featured a new brick station building and space for future expansion. Almost immediately additional platforms and branch lines were added due to rapidly increasing demand. By the 1890s a combination of congestion and a proposed duplication of the Main Western Railway resulted in plans for a new location to go ahead.

In 1901, work began on the current Central Railway Station, with major construction occurring between 1902 and 1906. The new station was a block north of previous installations, closer to the city. This required exhumations, excavations, and demolition of buildings on the site. By 1903 general earthworks were completed and work on subways and the clock tower began.

The station officially opened on August 4th 1906. All underground cargo and pedestrian subways were ready, however the main building was not completed at that time, reaching only the first floor.

Starting in 2017, Central station started ungoing changes to prepare for the opening of Sydney Metro City and Southwest, currently planned for 2024. The first major work was to build a large road bridge from Regent St to the large space between Sydney Yard and the flying junctions. This was to replace the hi-rail vehicle access from Eddy Avenue to platform 15. Platforms 13-15 were closed next, to build the new Sydney Metro platforms underneath them using the cut-and-cover method. Platforms 13-15 will be rebuilt once the metro platforms are complete.

Fatalities
On December 24th 1947 a 64-year-old man died in Sydney Hospital after being struck by an incoming train on platform 18 in Central station. The man was allegedly looking for his spectacles at the time of the collision.

On August 10th 2016 a 91-year-old woman sustained head and back injuries from falling down the stairs of a V Set during a shunting operation. The woman died 15 days after the incident in hospital. 

Intercity and Country platforms
In the days of steam, the station was regarded as being divided into "steam" and "electric" parts. The western ("steam") half, known as Sydney Terminal/Yard, comprises 15 terminal platforms and was opened in 1906. This section is served by the Grand Concourse, located to the north of the platforms, dominated by a large vaulted roof and elaborate masonry, primarily sandstone, the most common rock in the Sydney region. This section is popularly known as the country platforms, even though only three platforms are commonly used for long-distance trains: most of the platforms are used for NSW TrainLink intercity services. South of the station, there is a complex series of junctions allowing trains from all 15 platforms to merge into the Main Suburban line.

Trains arriving on this side of the station are marked in the timetable with an i next to the arrival/departure time.

To the west of Platform 1 there was a siding leading to two dock platforms for use of mail trains, now cut back to serve a car loading ramp for the Indian Pacific. The space where the mail sidings were is now a youth hostel. The hostel rooms are modelled on old train carriages.

Suburban Platforms
The eastern ("suburban" or "electric") part of Central Station, formerly known as 'Central Electric', consists of 12 through platforms, all aligned north-south, four of which are underground, used by Sydney Trains services and by a limited number of intercity services during peak hours. The eight above-ground platforms were opened in 1926 as part of a large electrification and modernisation program aimed at improving Sydney's suburban railway services. South of the station is a set of flying junctions, allowing trains from various lines to cross over to other lines without too much disruption. This section is the busiest part of the station, and so is served by five pedestrain tunnels underneath the platforms and two concourses (named the North Concourse and South Concourse).

The four underground platforms (24-27) were built as part of the Eastern Suburbs Railway. Construction commenced in 1948 but the Eastern Suburbs line was not finished until 1979. The T4 Eastern Suburbs line uses platforms 24-25.

Abandoned Platforms
Located directly over platforms 24 and 25 are platforms 26 and 27, which are abandoned. They were built in the 1970s over an old cemetery and were intended to service the proposed Southern Suburbs line, but were never used. The platforms are labelled by many as "ghost platforms", as Sydney Trains officials have allegedly heard voices echoing along the walls.

Touring around the platforms are occasionally offered by Sydney Open, featuring presenters from the Australian Railway Historical Society and Sydney Trains staff. 

Services
Central Station serves all suburban and intercity lines except for the T5 Cumberland line and the Hunter line. All long-distance rural and interstate passenger trains operated by the State-owned NSW TrainLink and the famous Indian Pacific, the twice-weekly train between Sydney and Perth, Western Australia, terminate at Central.

The station is served by twenty-seven to thirty-eight trains per hour in each direction, with additional trains during weekday peak hours.

Platforms
The platforms are numbered from 1 to 27, with 1 being the westernmost platform and 27 being one of the easternmost. The services which generally use each platform are listed below.

Platforms 4-12 are occasionally used to terminate some suburban services if the City Circle is affected by trackwork. This happens under most circumstances for T1 Western Line and T9 Northern Line services to Penrith and Hornsby. T2 Inner West and Leppington Line trains also occasionally use these platforms in some City Circle trackwork periods.