South Coast railway line, New South Wales

South Coast line
Mode	Interurban rail line Coach service
Owner	CityRail
Operator(s)	CityRail
Connects	Central Wollongong Port Kembla (branch) Dapto Bundanoon (by coach) Kiama Bomaderry (Nowra)
Length	153 km
Stations	40
Fleet	H, T sets & Endeavour railcars
Depot(s)	Mortdale for T sets, Eveleigh for H sets
Line colour	Blue/Grey
Key dates
1887	Opened

The South Coast Line is in the intercity region of Sydney's CityRail services. It serves the coastal region to the south of the Sydney metropolitan area including the Illawarra region, most notably the regional city of Wollongong, and extended services reach as far as Nowra in Shoalhaven.

Line naming

The line is operationally and historically known as the Illawarra Line throughout its length from the Illawarra Junction at Redfern to its terminus in Bomaderry. CityRail currently markets the suburban services to Waterfall and Cronulla as the Illawarra line and interurban services south to Wollongong and Bomaderry as the South Coast line.

Description of route

Suburban section

The South Coast (Illawarra) line commences at the Illawarra Junction at Redfern. Here, a dive-under allows inter-city services from the South Coast line to cross underneath the main suburban railway lines to access Sydney Terminal. From the Illawarra junction, four tracks head south through the stations of Erskineville and St Peters to Sydenham. Immediately north of Erskineville station, the Illawarra lines are connected to the Illawarra Relief Lines which emerge from underground. These lines form the Eastern Suburbs line which opened in 1979. Heading south from Erskineville, the eastern-most pair of tracks are the Up and Down Illawarra lines which usually carry the Illawarra line passenger services.

A Kiama service waiting to depart from Platform 7. Despite its destination appearing as "Bomaderry/Nowra" the train actually terminates at Kiama and passengers must change for another train to Nowra.

The western-most pair of tracks are the Up and Down Illawarra local tracks which usually carry Bankstown and East Hills line express trains. To the west of the four tracks between Erskineville and Sydenham lies a reservation for a further pair of tracks with partially constructed platforms at Erskineville and St Peters stations. There are current plans to complete these tracks under the Rail Clearways plan, these tracks will be known as the Up and Down Illawarra relief lines.

At Sydenham, six platforms are provided, with Bankstown line services generally using the western-most pair (platforms 1 and 2), East Hills peak hour services using the inner pair (platforms 3 and 4) and Illawarra line services using the easternmost pair of platforms (platforms 5 and 6). South of Sydenham, the Bankstown line branches off in a westwards direction. The Botany Goods Line crosses over the Illawarra line via a flyover. The line then reaches Tempe station, before crossing the Cooks River.

South of the Cooks River lies Wolli Creek station, where the East Hills line branches off to the west. The Illawarra line continues south as four tracks through a rock cutting to the stations of Arncliffe (2 island platforms), Banksia (2 side platforms and an island platform) and Rockdale. Rockdale station has five platforms, platform 1 (the most westerly platform) is currently unelectrified and disused but was previously a terminating point for electric passenger trains. South of Rockdale, the line passes through Kogarah station (one island platform 2 & 3 and 2 side platforms 1 & 4) which has a shopping centre built overhead. The line the makes a westerly turn, heading through Carlton and Allawah stations (both with two island platforms).

The next station is Hurstville (2 island platforms), which is where the four track section ends and terminating facilities are provided. Like Kogarah, Hurstville has a shopping centre built above the platforms. South of Hurstville, the line becomes 2 tracks with bidirectional signalling. The line passes through Penshurst and Mortdale (island platforms). At Mortdale is the Mortdale maintenance depot which lies on the eastern side of the tracks with access points from the south of the station. The line then continues to Oatley which has an island platform and a set of points allowing trains to be turned-back. The line then crosses the Georges River over the Como Bridge, which opened in 1972

Como Bridge

replacing an older single track bridge which still exists to the east of the present structure and is used as a cycleway. The line enters the Sutherland Shire, passing through Como station (which was moved to its present, new site with the opening of the new bridge in 1972), and Jannali (side platforms) before reaching Sutherland.

At Sutherland, three platforms are provided. The Cronulla Line branches off in an eastwards direction south of the station. The former short branch line to Woronora Cemetery branched in a westerly direction at the south of the platforms. The line opened on 28 July 1900 and closed on 27 August 1944. The line then continues south through Loftus, Engadine, and Heathcote (all side platform stations). South of Loftus, the former Royal National Park line branched off, this has now been converted into a tram line connecting to the Sydney Tramway Museum, and connections to the mainline have been severed. The final station for the operation of suburban services is Waterfall station, which is an island platform. At Waterfall, there is a train stabling yard and a train turnback (shunting road) south of the station. South of Waterfall is the site of the 2003 Waterfall train disaster.

