Sydney Trains

Background

Locale

Sydney Metropolitan Area

Transit type

Commuter rail

Number of Lines

8

Stations

170

Areas served

Greater Sydney
Blue Mountains
Southern Highlands
Illawarra
South Coast
Central Coast
Newcastle
Hunter Valley

Operation

Began operation

26 September 1855
    (first section of railway)
17 October 1988
    (as part of CityRail)^[1]
1 July 2013
    (as Sydney Trains)

Operator(s)

Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW)

Rolling stock

Waratah A Set
Waratah B Set
K Set
Millennium M Set
Tangara T Set
Oscar H set
DDIU V set
N set Endeavour railcar
J set Hunter Railcar

website

www.transportnsw.info

Technical

Track gauge

1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

standard gauge

Sydney Trains is a passenger train operator with services extending across the Sydney Metropolitan area and in intercity regions up to 200km outside Sydney. The current operator is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for New South Wales, the statutory corporation owned by the Government of New South Wales and responsible for most elements of the transport network across the state. The Sydney Trains suburban network is electrified with 1500V DC supplied by overhead wire and operated entirely by double-deck electric multiple units. The intercity network is also electrified in most regions and operates mostly double deck electric multiple units, with the exception of single deck diesel multiple units in non-electrified intercity regions. Fares are charged through the Opal smartcard system.

Sydney Trains has a number of different responsibilities regarding the public transport system in metropolitan Sydney:

Control and maintenance of most intercity and suburban train lines, bounded by Newcastle Interchange, Bomaderry, Macarthur and Lithgow.
Operating trains and stations within the intercity network
Maintaining most intercity and suburban rolling stock.

History[]

Sydney Trains' origins go as far back as 3 July 1850, when construction of the first railway in the state started. It was opened in 1855 between Sydney and Granville, now a suburb of Sydney but then a major agricultural centre.

The government agency responsible for running the state's railways has been reorganised and renamed several times over the years. New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the first to operate trains back in 1855. CityRail was the previous operator before Sydney Trains.

In May 2012 the Minister for Transport, Gladys Berejiklian, (Who used to be the premier of NSW until 2021) announced a restructure of RailCorp.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] This resulted in all services in the Sydney Metropolitan area bounded by Berowra, Richmond, Emu Plains, Macarthur and Waterfall transferring suburban operations to Sydney Trains, and intercity, country and interstate operations to NSW TrainLink on 1 July 2013.^[6]

In April 2013 the new Sydney Trains logo was unveiled.^[7] Nicknamed The Hop, the new logo (which is used on all of Transport for NSW's branding) replaced the L7 logo that has been carried on Sydney's trains in various colours (red/orange under State Rail, and blue/yellow under CityRail) since introduced by the Public Transport Commission in the 1970s. With the formation of Sydney Trains, Howard Collins, formerly of the London Underground, was appointed as CEO from 2013 to 2019. Suzanne Holden is the new CEO as of June 2020.

From September 2018 to June 2019, 24 8-car sets of the new Series 2 Waratah B sets were rolled into service. A second batch will be delivered starting in 2020, expanding the B set fleet to 41 8-car sets. With the arrival of the next-generation interurban D sets, the H sets will be converted for suburban duties (similar to the G sets before them).

Due to the arrival of the second batch of B sets and the conversion of the H sets, K and C sets will likely be phased out of service in the 2020’s in order to provide better comfort for passengers on all suburban services.

In 2024, as part of a restructure of TfNSW, Sydney Trains took over the operation of intercity services from NSW TrainLink.

Transfer of network to other modes (Metro and Light Rail)[]

Sydney Trains ceased operations on the Epping to Chatswood Line at the end of September 2018, with the line operations being handed over to MTR Corporation (Northwest Rapid Transit) and the Sydney Metro automated rapid transit network, as part of the new Metro North West Line (previously North West Rail Link). The Metro North West Line commenced service on 26 May 2019, with 5 converted stations (Epping, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, North Ryde, Chatswood) and 8 newly built (Tallawong, Rouse Hill, Kellyville, Bella Vista, Norwest, Hills Showground, Castle Hill, Cherrybrook) stations.

