| Blue Mountains line | |
|---|---|
| Mode | Interurban rail line coach service |
| Owner | CityRail |
| Operator(s) | CityRail |
| Connects | Central Katoomba Lithgow Bathurst (by coach) |
| Stations | 21 |
| Fleet | V, G, H sets |
| Depot(s) | Flemington Hornsby |
| Line colour | Yellow/Grey |
| Key dates | |
The Blue Mountains Line is a section of the Main Western railway line in New South Wales, Australia. The line is part of the 'inter-urban' region of CityRail, the operator of urban passenger services in New South Wales. It serves the Blue Mountains region to the west of Sydney, including its primary centre of Katoomba, and as far west as Lithgow on the western foothills of the mountains. The line is also traversed by CountryLink and Indian Pacific services as part of longer journeys to far-western New South Wales and interstate, respectively.
The line is primarily operated by CityRail's older V set trains, however outer suburban Tangara (G set) carriages, and CityRail's new OSCAR's (H set) also operate on the line as far as Springwood.
Most Blue Mountains line services start and terminate from the intercity platforms (4-15) of Central (Sydney Terminal) station. However, a small number of special commuter services exist during weekday peak periods: one morning city-bound and two evening out-bound services to and from Springwood arrive on the suburban platforms of Central (platforms 16 and 18 respectively). These trains run via the North Shore Line between Central and Hornsby station, where these trains terminate.
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The Blue Mountains line is a section of the Main Western Line which opened in 1868.[1] The line originally ascended the eastern and descended the western sides of the Blue Mountains via a series of zig-zag track sections. The eastern zig zag was by passed by a tunnel in 1892 and the western zig zag (now in use as a Tourist Railway) was bypassed in 1910 with ten rail tunnels.
In the 1950s, the line was electrified primarily as a means of easing the haulage of coal freight from the western coalfields to the coastal ports,[2] but a by-product of this programme was the introduction of electric interurban passenger services as far west as Bowenfels, later cut back to the current terminus of Lithgow.[3] Goods trains are now exclusively diesel hauled. Electric passenger services were originally provided by a combination of electric locomotive hauled carriages and single deck electric multiple unit sets (known as U sets), both of which have now been withdrawn and replaced by a combination of double deck electric interurban cars (V sets) and OSCAR trains.
The line was built with gradients as steep as 1 in 33 (3%) and curves as sharp as 8 chains (160m). Most of the curves were eased to 12 chains (240m) with duplication.[4]
(Continues from CityRail Western Line)
CityRail train services end here. Continues to CountryLink services to Dubbo and Broken Hill, and Indian Pacific services to Perth. CityRail bus services also run from Lithgow to Bathurst.
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