Main Suburban railway line

The Main Suburban railway line is an important railway in Sydney, Australia. It runs between Redfern railway station and Parramatta railway station. This line helps connect many places in Sydney.

Originally, the line went all the way from Redfern to Parramatta, but now people usually talk about the part from Redfern to where the Old Main South Line splits off at Granville Junction. After that point, the tracks become part of the Main Western line, heading toward the Blue Mountains.

This line is special because it is different from other lines like the Illawarra Line, which goes south to Wollongong, and the North Shore line, which goes north over the Harbour Bridge. These lines all help people travel around Sydney easily.

History

The Main Suburban line between Redfern and Granville was the first railway line built in New South Wales. The Sydney Railway Company started this project in 1849, aiming to connect Sydney to Parramatta. They sold shares and surveyed a route, with construction beginning in 1850.

Different engineers worked on the project, changing the railway’s width several times. The company faced many challenges, including rising costs and a gold rush that made it hard to get resources. Eventually, the government took over in 1855. The line opened later that year, running from Sydney to near Granville Station, with stops at Newtown, Ashfield, Burwood, and Homebush.

Over time, the line was expanded. By 1893, it had four tracks up to Flemington. In 1927, the section from Redfern to Homebush grew to six tracks, adding two for express trains. Electrification came in stages, with full electrification by 1955. In the 1960s, new double-deck cars replaced older wooden ones.

Description of route

The Main Suburban railway line starts at Illawarra Junction near Redfern station, where it meets the Illawarra railway line. It has three pairs of electric tracks, making six in total, that run west through Sydney’s inner western suburbs to Strathfield. These tracks are called Up and Down Main, Up and Down Suburban, and Up and Down Local.

The Main tracks are express routes without stops between Redfern and Burwood, used for fast NSW TrainLink and some T9 Northern services. The Suburban tracks have some stops and mostly carry T1 North Shore & Western and T9 Northern trains. The Local tracks stop at every station and are used by T2 Leppington & Inner West Line and T3 Liverpool & Inner West Line services.

At Strathfield, the line connects with the Main North line. There are also links for freight trains and other lines like the Olympic Park line and the Sydney Freight Network. Further along, the line reaches Lidcombe, where it connects to the Main Southern railway line. The route continues past places like Auburn and ends at Granville, where it splits to join either the Main Western Line or the Old Main South line.

Stations