Inter-urban section

Coledale station

The end of the line at Bomaderry station

The line then heads south through the challenging terrain of the Royal National Park and Illawarra escarpment. The line makes a steep descent down to Wollongong. The original alignment through the towns of Helensburgh and Lilyvale which opened in 1888 was bypassed by a new route in 1915. A new station at Helensburgh (island platform) was subsequently opened with the new alignment. A set of points allows the turnback of trains at Helensburgh. The line then proceeds through several tunnels down the Illawarra escarpment through the hamlets of Stanwell Park and Coalcliff.

South of Coalcliff, the line becomes single track as it passes through the Clifton Tunnel, before becoming double track again near Scarborough station. The line then proceeds south through the northern suburbs of Wollongong, then Wollongong and its southern suburbs. A terminating platform is provided at Thirroul, which is used to terminate peak hour services from Sydney, as well as local services.

At Coniston south of Wollongong, an electrified branch line heads east to Port Kembla. At Unanderra, the line to Moss Vale branches off to head west over the Illawarra escarpment to join the Main South line. Double tracking ends at Unanderra, and the line continues south as a single line track. The line continues south through Kembla Grange where a simple platform serves the Kembla Grange racecourse. The line then reaches Dapto where a passing loop is provided. Dapto was the southern extent of electrification until 2001

The line then passes south through the hamlet of Albion Park Rail (where another crossing loop is provided) to reach Kiama, the current extent of electrification. South of Kiama, the line continues as a single track non-electrified line through rolling dairy pastures via several tunnels to the towns of Gerringong and Berry before arriving at its terminus at the town of Bomaderry on the northern bank of the Shoalhaven River. At Bomaderry, sidings connect to The Manildra Group's starch mill.

Port Kembla branch

L set train (no longer used on the line) at Cringila

At Coniston, an electrified branch line proceeds east to the industrial suburb of Port Kembla with three intermediate stations.

The line is double track as far as just west of Port Kembla North and is used by freight trains as well as local CityRail passenger services. A stabling yard is provided at Port Kembla for overnight storage of electric trains.

History

Illawarra (Sth Coast) Line

Legend 2 from Main Suburban Line 2.8 km Erskineville 4.8 km St Peters 5.3 km Sydenham Metropolitan Goods line to Botany Bankstown Line to Liverpool 6.8 km Tempe Cooks River East Hills Line to Macarthur 7.3 km Wolli Creek (to Airport Line) 8.4 km Arncliffe 9.6 km Banksia 10.4 km Rockdale 11.6 km Kogarah 12.7 km Carlton 13.7 km Allawah 14.8 km Hurstville 16.1 km Penshurst 17.1 km Mortdale 18.3 Oatley Georges River 21.2 km Como 22.2 km Jannali 24.5 km Sutherland Woronora Cemetery Branch Cronulla branch to Cronulla 26.3 km Loftus National Park branch 30.8 km Engadine 33.2 km Heathcote 38.7 km Waterfall Waterfall Cutting (originally Waterfall Tunnel) Sth Waterfall Temporary Junction Cawley Loop Cawley Tunnel Helensburgh Temporary Junction Old Helensburgh Tunnel 46.4 km Helensburgh Helensburgh (1st site - closed) Helensburgh Tunnel Metropolitan Tunnel Old Metropolitan Tunnel Metropolitan Junction Metropolitan Colliery branch Lilyvale No. 1 Tunnel Lilyvale No. 2 Tunnel Lilyvale (1st site - closed) Lilyvale Tunnel Lilyvale (2nd site - closed) 54.6 km Otford Otford Tunnel Bald Hill Tunnel 56 km Stanwell Park Stanwell Park (1st site - closed) Stanwell Park Tunnel Stanwell Park Viaduct Stanwell Creek Tunnel 59.3 km Coalcliff Coalcliff Colliery sidings Coal Cliff South Clifton Tunnel Clifton 62.5 km Scarborough 64.4 km Wombarra 66.2 km Coledale 68.6 km Austinmer 70.2 km Thirroul Bulli Coal siding Bulli Colliery 72.2 km Bulli 74 km Woonona 75.6 km Bellambi 77 km Corrimal 78 km Towradgi 79.4 km Fairy Meadow 81.3 km North Wollongong 82.9 km Wollongong 84.1 km Coniston Port Kembla Inner Harbour lines Port Kembla Line to Port Kembla 86.3 Lysaghts Dendrobium Colliery siding 87.7 km Cringila Port Kembla Steelworks rail network 88.8 km Port Kembla North Port Kembla Outer Harbour lines 90.2 km Port Kembla 88.3 km Unanderra Unanderra- Moss Vale line to Moss Vale 91.6 km Kembla Grange Racecourse Wongawilli Colliery siding 95.1 km Dapto Yallah Tallawarra Power Station siding 103.3 km Albion Park 105.5 km Oak Flats Croom Tunnel 110.7 km Dunmore (Shellharbour) Dunmore Quarry siding 113.4 km Minnamurra Bombo Quarry siding 117.6 km Bombo Kiama Tunnel 119.2 km Kiama Omega Tunnels (x4) Omega 128.6 km Gerringong Toolijooa 140.8 km Berry Jaspers Brush Manildra starch mill siding 153.4 km Bomaderry (Nowra)

A Sydney to Kiama railway was authorised by the New South Wales Parliament in April 1881. Construction of the various sections was awarded by tender and commenced in October 1882.

