Monday 6 February 2006

The history of the growth of the Bankstown Line covers three time periods.

• The first was between 1880 and 1895 when the NSW Government considered and built the line from Sydenham to Belmore.
• The second extends from 1896 to 1909 and relates to the extension of the line from Belmore to Bankstown, where the railway terminated for the next 19 years.
• And the third period covers the time between 1928 and 1939 and includes the connection between Bankstown and Regents Park.

Station buildings along the line, particularly in the first period were considered among the finest seen on the NSW rail system.

Apart from passenger train services, the Bankstown Line had a daily freight train serving freight sidings which were located at Canterbury, Campsie, Belmore, Punchbowl, Bankstown and Regents Park. The Bankstown Line was also used by freight trains when there was a derailment or other operational problems elsewhere on the rail network.

Following the opening of the standard gauge rail line to Melbourne in 1962, the rail administration used the Bankstown Line to run two return, daily, fast, interstate freight trains from Alexandria goods yard to Melbourne. One of these was known as the "Blue Ribbon" express freight train and was the most well known, high-speed freight train on the NSW rail system at the time.

In 1926 the Bankstown Line was the second line in Sydney to be electrified, following the Illawarra Line some seven months earlier.

All local signal boxes except Sefton Park Junction were closed before 2006. Sefton Park Junction signal box was officially classified as a "power box". It was a significant part of Dr Bradfield’s plan to use modern equipment, such as electrically operated points, as part of his plan for the electrification of the Sydney suburban rail network.

The actual interlocking machine was manufactured in the NSW railway workshops and its local construction was testament to the pioneering skills of railway workers. With its closure, all signals, points and train operations will be controlled from a signal complex at Sydenham. This will bring at end to the local control of trains in the Bankstown Line. Signalling equipment from Sefton Park Junction has been donated to the Powerhouse Museum.

- Stuart Sharp, RailCorp Heritage Office