Northern railway line, Sydney

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Northern Line
Overview
Mode	Commuter rail line
Area	Ashfield, Canada Bay, Hornsby, Parramatta, Ryde, Sydney
Map colour	Red
Owner	CityRail
Design
Length	39 km
Stations	22
Connects	North Sydney, Town Hall, Central, Strathfield, Epping, Hornsby
1886	Opened
Operations
Operator(s)	CityRail
Fleet	R/S, K, T, G sets
Depot(s)	Hornsby
Patronage	270,000[citation needed]
Public transport |  v • d • e

The Northern Line is part of the metropolitan rail network in Sydney known as CityRail, running between North Sydney and Hornsby via Strathfield and Central. It is part of the Main Northern Line, and serves suburbs in the Inner West, Lower North Shore and Hills District areas, crossing the Parramatta River between Rhodes and Meadowbank. It is denoted as red on CityRail network maps and other publicity.

[edit] History

The Northern Line is the suburban portion of the Main Northern Line which opened in as a single track line 1886. In 1892, the line was duplicated to Hornsby^[1], and electrified in 1926 as part of the Bradfield electrification scheme.

[edit] Line Description

The line physically begins at Strathfield where it branches from the South and Western Lines. The line that CityRail markets as the 'Northern Line' is the suburban section of the Main North Line which heads north to Newcastle and beyond. Train services that serve the Northern Line usually begin as a continuation of North Shore Line services in the north of Sydney at North Sydney station before heading across the Harbour Bridge and through the underground stations of Wynyard and Town Hall to Central and Redfern stations. Services then run along the Main Suburban Railway, usually using the inner 'Suburban' pair of the six tracks between Redfern and Strathfield. Services generally do not stop at intermediate stations between these two points. At Strathfield, trains usually head onto a flyover over the 'Main lines', before going over a bridge across Parramatta Road heading north on their own alignment.

The Northern Line crosses the Parramatta River at Meadowbank. Here, the old railway bridge has been converted to a cycleway.

The line between Strathfield and Hornsby is mostly double track, except for quadruple track sections between Thornleigh and Pennant Hills, and between Epping and West Ryde, and triple track sections at Thornleigh, Epping, and between Rhodes and Strathfield. A fourth track existed for freight between Concord West and Strathfield, although this has not been in use since around 2003. The line and stations are all at ground level or in cuttings.

As the line is the main railway heading north to Newcastle, the Hunter Valley, the North Coast, and Brisbane, CountryLink trains transit the line, as well as numerous freight trains. Although there used to be many sidings and freight yards along the line, these have all been removed except for the Gonarro sidings at Thornleigh.

[edit] Future

Diagram of the Northern Line

The line route, which has not been altered since the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, is set to be changed significantly following the construction of the Epping to Chatswood link, due to open in 2008. Following this, the line will essentially be split in half. Services north of Epping will be diverted to run via the new line and the North Shore Line to free up much-needed space on the lines between Strathfield and Central. Services south of Epping will continue to use the existing route. The only trains likely to continue to use the whole existing route between Hornsby and Strathfield will be the express Intercity services on the Newcastle and Central Coast Line which share the same tracks.

[edit] Line Information

• More services serve the line in the Monday to Friday morning and evening peak hour services, where some services omit stops.

• All services depart from Hornsby & Eastwood (which is being used temporarily as a terminating station while the Epping to Chatswood Line is under construction.) Some services continue past North Sydney or originate from North Shore line stations, especially in the morning and evening peak periods.

[edit] Train Stations

Name of Station	Code	TravelPass Zone	Serving Suburbs	Pattern stops at this station			Connections
Northern Line
North Sydney	NSY	Red	North Sydney				North Shore Line
Combines with North Shore Line
Milson's Point	MPT	Red	Milson's Point, Kirribilli				North Shore Line
Wynyard	WYD	Red	Sydney, The Rocks, Millers Point				North Shore Line, Inner West Line, South Line, Airport & East Hills Line, Bankstown Line
Town Hall	THL	Red	Sydney, Darling Harbour				North Shore Line, Inner West Line, South Line, Airport & East Hills Line, Bankstown Line, Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line, South Coast Line (peak hour only)
Central	SBO	Red	Central, Strawberry Hills, Ultimo, Surrey Hills				North Shore Line, Western Line, Inner West Line, South Line, Airport & East Hills Line, Bankstown Line, Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line, Newcastle & Central Coast Line, Blue Mountains Line, Southern Highlands Line (peak hour only), South Coast Line
Redfern	RDF	Red	Redfern, Waterloo, Darlington, The University of Sydney				Western Line, Inner West Line, South Line, Airport & East Hills Line, Bankstown Line, Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line
Separates from Western Line, combines with South Line
Burwood	BUW	Green	Burwood		()
Strathfield	SFD	Green	Strathfield, Burwood				Western Line, Inner West Line, South Line, Newcastle & Central Coast Line, Blue Mountains Line
Separates from South Line
North Strathfield	NSF	Green	North Strathfield, Strathfield, Concord West
Concord West	CCE	Green	Concord West, Liberty Grove, Homebush Bay, Sydney Olympic Park
Rhodes	RHS	Green	Rhodes, Rhodes Waterside, Liberty Grove
Meadowbank	MWK	Green	Meadowbank, Shepherd's Bay, Putney, Melrose Park
West Ryde	WRD	Green	West Ryde
Denistone	DST	Green	Denistone (West)
Eastwood	EAW	Green	Eastwood, Marsfield				Newcastle & Central Coast Line
Epping	EPG	Green	Epping, North Epping, Marsfield				Epping to Chatswood line (under construction)
Cheltenham	CHT	Pink	Cheltenham
Beecroft	BCF	Pink	Beecroft
Pennant Hills	PLL	Pink	Pennant Hills
Thornleigh	THL	Pink	Thornleigh, Westleigh
Normanhurst	NMH	Pink	Normanhurst
Hornsby	HBY	Pink	Hornsby, Waitara				Newcastle & Central Coast Line, North Shore Line

[edit] Stopping Patterns

• Pattern 1: all stations to Hornsby (& vice-versa) (off-peak & peak).
• Pattern 2: all stations to Strathfield, then West Ryde, Eastwood, Epping, and all to Hornsby (& vice-versa) (peak hours only).*
• Pattern 3: all stations to Eastwood (& vice-versa) (peak hours only).

* only some trains on this pattern stop at Burwood.

[edit] References

1. ^ NSW Railway Passenger Services 1880-1905.. Australian Railway History, April 2005. ARHS NSW Division.

• Neety's Train Page - information on suburban stations.
• New South Wales Railways - historical information on suburban stations.
• Cityrail - current timetable.
• Australian Railmaps - information & maps of train services & stopping patterns.