CBD Relief Line
Encyclopedia
The CBD Relief Line was a proposed underground railway line through the Sydney central business district
. The line was intended to augment the existing city underground network and ease congestion at some of the city's busiest stations. The new line was proposed to link to the Main Suburban railway line, which would have increased that line's capacity.
The line included proposed stations at:
Labor Government announced the Metropolitan Rail Expansion Program which consisted of three new lines - the North West Rail Link, South West Rail Link and CBD Rail Link. These three new lines were intended to expand the capacity of the CityRail
network and extend it to serve new areas. In 2008 the CBD Rail Link and North West Rail Link were cancelled and replaced by the North West Metro
. This was to be an entirely new system with no link to the CityRail network. In 2009 the North West Metro was modified and truncated to form the CBD Metro
. In 2010 the CBD Metro was cancelled and replaced by the CBD Relief Line.
The CBD Relief Line would have connected to the existing network via the "Main" pair of tracks of the Main Suburban line at the Illawarra Junction. The "Mains" can currently only be accessed by suburban trains by means of a flat junction from the "Suburban" pair of tracks, creating a bottleneck and meaning the "Mains" are not used to their full capacity. By removing the need to cross the flat junction, more suburban trains would have been able to use the "Mains" which would have freed up additional capacity on the "Suburbans" and on the existing CBD lines.
The proposed operational arrangement was dubbed "Western Express". This concept envisaged limited stops trains commencing from Wynyard, then utilising the CBD Relief Line, the "Main" pair of tracks on the Main Suburban line and the Western and Richmond branch lines to provide faster & more frequent travel between the Sydney CBD, the Parramatta CBD and the outer Western Suburbs. The Government claimed this would enable a 5 minute reduction in travel time and a 90% capacity improvement between Wynyard and Parramatta, and a 10 minute reduction in travel time and a 50% capacity improvement between Wynyard and Penrith or the Richmond branch line.
Government cancelled the project.
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
. The line was intended to augment the existing city underground network and ease congestion at some of the city's busiest stations. The new line was proposed to link to the Main Suburban railway line, which would have increased that line's capacity.
The line included proposed stations at:
- Redfern (new platforms)
- Railway Square
- City West
- WynyardWynyard railway station, SydneyWynyard is a major underground CityRail station in the central business district of Sydney, Australia, 2.05 km from Central. Wynyard averages 108000 passenger movements per day Monday to Friday.-History:The station opened on 28 February 1932...
(new platforms)
Earlier proposals
In 2005 the NSWNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
Labor Government announced the Metropolitan Rail Expansion Program which consisted of three new lines - the North West Rail Link, South West Rail Link and CBD Rail Link. These three new lines were intended to expand the capacity of the CityRail
CityRail
CityRail is an operating brand of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is...
network and extend it to serve new areas. In 2008 the CBD Rail Link and North West Rail Link were cancelled and replaced by the North West Metro
North West Metro
North West Metro was a proposal for a rail link from the north west suburbs of Sydney, Australia to the Sydney CBD. It would have connected Rouse Hill with Epping and the Sydney CBD...
. This was to be an entirely new system with no link to the CityRail network. In 2009 the North West Metro was modified and truncated to form the CBD Metro
CBD Metro
CBD Metro was a proposed metro line running in Sydney, Australia announced on 23 October 2008. It was to be undertaken by the NSW State Government and was placed on a short-list of projects to be funded by Infrastructure Australia's Building Australia Fund in December 2008...
. In 2010 the CBD Metro was cancelled and replaced by the CBD Relief Line.
Concept
Like the original CBD Rail Link proposal, the CBD Relief Line was intended to be integrated into the CityRail network. The CBD Relief Line was proposed to utilise the MetroWest corridor, terminate at Wynyard and link into the Western line. This differed from the CBD Rail Link which utilised the MetroPitt corridor and crossed the harbour to link into the North Shore and Epping to Chatswood lines to the north and either the Airport or Campbelltown Express lines to the south.The CBD Relief Line would have connected to the existing network via the "Main" pair of tracks of the Main Suburban line at the Illawarra Junction. The "Mains" can currently only be accessed by suburban trains by means of a flat junction from the "Suburban" pair of tracks, creating a bottleneck and meaning the "Mains" are not used to their full capacity. By removing the need to cross the flat junction, more suburban trains would have been able to use the "Mains" which would have freed up additional capacity on the "Suburbans" and on the existing CBD lines.
The proposed operational arrangement was dubbed "Western Express". This concept envisaged limited stops trains commencing from Wynyard, then utilising the CBD Relief Line, the "Main" pair of tracks on the Main Suburban line and the Western and Richmond branch lines to provide faster & more frequent travel between the Sydney CBD, the Parramatta CBD and the outer Western Suburbs. The Government claimed this would enable a 5 minute reduction in travel time and a 90% capacity improvement between Wynyard and Parramatta, and a 10 minute reduction in travel time and a 50% capacity improvement between Wynyard and Penrith or the Richmond branch line.
Cancellation
In early 2011, the then state opposition indicated it would defer the project, preferring to instead focus on the North West Rail Link. After winning the March 2011 state election the Barry O'FarrellBarry O'Farrell
Barry Robert O'Farrell MP, is an Australian politician and is the 43rd Premier of New South Wales, Minister for Western Sydney, Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Ku-ring-gai for the Liberal Party since 1999.Born in...
Government cancelled the project.
See also
- West MetroWest MetroWest Metro was a proposed metro line running from the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia to the Sydney CBD. It was to be undertaken by the NSW State Government. The concept was for the metro line to link Parramatta with the Sydney CBD within 25 minutes of travel time...
- an earlier proposal with overlapping aims. - Western FastRailWestern FastRailWestern FastRail is a proposed $2 billion privately funded underground and above-ground train line that would link central Sydney with Western Sydney independent from the CityRail network. Western FastRail is being backed by a consortium led by businessman and former union leader Michael Easson,...
- a fast rail line between the outer Western Suburbs and the CBD, proposed by the private sector.