CityRail

This article is on the commuter rail network centred on Sydney, Australia. For the former New Zealand Railways service, see Tranz Metro.

For the Beijing subway line known as the CityRail Line, see Line 13, Beijing Subway

The concourse of  Central Railway Station, the main station on the CityRail network. The station opened in its present location in 1906.

CityRail is an operating division of RailCorp, a state-owned corporation of the government of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter, 'intercity' and regional rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is also known as the name of the network on which the services run.

Construction of what is now the CityRail network began in 1855. Today it is frequently cited as one of the most complex commuter rail systems in the world, and consists of 302 stations and over 2,060 km of track, extending even to the upper Hunter Valley and the Shoalhaven areas. Four new lines are now in various stages of planning and construction. CityRail and the state's Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation are currently engaged in a process of "sectorisation", a project called "Rail Clearways", in an effort to address this complexity.

Established under the Transport Administration Act (NSW) 1988 around 1990, CityRail is a "product group" of Rail Corporation New South Wales (Railcorp), the state-owned corporation (SOC) which operates the New South Wales railways. It is the sister group of CountryLink which operates rail and coach services to regional New South Wales.

Most of the CityRail system is electrified with 1500V DC supplied by overhead wire; however, some isolated sections outside the Sydney metropolitan area are still operated by diesel railcars. All electric trains in CityRail's fleet are double-deck multiple units.

Operations

Fleet

CityRail Millennium train

Main article: CityRail fleet

As of 2006, CityRail runs 12 types of rolling stock on its network. The trains can be placed in two categories: electric multiple units (EMUs) for suburban and interurban working, and diesel multiple units (DMUs) for interurban and regional lines running through less populated areas. All electric trains operating on the CityRail network use 1500VDC overhead electrification and travel on 1435mm standard gauge tracks. All electric rolling stock has been double deck since the early 1990s.

The CityRail network is divided into five sectors, based around four maintenance depots. A train's set can be identified by their target plate, a coloured square plate attached to the lower front right side of a train.

The depot at Mortdale services trains for the Illawarra and Eastern Suburbs line and some South Coast Line trains (Sector 1). Its trains are marked with a red target plate. The depot at Flemington services trains on the Cumberland line, Airport and East Hills Line, Olympic Park Sprint, Carlingford Line, South Line, and Bankstown Line (Sector 2). Its trains are marked with a blue target plate. The depot at Hornsby services trains on the North Shore Line, Northern Line, Western & Richmond Lines, Newcastle Suburban Line, as well as some peak hour Blue Mountains Line and Central Coast Line services (Sector 3). These trains are marked with a black target plate. All V set trains, which operate on the Blue Mountains, Newcastle and Central Coast, and South Coast lines, are serviced at Flemington Depot, and all M set and H set trains which have a green target plate, are serviced at Eveleigh Maintenance Centre near Redfern station. Currently M sets only work in Sector 2, and H sets on the South Coast line, but will soon be expanded to cover some Central Coast services and peak North Sydney-Springwood services..

As of November 2006, the NSW government and RailCorp/CityRail announced the manufacturer for the new trains (626 carriages) which are set to replace the R/S sets. The chosen manufacturer RelianceRail/Downer EDI is the same company which built the M (Millennium) sets. This has been said to be the largest order of rollingstock in Australia's history, at a cost of $3.6 billion, which includes a brand new maintenance facility at Auburn. The first carriages are set to be on the network by 2009, with all running on the network by 2012.

Ticketing

Main article: Automated Fare Collection System

CityRail's automated ticketing system, dating from 1992, is based on magnetic stripe technology and is interoperable with the systems of the government's bus and ferry companies. Unlike the ticketing systems of other cities in Australia, most of CityRail's ticket prices are calculated on the distance travelled. The distance begins in increments of 5 km up to 35 km, then in increments of 10 km up to 135 km, then increments of 20 km up to 255 km, with final pricings at 305 km and more than 305 km. As of November 2007 the minimum adult single fare for travelling up to and including 5 km, was AU$2.60, whereas a journey from Scone to Goulburn, the two stations furthest apart on the network (a distance of 513.54 km) cost AU$30.

Performance

According to an inquiry report, "The interaction of metropolitan, suburban, intercity and freight lines and services has resulted in an overly complex system." This complexity has contributed in part to the organisation being widely criticised for poor reliability and safety. CityRail is also enormously expensive. RailCorp requires a government subsidy of close to $1.8 billion a year—approximately 5% of the state budget and more than three times what it collects in fares. "There is an overwhelming sense," the report concluded, "that CityRail does not promote a real commitment to quality, customer focus and a service culture."

