CityRail Clearways Project

A CityRail ticket with Rail Clearways promotional material.

The CityRail Clearways Project is a $1.8 billion program of public works on Sydney's CityRail suburban railway network to "untangle" the excessively intertwined and complicated rail network. The disparate projects are located at pinch points throughout the suburban network and are designed to increase capacity and improve reliability. All projects were delivered by the Transport Construction Authority until November 2011, when TCA was subsumed by Transport for New South Wales.

Conception

In the mid 2000s, the Government of New South Wales suffered heavy criticism for its perceived mishandling of the Sydney rail network - which had very poor on time performance following the Waterfall train disaster in January 2003. The safety regime introduced after this crash required drivers to stick to the speed limit, which often caused delays due to the expectations of the timetable for higher speeds. A new slower timetable was introduced in September 2005, which significantly improved on time running. The clearways plan is intended to be the next step in improving on time performance.

Clearways routes

The Clearways project aims to divide the network's fourteen metropolitan rail lines into five independent "clearways" reducing the heavily interwoven nature of the CityRail system. This is intended to isolate incidents to one part of the network so other clearways will still run as scheduled, increasing on time performance. The clearways will feed the existing lines through the Central Business District.

As the Carlingford Line does not run through the CBD, it is not included in any of the clearway routes. However, a Carlingford Line upgrade was included in the clearways project before being cancelled in the November 2008 Mini-Budget. The Cumberland Line is spread across Clearways 4 and 5. Intercity lines are not included in the project but may incur fewer delays as trains pass through the suburban area and benefit from the improved reliability of suburban services.

The five clearways routes are:

Clearway 1: Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra

This route will not change from the current Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra line. The projects undertaken on this route have increased capacity.

Clearway 2: Bankstown

After the Airport line was opened in 2000, most East Hills line trains used the new line to approach the city, easing congestion on the line between Sydenham and Erskineville, where tracks are shared with the Bankstown line. As of 2006 almost all East Hills trains run via the Airport. After the Campbelltown express clearway opens, trains from the south west will again run via Sydenham. This requires dedicated tracks for the Bankstown line between Sydenham and Erskineville. St Peters and Erskineville railway stations are expected to continue to be served by the Bankstown line and will require new platforms. A new turnback platform will also be constructed at Lidcombe, separating the Bankstown line's operations from the Inner West line which will be truncated to Homebush.

Clearway 3: Campbelltown Express

The Campbelltown Express Clearway will separate the section of the East Hills line west of Revesby from the inner section that line by quaduplicating between Kingsgrove and Revesby. This will allow more frequent express services to the City, relieve pressure on other parts of the network and improve the distribution of passengers. Trains will go from Macarthur through to Revesby then express through to the City Circle via Sydenham and back again.

Clearway 4: Airport and South

The Airport and South Clearway will feed the Inner West, East Hills and Airport, and South lines. Faster services from the South Line will begin at Glenfield and make their way through Liverpool, Cabramatta, Granville, Lidcombe and Strathfield stations to the City Circle. All-stations Inner West Line services to the City will start at Homebush. After passing through the City Circle, trains will head south-west via the Airport to Revesby (running parallel with the Campbelltown Express line from Wolli Creek to Revesby).

Clearway 5: North West

North West Clearway will provide an independent corridor for the North Shore, Northern and Western lines. It will improve reliability and capacity. Trains from the west will start from the Richmond, Penrith or Epping branches, meet up at Strathfield and travel through the city to Chatswood. Here trains will split, either continuing up the North Shore line to Berowra, or via the Epping to Chatswood line to Hornsby.

Projects

Many infrastructure upgrades need to be completed in order to implement the Clearways plan. These projects include upgrading stations, adding extra tracks, stabling facilities, or upgrading junctions. The projects include:

Project	Clearway	Description	Opened
Berowra third platform	North West	Allows through trains to pass terminating suburban trains	October 2006
Bondi Junction turnback and stabling sidings.	Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra	Improves terminating capacity and provides more space for trains to be stabled in off-peak periods	July 2006
Carlingford Line passing loop at Rydalmere	N/A	Would have provided a passing opportunity on the single track section between Rosehill and Carlingford	Cancelled November 2008
Erskineville-Sydenham six tracks	Bankstown Campbelltown Express	Would have created a new track pair for Bankstown line trains, allowing Campbelltown Express trains to have their own track pair	Cancelled November 2008
Homebush Turnback	Airport and South	Breaks the Bankstown loop by giving Inner West line trains a place to terminate where six tracks reduce to four	March 2011
Hornsby fifth platform	North West	Allows through trains to pass terminating suburban trains	March 2009
Kingsgrove-Revesby Quadruplication	Campbelltown Express Airport and South	Allows express trains to overtake and remain separate from all stops services, in conjunction with existing four track section between Wolli Creek and Kingsgrove	Under construction
Lidcombe Turnback	Bankstown	Breaks the Bankstown loop by giving Bankstown line trains a place to terminate	November 2010
Liverpool Second Turnback	Bankstown	New platform for through trains, allowing conversion of existing through platform and side turnback into two centre turnbacks	Under construction
Macarthur fourth platform and upgrade	Campbelltown Express	New platform for through trains, allowing conversion of existing through platform into centre turnback	Stage one (upgrade): December 2010
Macdonaldtown Turnback	Airport and South	Allows trains to layover close to the city	December 2005
Macdonaldtown Stabling	Airport and South	Extension of Macdonaldtown Turnback	November 2007
Quakers Hill-Vineyard Duplication	North West	Improves capacity to support new suburbs in North-Western Sydney	Schofields - Vineyard deferred Oct 2008 Quakers Hill - Schofields: October 2011
Revesby Turnback	Airport and South	Replacement of side turnback at East Hills with more efficient centre turnback	December 2008
Sutherland-Cronulla Duplication	Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra	Duplication of single track sections between Sutherland and Gymea and between Carringbah and Cronulla to improve capacity	April 2010

Resignalling

• Sefton - completed Jan 2006.
• Oatley-Sutherland-Cronulla - completed April 2010.
• North Sydney-St Leonards

Non-clearways projects

Other projects not officially part of the Rail Clearways program that will also improve the suburban passenger network include:

• Epping to Chatswood Line - opened 2009.
• South West Rail Link - under construction.
• Southern Sydney Freight Line by the Australian Rail Track Corporation - will give freight services their own dedicated line through southern Sydney. Under construction.
• Northern Sydney Freight Corridor - a series of projects to increase capacity for freight and non-suburban passenger services.
• North West Rail Link

Cancelled projects include:

• Redfern to Chatswood line - announced in 2005 cancelled in 2008.
• CBD Relief Line - announced in 2010 cancelled in 2011 following a change of Government.

External links

• CityRail Rail Clearways Plan Official info on the Clearways Project
• Photo gallery showing construction of Rail Clearways projects