North Shore, Northern & Western Line

North Shore, Northern & Western Line

A Sydney Trains A set at Cheltenham station
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail service
Status	Active
Locale	Sydney
Current operator(s)	Sydney Trains
Annual ridership	142 853 000 (2017-18)
Route
Line(s) used	Main Northern Main Suburban Main Western North Shore Richmond
Technical
Rolling stock	T, H and A sets
Timetable number(s)	T1
Sydney Trains services North Shore, Northern & Western Inner West & Leppington Bankstown Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Cumberland Carlingford Olympic Park Airport & South

The North Shore, Northern & Western Line (numbered T1, coloured yellow) is a commuter rail line operated by Sydney Trains in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It serves the North Shore, Northern Suburbs and parts of the Inner West and Western Suburbs.

History

Following victory in the 2011 New South Wales election, the O'Farrell Government embarked on reform of transport in New South Wales. In November 2011, a new organisation, Transport for NSW, was created to improve planning and coordination of transport projects and services. The organisation developed a new rail timetable and branding, which was put into effect on 20 October 2013. This saw the merger of the North Shore Line and Western Line (Berowra - City via Gordon then to Emu Plains or Richmond via Strathfield ) with the Northern Line (Hornsby - City via Macquarie Park then to Epping via Strathfield ). A new numbering system was also introduced and the line was given the number T1.

Railway line history

The North Shore, Northern & Western Line uses a number of different railway lines and is the result of various schemes to link the lines together. The line is centred around the Main Suburban railway line which runs from Central to Granville. The Main Northern and Main Western lines branch from the Main Suburban Line. The North Shore Line branches from the Main Northern Line and was later extended through the city and connected to the Main Suburban Line as well. The North Shore, Northern & Western Line formerly used the Epping to Chatswood line in addition to the above lines, which provided a second connection between the Main Northern and North Shore lines.

Main Western and Richmond lines

Main articles: Main Western line and Richmond line

The Main Western line opened to Penrith in 1863 as a branch from the junction with the Main South line at Granville.^[1] Electrification reached Parramatta in 1928 and Penrith in 1955.^[2]

A branch line was opened to Richmond in 1864 under the stewardship of engineer James Moore. Electrification from Riverstone to Richmond opened in August 1991.^[3] Through running to and from Sydney commenced in 1992.

North Shore Line

Main article: North Shore line

The North Shore line was opened on 1 January 1890 between Hornsby and St Leonards. The line was extended to the Sydney Harbour foreshore at Milsons Point in 1893. Transport between this original Milsons Point station and central Sydney was by ferry boat. The line was electrified in 1927.

When the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932 a new Milsons Point station (on the bridge approach) came into operation and the North Shore Line was extended through it and over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to link with the underground lines of central Sydney. The result is that the two ends of the North Shore Line link to the Sydney railway system at Central and Hornsby.

Main Northern and Epping to Chatswood lines

Diagram of the Northern Line prior to the opening of the Epping to Chatswood railway line in 2009

Main articles: Main Northern line and Epping to Chatswood line

The traditional Northern Line was the suburban portion of the Main Northern line which opened in 1886 and was electrified in 1926. When the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened, the Northern Line was connected to the City underground and the North Shore line.

In 2009 the Epping to Chatswood line was opened. The traditional Northern line route ran from Hornsby to North Sydney via Strathfield and the City. When the Epping to Chatswood Line opened, the Northern Line was split in two, with trains from north of Epping operating via the new link, approaching the city via the North Shore Line and rejoining the traditional route before terminating at Epping. The Northern Line was colour coded red prior to being merged with the North Shore and Western lines. After merging, the Northern Line loop was split on weekdays, with trains from the upper Northern Line continuing to Richmond or Emu Plains.

The Epping to Chatswood line closed in 2018. It is being converted to metro standards as part of the Sydney Metro Northwest project. As a result, the traditional Northern line route from Hornsby to Central via Strathfield was reinstated.^[4]

Route

The route passes through a number of business districts and major centres, namely Hornsby, Chatswood, North Sydney, the Central Business District, Parramatta, Blacktown and Penrith.

The line heads south from Berowra to Hornsby to using the Main Northern Line. Trains then divert on to the North Shore Line, eventually passing through North Sydney station before heading across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, through the western limb of the City Circle and the stations of Central and Redfern. Services then run along the Main Suburban Railway, usually using the middle 'Suburban' pair of the six tracks between Redfern and Strathfield. Services do not stop at intermediate stations between Redfern and Burwood.