Due to the City & Southwest extension of the Sydney Metro network, Sydney Trains will cease operations of the T3 Bankstown Line section connecting Sydenham to Bankstown by the end of 2023 and will be closed for 7-8 months in order to undergo conversion into a metro-only line. The converted line will then link through a new underground tunnel to a new metro station at Waterloo, then continue through to 6 stations, including 4 completely new stations, and will then connect to Chatswood and the Metro North West Line. Two stations currently serviced by the Bankstown Line; Erskineville and St Peters, are likely to be transferred to the T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line. Changes will also occur for services to the 9 stations (Yagoona, Birrong, Regents Park, Berala, Sefton, Chester Hill, Leightonfield, Villawood, Carramar) between Bankstown, Lidcombe and Cabramatta.

Sydney Trains also ceased operation of the Carlingford Line in early January 2020, in order to make way for the Parramatta Light Rail network, which will involve 5 stations (Carlingford, Telopea, Dundas, Rydalmere, Camellia) on the line being closed for 3 years to undergo light rail conversion and track duplication ahead of services commencing in 2023.

Sydney Suburban Services[]

Lines[]

Sydney Trains operates eight suburban services, plus a late night NightRide bus service across metropolitan Sydney that is contracted out to private bus companies. These services are arranged into sectors. Rolling-stock and depots are generally captive to one sector.

Line	Sector	Between
	3	Emu Plains or Richmond to Berowra and Hornsby via Chatswood
	2	City Circle to Homebush or Parramatta, or City Circle to Leppington via Granville
	2	City Circle to Liverpool or Lidcombe via Bankstown
	1	Bondi Junction to Waterfall or Cronulla via Hurstville and Sutherland
	2/3	Schofields or Richmond to Leppington
(closed)	2	Clyde and Carlingford
	2*	Lidcombe to Olympic Park (*During special events, some services continue onto other lines. These services can be assigned to any sector and any available train is used)
	2	City Circle to Macarthur via Sydenham (peak only), City Circle to Revesby or Macarthur via Airport
	3	Gordon to Hornsby via City and Epping

Passenger Information Displays[]

More detailed information: CityRail

Sydney Trains has LCD displays at most station displaying the stopping pattern of the next train and the destination of the next three. The displays are driven by computers running Google Chrome on Windows. These systems have largely remained the same since CityRail introduced them, with the following exceptions:

Line names were not displayed from 2013 as the system was not updated for the new line names.
The system was updated to use the new Sydney Trains fonts, colours and line numbers in 2015-16. A number of different styles were trialled around this time (including a two-line LED version, which was not kept). The new design had some flaws:
- The black on white colour scheme makes it hard to read from a distance
- The countdown timer for fast track platforms at Central and Town Hall was removed
- Only the next 2 trains are displayed, instead of the next 3
In 2019, the display system received minor upgrades:
- Train capacity information is now displayed when a Waratah train is operating the next service
- The system was reverted to displaying the next 3 trains
In late 2020, short platform information was added to the displays. There is a box next to stations with short platforms showing which cars to travel in.

The T6 Clyde to Carlingford line was beginning to come together all the way back to 1896, to allow commuters on the T9 Northern line to access the T2 inner west line. It was a short line, only stopping at seven stations (Clyde, Rosehill, Camellia, Rydalmere, Dundas, Telopea and Carlingford.). But on the fifth of January, 2020, the line was shut down to make way for the Parramatta Light Rail.

Realtime Tracking[]

All trains within the Sydney suburban network can be tracked on realtime apps, using locations pulled from the signalling system. They can be found here. (Official website)

Intercity Network[]

Sydney Trains also operates five intercity lines outside of Sydney. Seats do not need to be booked and Opal is accepted all services.

Blue Mountains[]

Main article: Blue Mountains Line

The Blue Mountains line covers the Blue Mountains regions of Katoomba, Mount Victoria, Lithgow and Bathurst. The Blue Mountains line appears on the network as yellow. Services run along the Main Western line.