On-time running has improved since new timetables were introduced in 2005 and 2006. In 2005-06, 91% of peak CityRail services arrived within 5 minutes of their scheduled time—an improvement of 23 percentage points and just one point shy of their target. However a 2007 report by Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway Corporation found that Sydney's train system reliability levels lagged behind international benchmarks.

The CityRail network

As of 2006, CityRail operates 11 suburban lines, four intercity lines, and one regional line. The standard network map is shown here.

CityRail Suburban network.

Suburban Lines

■ Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line - Between Bondi Junction and Waterfall/Cronulla. This includes the:

• Eastern Suburbs Line.
• Illawarra Line.
• Cronulla Line.
  

■ Bankstown Line - Between Central and Liverpool/Lidcombe, via City Circle (clockwise) and Bankstown.
■ Inner West Line - Between Central and Liverpool, via City Circle (anticlockwise) and Strathfield.
■ Airport & East Hills Line - Between Central and Macarthur, via City Circle (clockwise) and Sydenham (peak) or Wolli Creek.
■ South Line - Between Central and Campbelltown, via City Circle (anticlockwise) and Granville.
■ Cumberland Line - Between Blacktown and Campbelltown.
■ Western Line - Between Central and Emu Plains or Richmond. This includes the:

• Richmond Line.

■ North Shore Line - Between Central and Berowra
■ Carlingford Line - Between Clyde and Carlingford.
■ Olympic Park Sprint - Between Lidcombe and Olympic Park, extending to Central in off-peak and during special events).
■ Northern Line - Between North Sydney and Hornsby (via Strathfield).

* In peak hour on the North Shore line, some outer-suburban services are run to Gosford and Wyong, and some Western Line services extend to Springwood.

In peak hour, some City Circle services run in the opposite direction than normal

Intercity and railway lines

CityRail intercity and regional network as of 2000.

Intercity lines are shown in grey on CityRail maps, with the line colour on the stations.

■ South Coast Line - Between Central** and Bomaderry (Nowra) or Port Kembla.
■ Southern Highlands Line - Between Campbelltown** and Goulburn.
■ Blue Mountains Line - Between Central** and Lithgow.
■ Newcastle & Central Coast Line - Between Central and Newcastle.

** Some peak services on the South Coast Line run to/from Bondi Junction, some on the Southern Highlands Line to/from Central, and some on the Blue Mountains Line to/from Hornsby.

Regional Line

■ Hunter Lines - Between Newcastle and Dungog or Scone.

Connecting bus services

CityRail also operates several bus routes along corridors where the railway line has been closed to passenger traffic or fallen into disuse altogether. These bus services appear in CityRail timetables and accept CityRail tickets, but they are operated by private-sector bus companies contracted by CityRail. As of 2006 these CityRail bus services are:

■ Bowral to Picton Loop Line - Bowral to Picton via Thirlmere.
■ South Coast to Southern Highlands Line - Bundanoon/Bowral to Wollongong via Robertson.
■ Lithgow to Bathurst - Lithgow to Bathurst via Mt Lambie.
■ Fassifern to Toronto - Fassifern to Toronto via Blackall's Park.

NightRide

File:Nightridemap.gif

Nightride Map

Main article: NightRide

To provide a lower-cost passenger service between midnight and 5:00 AM while leaving the tracks clear of trains for maintenance work, a parallel bus service was established in 1989. This is called the NightRide bus service and it operates typically at hourly intervals (some routes depart more regularly on weekends). NightRide services are run by private bus operators, and are identified by route numbers beginning with "N". All valid CityRail tickets for a destination (apart from single tickets) are accepted on NightRide services. Bus stops and railway stations do not always perfectly coincide, but there is a reasonable approximation on most routes.

Network overview

An R set leaves Artarmon railway station, on the North Shore Line

The underground Museum station in the centre of Sydney. Both Museum and St James stations on the City Circle are decorated to look like a London Underground station.

The CityRail network is a hybrid of three different types of passenger railway - it is a combination of a metro-style underground railway system; a suburban commuter rail system and an interurban rail system.

For example, a person who lives in Blacktown, 30 km west of Sydney and works in the city centre 2 km from Sydney's Central Station can catch a CityRail suburban service from his/her local station. However, the train does not terminate at Central Station, instead proceeding onward into the underground network in Sydney's CBD and some inner city neighbourhoods without the need to change trains or buy tickets from a different railway organisation.

There is evidence this hybrid arrangement was deliberate. According to a local historical society, the design of the early electric carriages was developed as a combination of the high-capacity, low-boarding time of the New York Subways trains and the existing English long carriage design that was established in Australia's long-haul steam train system. . Those design principles have carried over to successive rolling stock.

