Your guide to Sydney trains

Rail Growth Plan

RailCorp has a multi-billion dollar Rail Growth Plan to increase capacity on the CityRail network to cater for growth. There are two key phases of growth which include:

Phase 1 - Reduce congestion and overcrowding (complete)
Phase 2 - Maximises capacity

The Rail Growth Plan is supported by a range of new infrastructure projects, station upgrades and the acquisition of new trains. New timetables will be introduced at various stages to deliver customer benefits as early as possible.

Phase 1 - Reduce congestion and overcrowding (complete)

The first stage of the Rail Growth Plan is to reduce congestion and overcrowding.

This involves:

  • Unlocking capacity and reducing congestion on the network.
  • Providing additional peak hour train services.
  • Increasing the length of some trains from 6 to 8 carriages.
  • Adjusting the timetable to spread crowding more evenly across train services.
  • Maintaining service reliability by developing robust timetables.
  • Laying the foundations to expand the rail network by building the Epping to Chatswood rail link (ECRL).

Phase 1 of the Rail Growth Plan requires delivery of the following new assets:

122 Oscar carriages: provide new growth trains for the rail network. Oscars will operate on the Central Coast, South Coast and Blue Mountains lines and will be deployed as they become available. The new Oscar sets will displace and make available outer suburban Tangara trains to be used to ease crowding on suburban lines. This will involve building some 6 car sets up to 8 cars, as well as providing new peak services. All 122 Oscar carriages have now been delivered.

The Epping to Chatswood rail link: is a new underground passenger line connecting the Northern and North Shore lines at Epping and Chatswood. The new 12.5km tunnel includes three new stations at Macquarie University, Macquarie Park and North Ryde. Epping and Chatswood stations have been upgraded to integrate the new link with the broader CityRail network.

The principle benefits of the Epping to Chatswood rail link include:

1. Provides frequent rail services to the expanding employment, education, retail and precincts at Macquarie Park and North Ryde. This will expand the Global Economic Crescent (Airport - CBD - North Shore) to include the Macquarie area.

2. Releases capacity to enable additional Western Line services to be provided.

Rail services commenced on the new Epping to Chatswood rail link in February 2009 providing rail access to the Macquarie Park/North Ryde employment corridor for the very first time. On average, more than 8,000 customers have been using the three new stations each weekday.

The introduction of a new timetable on Sunday 11 October 2009 integrated the link into the Northern Line.

North Sydney Station Upgrade: North Sydney has developed as Sydney's second CBD and Australia's fourth largest CBD. North Sydney station is the fifth busiest station on the CityRail network with approximately 49,000 people using this station each weekday. This station has been upgraded to reduce crowding, improve access for disabled or mobility restricted passengers and support future growth. Works were officially completed in January 2009.

Completed Rail Clearways Projects: Delivery of Phase 1 of the Rail Growth Plan will also integrate completed Rail Clearways projects including the Revesby Turnback and additional platform and stabling at Hornsby.

Phase 2 - Maximises capacity

The second stage of the Rail Growth Plan is to maximise available capacity. This involves:

  • Unlocking capacity by eliminating network bottlenecks. The delivery of the Rail Clearways infrastructure will allow all CBD lines to operate at maximum practical capacity. This will enable additional peak services to the CBD as well as service improvements on the Illawarra/Cronulla, East Hills, South, Bankstown, Inner West and West/Richmond lines.
  • Delivery of 626 new PPP carriages, including the build up of all remaining 6 car trains to 8 car trains and additional trains for growth.
  • All suburban trains on the network will be modern, air-conditioned and comfortable with high capacity to seat up to 900 passengers per train.

Phase 2 of the Rail Growth Plan requires delivery of the following new assets:

Rail Clearways Plan: This NSW Government initiative will strengthen reliability and increase capacity on the CityRail network, presently recognised as one of the most complex in the world.

Waratah trains: Purchase of 626 modern, air-conditioned carriages to replace the remainder of the non air-conditioned carriages as well as provide additional carriages for growth. These carriages will provide customers with a more comfortable journey.

Stage 3 Oscars: RailCorp will purchase a further 74 Oscars to provide further benefits to the CityRail network in outer suburban and intercity areas. These state-of-the-art trains are an important part of the Government's plan to upgrade the CityRail fleet to further improve safety, capacity, reliability and comfort of passengers.