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Olympic Park railway line
| Ownership and operation | |
|---|---|
| Owner | RailCorp |
The Olympic Park railway line is a railway branch line linking the Sydney Olympic Park precinct to the Main Suburban railway line at Flemington and Lidcombe. Originally opened as the Abattoirs branch in 1911, it was rebuilt and reopened as the Olympic Park railway line in 1998. Passenger services are branded as the T7 Olympic Park Line, which forms part of the Sydney Trains network and is coloured grey on maps and informational material.
History
Abattoirs line
The line opened on 31 July 1911 as the Abattoirs branch off the Main Suburban railway line to the abattoirs and State Brickworks at Homebush Bay.[1] It branched off via a triangular junction behind Flemington Maintenance Depot making it accessible from the Metropolitan Goods line.[2]
Two bridges carried the line over the Great Western Highway. On 11 January 1915, the Metropolitan Meat Platforms opened.[3] Further platforms opened at Abattoirs in December 1926, Brickworks in December 1939 and Pippita in October 1940 to serve a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation factory.[4][5][6] Sidings on the line served Dairy Farmers and Ford.[2]
On 27 February 1968, the three kilometre Homebush Saleyards Yard opened to service new cattle and sheep pens built to replace facilities at Flemington just beyond the Great Western Highway crossing. The loop was electrified to allow electric locomotives to operate services to the saleyards.[1][2]
On 9 November 1984, the line beyond the Homebush Saleyards closed. The Saleyards Loop subsequently closed on 22 June 1991.[2]
Passenger services were operated by wikipedia:CPH railmotors operating from the Sandown railway line via Lidcombe until November 1984. After this the line (now only going to Pipita) would be served by Single Deck Suburban "Red Rattlers".[7] Pippita continued to be served by a sole daily service to Central until 20 October 1995, operated in its later days by a V set.[1]
Olympic Park Line construction
As part of Sydney's successful bid to hold the 2000 Olympic Games, a new Sydney Olympic Park precinct was built. Included was a railway that reused part of the route of the former Abattoirs branch. The new line was built with a tunnel leading to the two track, four platform Olympic Park station. The station is located on a balloon loop, avoiding the need for drivers to change ends at the end of a trip. The line utilised the existing eastern bridge over the Great Western Highway which had previously only carried one track, but was wide enough to accommodate the two laid. The new line opened on 8 March 1998.[2][8][9]
Olympic Park services
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Mode(s) | Commuter rail |
| Ownership and operation | |
| Controlling authority | Transport for NSW |
| Operator(s) | Sydney Trains |
| Technical | |
| Number of stops | 2 |
- F1 Manly
- F2 Taronga Zoo
- F3 Parramatta River
- F4 Cross Harbour
- F5 Neutral Bay
- F6 Mosman Bay
- F7 Double Bay
- F8 Cockatoo Island
The T7 Olympic Park Line transports people to and from major events occurring within the Sydney Olympic Park precinct, and also carries workers and residents of Olympic Park to and from the rest of the Sydney Trains network.
Outside of special events, regular services operate as a shuttle between Olympic Park and Lidcombe. At Lidcombe, T7 trains utilise a dedicated platform (platform 0, previously referred to as the Olympic Park Sprint Platform).
During major events at Sydney Olympic Park, additional train services run direct from the terminal platforms of Central, also stopping at Redfern and Strathfield. After larger events, west-bound trains from Olympic Park are sometimes extended beyond Lidcombe to Blacktown via the Main Western line, and to Glenfield and Campbelltown via the Main South line, using Lidcombe's through platforms instead.
As part of a timetable change and network reorganisation on 20 October 2013, the line was given the number T7.
Route
| Name | Distance from Central [10][11] |
Opened [10] |
Railway line | Sydney Trains interchanges |
Other interchanges* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lidcombe | 16.6 km | 1 November 1858 | Main Suburban | none | |
| Olympic Park | 17.3 km | 8 March 1998 | Olympic Park | none |
* Both stations are served by connecting bus services. Lidcombe station is served by intercity trains when there are major events at Sydney Olympic Park.
Patronage
The following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending 30 June 2019. Because these figures are based on Opal tap on and tap off data, passengers are not counted when travelling to major events where the event ticket also allows travel on public transport services.
| Line | Figure |
|---|---|
| † T1 |
106,924,000 |
T2 |
58,917,000 |
T3 |
30,578,000 |
T4 |
69,575,000 |
T5 |
7,738,000 |
T6 |
568,000 |
T7 |
1,802,000 |
T8 |
46,346,000 |
| † | 34,036,000 |
- ↑ Figures based on Opal tap on and tap off data.
†= T1 North Shore, Northern & Western Line was split into the T1 North Shore & Western Line and T9 Northern Line in April 2019. These figures group the T1 Northern Line with those of the T9 Northern Line instead of the T1. Additionally, the Northern Line route was changed in Septermber 2018 when the Epping to Chatswood line was closed. This resulted in a decrease in Northern Line and an increase in North Shore Line patronage from October.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Oakes, John (2001). Sydney's Forgotten Goods Railways. Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 72–84. ISBN 0 909650 54 3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Forgotten Railways to the Olympic Site" Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 737 March 1999 pages 87-96
- ↑ Metropolitan Meat Platforms NSWrail.net
- ↑ Abattoirs Station NSWrail.net
- ↑ Brickworks Platform NSWrail.net
- ↑ Pippita NSWrail.net
- ↑ "Goodbye Tin Hare" Railway Digest February 1985 page 40
- ↑ "Preparing for the Games - First train to Olympic Park" Railway Digest January 1998 page 11
- ↑ "Olympic Park Officially Opened & Rail Services Commence" Railway Digest April 1998 page 7
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "NSW Rail.net Main South line". http://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:main_south. Retrieved 3 July 2007.
- ↑ "NSW Rail.net Olympic Park Line". https://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:olympic_park. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- ↑ "Train Patronage - Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW. https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/data-and-research/passenger-travel/train-patronage/train-patronage-monthly-figures. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
Attribution
This article incorporates text from the following revision of the English Wikipedia article "Olympic Park railway line": https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Olympic_Park_railway_line&oldid=903981847.