At Strathfield, trains to Hornsby via Epping usually head onto a flyover over the 'Main lines', before heading north back on the Main Northern Line, crossing the Parramatta River between Rhodes and Meadowbank, and providing interchange with the North Shore and Berowra services at the Hornsby terminus. This means that trains from Hornsby approach the city from two different directions; Berowra via North Sydney trains approach from the north, and Hornsby via Strathfield trains approach from the west.

Other services continue west from Strathfield to Granville where trains join the Main Western Line. After passing through Parramatta, trains reach Blacktown, where the line divides in two. A western branch continues along the Main Western Line as far as Emu Plains and a north-western branch heads to Richmond using the Richmond Line.

T1 route diagram
Main Northern line Berowra 44.7 km Mount Kuring-gai 40.7 km Mount Colah 37.7 km Asquith 35.7 km Hornsby depot Hornsby 35.3 km / 25.2 km Normanhurst 33.1 km Thornleigh 30.8 km Pennant Hills 30.0 km Pennant Hills Road Beecroft 28.3 km Cheltenham 26.8 km 24.2 km Waitara Pacific Motorway 22.6 km Wahroonga 21.9 km Warrawee M2 Hills Motorway 20.8 km Turramurra Sydney Metro Northwest 18.9 km Pymble Epping 23.4 km Mona Vale Road 17.1 km Gordon 15.9 km Killara 14.6 km Lindfield 13.3 km Roseville Eastwood 21.4 km 11.7 km Chatswood Denistone 20.2 km 10.3 km Artarmon West Ryde 19.2 km Sydney Metro City & Southwest Victoria Road Gore Hill Freeway Meadowbank 18.2 km 8.4 km St Leonards 7.2 km Wollstonecraft 6.1 km Waverton Luna Park siding  5.1 km North Sydney 4.4 km Milsons Point John Whitton Bridge Sydney Harbour Bridge Rhodes 16.6 km City Circle Homebush Bay Drive 2.1 km Wynyard Concord West 14.5 km 1.1 km Town Hall North Strathfield 13.4 km M4 Western Motorway 0 km Central Parramatta Road 1.3 km Redfern Macdonaldtown Newtown King Street Stanmore Petersham Lewisham Inner West Light Rail Summer Hill Ashfield Croydon 10.6 km Burwood 11.8 km Strathfield Homebush Flemington Metropolitan Goods line Flemington depot Olympic Park 16.6 km Lidcombe Main South line Olympic Drive 18.6 km Auburn Duck River 18.6 km Clyde Carlingford line 21.4 km Granville Old Main South line Parramatta Road Old Main South line M4 Western Motorway 22.5 km Harris Park 23.2 km Parramatta 25.1 km Westmead 26.7 km Wentworthville Cumberland Highway 28.3 km Pendle Hill 29.9 km Toongabbie 32.1 km Seven Hills 34.8 km Blacktown Marayong 37.4 km 38.6 km Doonside Westlink M7 Quakers Hill 40.1 km 40.9 km Rooty Hill Schofields 43.8 km 43.3 km Mount Druitt Riverstone 46.0 km 47.4 km St Marys Vineyard 49.2 km 49.1 km Werrington Mulgrave 52.6 km 52.7 km Kingswood The Northern Road Windsor 55.0 km 55.1 km Penrith Clarendon 57.2 km Nepean River East Richmond 60.0 km 57.4 km Emu Plains Richmond 60.7 km Main Western line

Patronage

The following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending 30 June 2018.

2017-18 Sydney Trains patronage by line^{[n.b. 1] [9]}

T1	142 853 000
† T2 (new)	33 301 000
T3	28 178 000
T4	67 935 000
T5	6 677 000
T6	529 000
T7	1 664 000
† T8	26 415 000
† T2 (old)	37 891 000

1. ↑ Figures based on Opal tap on and tap off data.
   †= T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line was split into the T2 Inner West & Leppington Line and T8 Airport & South Line in November 2017

References

External links

• Sydney Trains North Shore, Northern & Western Line timetables Transport for NSW
• Western Fastrail
• Neety's Train Page - information on suburban stations.
• New South Wales Railways - historical information on suburban stations.
• New South Wales Transport Information
• Australian Railmaps - information & maps of train services & stopping patterns.
• Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation project website