CityRail also operates several interurban services which terminate at Central Station (though some services operate in the metro-style portions of the system in the peak hours). These lines stretch over 160 km (100 miles) from Sydney, as far north as Newcastle, as far west as Lithgow, as far south-west as Goulburn and as far south as Kiama and Port Kembla. Usually, Southern Highlands trains require a connection at Campbelltown as they run into the city during peak hours only.

Regional services operate from the terminus station at Newcastle, with local electric services to the Central Coast and diesel services to Maitland. After Maitland, the DMUs travel either to Scone or Dungog, but most of these services terminate at Maitland or Telarah. Another regional service operates as part of the South Coast Line, with diesel railcars travelling between Kiama and Bomaderry-Nowra.

The hub of the CityRail system is Central Station. It is also where most lines start and end. Trains coming from the Airport and East Hills Line and Bankstown Line, after travelling anticlockwise on the City Circle sometimes terminate upon arrival at Central and proceed to the Macdonaldtown Turnback. However, most trains continue on and become respective outward bound Inner West trains and South Line trains. The reverse applies for trains coming from the Inner West and South Lines, which, if not terminating, become outward bound trains on the Airport and East Hills line and Bankstown Line respectively. In the same manner, all trains from the Western Line or Northern Line become North Shore line trains once they reach Central and vice-versa.

As well as the intercity services mentioned above, local services also run in the Newcastle local area during off-peak (as part of the Newcastle & Central Coast Line. Local services also run on the South Coast Line in the Wollongong local area, usually between Thirroul and Port Kembla.

History

The original railway network for the Sydney CBD planned by John Bradfield

CityRail's origins go as far back as 1855 when the first railway in New South Wales was opened between Sydney and Parramatta, now a suburb of Sydney but then a major agricultural centre. The railway formed the basis of the New South Wales railways and was owned by the government. Passenger and freight services were operated from the beginning. The State's railway system quickly expanded from the outset with lines radiating from Sydney and Newcastle into the interior of New South Wales, with frequent passenger railway services in the suburban areas of Sydney and Newcastle along with less frequent passenger trains into the rural areas and interstate. All services were powered by steam locomotives, though in the 1920s petrol railcars were introduced for minor branch lines with low passenger numbers, both in metropolitan Sydney and rural areas.

The CityRail system as it exists today is to some extent the result of the vision and foresight of John Bradfield, one of Australia's most respected and famous civil engineers. He was involved in the design and construction of Sydney's underground railways in the 1920s and 1930s, but he is more famous for the associated design and construction of Sydney's greatest icon, the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Electrification

Electrification came to Sydney's suburbs in 1926 with the first suburban electric service running between Sydney's Central Station and the suburb of Oatley approximately 20 km south of Sydney. In the same year, the first underground railway was constructed from Central Station to St James in Sydney's CBD . Electric trains that had previously terminated at the Central Station continued north, diving underground at the Goulburn Street tunnel portal, stopping at Museum underground station and then terminating at St James. Other lines were soon electrified. Also, in conjunction with the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge which opened in 1932, an additional underground line in downtown Sydney was constructed, connecting the North Shore line with Central Station via two downtown stations - Town Hall and Wynyard.

World War II interrupted programs for further electrification, but an extensive electric network was in place in 1948.

Structure

The New South Wales Public Transport Commission was created in 1972 by the merger of the New South Wales Government Railways and the New South Wales Department of Government Transport, which operated buses and ferries. It was broken up in 1980 into the State Rail Authority and Urban Transit Authority. CityRail was established under the Transport Administration Act (NSW) 1988 as a business unit of State Rail in 1990.

Challenges

The quality of the rail system is a matter of not inconsiderable political sensitivity. Its performance has been questioned due to issues regarding safety, punctuality and other technicalities. Transport is the third largest area of public expenditure in NSW, after health and education. A newspaper distributed to commuters, mX, and the Sydney Morning Herald's recent "campaign for Sydney" kept transport at the top of the agenda ahead of the 2007 state election.

Safety

A typical message asking passengers to stand behind the yellow line, and rubber strips near the edge of the platform

The safety of the CityRail network was dramatically called into question by two fatal accidents. The Glenbrook train disaster in 1999 killed seven people. In 2003, the Waterfall train disaster killed six. Inquiries were conducted into both accidents. Official findings into the latter accident also blamed an "underdeveloped safety culture". There has been criticism of the way CityRail managed safety issues that arose, resulting in what the NSW Ministry of Transport called a "a reactive approach to risk management". CityRail has launched public information campaigns regarding railway trespassing, prams and strollers, and falling between the platform and the train.[1]

Crime & terrorism

Crime committed on railway property has decreased by some 32.9% since 2002, which RailCorp attributes to the deployment of some 600 Transit Officers across the network. Most stations now have emergency "help points" to put passengers in immediate contact with authorities should an incident occur. All stations are covered by closed-circuit television surveillance. However a large amount of graffiti is still evident on some trains and the depots.

