CityRail

CityRail was the name of a railway company that operates an extensive network of S -Bahn lines, regional lines and intercity lines in and around the Australian city of Sydney. Trains run since 2013 under the title Sydney NSW Trains and Train link.

It was founded in 1990 on the basis of transport Administration Act (NSW ) 1988 ( Transport Management Act New South Wales 1988). CityRail is owned by the Government of the State of New South Wales and a subsidiary of state-owned Rail Corporation New South Wales ( RailCorp ); the sister company CountryLink is responsible for the long-distance rail transport in the rural areas.

On the CityRail network, serving 302 stations and a track length of 2,060 kilometers, around 900,000 passengers are carried daily. The largest part of the rail network is electrified at 1500 volts DC ( with top management), but come on some remote sections and diesel trains are used. All trains on the suburban network of Sydney are double-decker railcars.

Overview

The route network of CityRail is a mixture of three different modes, a subway -like network of tunnels in the city center, a tram in the Sydney metropolitan area and railway lines in rural areas.

Hub of the CityRail network is Sydney Central Railway Station. This consists of a railhead and a transit station. The S -Bahn lines pass through station and travel the whole or parts of the City Circle, a largely underground tunnel ring around the city center. By bundling several lines creates a headway of a few minutes, so this PSU is more like a subway.

In the head end station, the regional lines, designated at CityRail as " InterCity ", as well as long-distance trains from the states of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria as well as the rest of Australia. The regional lines lead to places that are up to 160 kilometers from the city center; the power reaches up to Newcastle in the north, Lithgow in the west, in the southwest of Goulburn and Wollongong, Kiama and Port Kembla to the south. A few regional trains operated during rush hour also the City Circle.

From Newcastle operate two diesel-powered lines through the valley of the Hunter River to Scone and Dungog, with most trains already apply in Maitland or Telarah. Is also operated with diesel trains a branch line of the South Coast Line between Kiama and Nowra - Boomaderry.

For intercity Sydney for a is a separate railcar Park, with the inscription " InterCity ", used on the trains. On the other hand come for these services uniquely adapted S-Bahn trains to use.

Line network

Suburban lines

Regional and intercity lines

* During rush hour trains some of the South Coast Line operate on the Central Section - Bondi Junction, some of the Southern Highlands Line on the Campbelltown section - Central and some of the Blue Mountains Line of the section North Sydney - Central.

Connecting bus routes

CityRail also operates several interurban buses on certain routes where the railway passenger traffic set or the railway line was completely abolished. These buses will appear in the schedules of CityRail and use the same fare system, but are operated by private bus companies commissioned by CityRail. It is the lines:

• Bowral - Thirlmere - Picton
• Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale
• Lithgow - Mt Lambie - Bathurst
• Fassifern - Toronto

Night Ride bus routes

Since 1989, night buses in Greater Sydney. The commissioned by CityRail run by private providers Night Ride buses run between midnight and five clock in the morning every hour (on weekends on some routes even every half hour ). Each line is identified by an N and a two- digit number. All CityRail tickets ( except for a single ticket ) are valid indefinitely. All bus routes except the N20 run from George Street in the city center, outside the station Town Hall.

History

The origins of CityRail date back to 1855 when the first railway line of New South Wales was opened between Sydney and Parramatta. Parra mat is now a suburb of Sydney, but was then an important center of agriculture. From the outset, the railway lines were owned by the state. The national railway network expanded rapidly; originated from Sydney and Newcastle from numerous radial lines with suburban traffic on the suburban sections and sporadic operation on the rural sections.

All trains were pulled by steam locomotives, until the introduction of gasoline-powered locomotives in the 1920s on some branch lines with low ridership. The first electrified line was that between 1926 and the Central Suburb Oatley, about 20 kilometers southwest of the city center. In the same year the first underground section between Central and St James was opened. Further electrification soon followed. An important milestone was the 1932 commissioning of the tracks on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the connection of the bridge to the central station by means of another tunnel.

Until 1948, the electrification of the suburban network was largely completed. However, the completion of the City Circle had to wait until 1956 to be. 1979, partially running underground line was completed from the city center to Bondi Junction. New routes were opened to Kingsford Smith International Airport and Sydney Olympic Park Shortly before the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Between 2002 and 2008, a new, 13 -mile, mostly running underground section between the stations Chatswood and Epping was built. It opens up inter alia the grounds of Macquarie University and is opened since 2008.