The Illawarra Line branched off the Main Suburban Railway south of Redfern, at Eveleigh (Illawarra Junction). The line opened to Hurstville in 1884, Sutherland in 1885, Waterfall in 1886 and Clifton through to Wollongong and North Kiama (Bombo) in 1887. The missing Waterfall to Clifton section comprised four large brick-arch culverts (and many small ones) and eight tunnels with a total length of over 4 km, delaying its opening until 1888. Kiama and Bomaderry (servicing Nowra) opened in 1893. The line was originally double track to Hurstville and continued as a single track, but was duplicated to Waterfall (except for the Como to Sutherland section) in 1890. In 1886 a branch line was opened to Audley in the Royal National Park, which closed in 1991.

A steep ruling grade of 1 in 40 faced up (Sydney bound) trains almost all the way between Stanwell Park station and Otford. The main problem was the 1550 m long Otford Tunnel, which took the railway through Bald Hill from the coast at Stanwell Park to the Hacking River valley. The steep 1 in 40 grade and tight clearances meant that soot, smoke and heat could become unbearable, especially when a south-easterly wind blew into the southern portal or when a train stalled in the tunnel. A Mr B Chamberlain wrote about a stalled passenger train in 1890:

Stanwell Creek viaduct

Even with the windows closed, the carriages were filled with smoke and steam, women fainted and children screamed until the train backed down to Stanwell Park, and was finally staged up to Otford in two trips.

Regarding the crew, Chamberlain wrote:

While the passenger with closed windows in an up train had an unpleasant journey… the unfortunate enginemen underwent a shocking ordeal. On tender engines both knelt on the footplate, coats over heads, to breathe the air coming from under the engine, the apron plate being raised for this purpose. Though the air was hot from passing around or through the ash pan, it was none the less welcome.

Attempts were made to overcome the problem with a ventilation shaft and chimney in the early 1890s and a blower system installed in 1909.

Many goods trains were routinely divided at Stanwell Park and taken through to Waterfall in stages, effectively increasing the number of train movements on the line. The increasing congestion and steepness led to construction of a double track deviation, which opened between Waterfall and Helensburgh in 1914, Helensburgh and Otford in 1915, and Otford and Coalcliff (bypassing the by now infamous Otford Tunnel) in 1920. The deviation avoided the steep grades with a more winding route featuring sharp curves, deep cuttings, new tunnels and a curved viaduct over Stanwell Creek that required 3 million bricks in its construction. Although the new route was 5 km longer it reduced the ruling grade from 1 in 40 to around 1 in 80. Of the original eight tunnels in this section only the Clifton Tunnel remains in use and is the only single track section between Sydney and Unanderra.

In 1924, work began on a 57 km line connecting Unanderra with Moss Vale on the Great Southern line, which opened in 1932. It enabled the transportation of limestone from the Southern Highlands to the coast at Port Kembla. See: Unanderra - Moss Vale railway line.

Electrification of the South Coast Line was completed in stages reaching from Sydney to Loftus in 1926, Waterfall in 1980, Helensburgh in 1984, Wollongong in 1985-86, Dapto in 1993 and Kiama in 2001. The Kiama to Nowra section remains unelectrified.

Major structural problems with the Stanwell Creek viaduct were identified in late 1985, with one span close to collapsing and another badly cracked, requiring substantial repairs and stabilising work.

On 31 January 2003, an Intercity Tangara passenger train (G7) derailed at high speed south of Waterfall station after its driver suffered a heart attack. The Waterfall train disaster resulted in seven fatalities and multiple injuries.

Passenger services

OSCAR train at Wollongong Station

The South Coast line passenger services currently consist of electric double deck multiple unit trains that operate between Bondi Junction or Central and either Wollongong, Kiama or Port Kembla. Diesel shuttle trains connect at Wollongong or Kiama and operate to Nowra. Although electrified to Wollongong in 1985, several diesel trains operated between Sydney and Nowra until 1991, one of which was the South Coast Daylight Express, operated as a locomotive hauled train of Budd and Tulloch type passenger cars which included catering facilities.