In recent years, concerns over terrorism have played a role in the management of the network. CityRail and other public transport providers participate in an ongoing public terrorism awareness campaign, If you see something, say something, adapted from a similar campaign in New York.

Value

In his interim report to the NSW Government, Tom Parry was highly critical of CityRail. "It is hard to believe that taxpayers or the state are getting the best possible value from the large amounts of money being spent each year," he wrote.

Future development

Partial diagram of possible 2050 network under the proposed Christie report

Main articles: Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation and Epping to Chatswood railway line, Sydney

The CityRail network is currently undergoing a process of expansion in response to concerns that rail services are inadequate in Western Sydney, while the existing network has become dilapidated. At present, the Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation is undertaking or planning several construction projects for CityRail.

The Government of New South Wales announced in 2003 that it intended to separate the existing CityRail lines into five independent lines with more reliable and frequent services. The project is called "Rail Clearways", and the five new sectors are listed as the Illawarra and Eastern Suburbs Line, the Bankstown Line, the Campbelltown Express Line, the Airport & South Line and the North-West Lines. This project is estimated to cost AUD$1.5 billion and is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Related to the Clearways Project is the construction of the new 13km Epping to Chatswood Line which runs between Epping on the Northern Line and Chatswood on the North Shore line, with three new stations in between, servicing the North Ryde industrial area, Macquarie University, and Macquarie Shopping Centre. It is due to open in 2008.

As of February 2006, the NSW government has plans for a major new upgrade to the CityRail network, called the Metropolitan Rail Expansion Project. This involves building a new line from the north-west to the city and then to the south-west. This massive project was estimated to cost about A$8 billion, $5 billion of which was for the building of a new tunnel under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney central business district, (called the CBD Rail Link). Under this plan, the north-west suburbs would be served by the North West Rail Link by 2017, the new south-west suburbs would be linked to the network via the South West Rail Link by 2015, and the rail line would pass through the new growth corridor from Ryde to the airport. Critics of the New South Wales government have criticised what they perceive as a lack of follow through, citing the previously planned Parramatta to Chatswood rail link which has since been truncated to link only Epping to Chatswood, with the Epping to Parramatta portion postponed indefinitely.

Other suggestions have also been made for the future of the CityRail network. One project that has been suggested is a privately operated underground rail tunnel running between the Sydney CBD and Parramatta, a distance of 26 km, with the high-speed link continuing to Penrith on the outskirts of Sydney. First introduced in 2004 by a consortium of Dutch bank ABN AMRO and developer Leighton Holdings, the project, dubbed the Penrith High Speed Link, was reproposed in December 2006 and received favourable comments by the New South Wales State Government, and was offered funding by Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd should the Australian Labor Party win the 2007 Federal Election.

The proposed link would ease congestion along the main West-East corridor and reduce the current 29 minute service into the city to just 12 minutes. The service would operate in conjunction with RailCorp, and would use CityRail's existing railway stations and ticketing system, but with an extra fee on top of the normal CityRail ticket price (at approximately $9.90 a trip including a $3.10 surcharge). The train fleet and rail infrastructure would be built and maintained by a private company. The line has been estimated to cost $5 billion.

As of September 2007 the NSW Government announced plans to build an East-West underground metro line ("Anzac Line").

See also

• List of rapid transit systems
• List of suburban and commuter rail systems
• List of Sydney railway stations
• Metropolitan Goods Railway Line, Sydney
• North West Rail Link
• Public transport
• Railways in Sydney
• Southern Sydney Freight Line
• Sydney underground railways
• MetroPitt

References

Other references

• RailCorp Annual Report 2005-2006
• Interim Report of the Ministerial Inquiry into Sustainable Transport in New South Wales
• CityRail website

External links

• CityRail - CityRail Website
• CityRail's Fleet - CityRail webpage of its rollingstock.
• RailCorp Homepage
• Rail Infrastructure Corporation
• State Transit Authority
• Details and map of Clearways
• North West Rail Link
• South West Rail Link
• Christie Report - Long Term Strategic Plan for Rail.
• NSW Audit Office: Managing Disruption to CityRail services.
• Railpage Australia - General news and discussion about Australian railways.
• Sydney Electric Train Society (SETS) Incorporated - Established in 1991 for the preservation and operation of Sydney's vintage single deck electric trains and electric locomotives 4615 and 8606.
• Trendy's Trainpage - Facts and photos of the trains and railways of Sydney, Australia
• The Intercity Platform - Images (and videos) of the CityRail Fleet.
• Historical NSW Rail Timetables- Historical Sydney Railway Timetables