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Bondi Junction railway station is located on the Eastern Suburbs line, serving the
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
suburb of
Bondi Junction Bondi Junction is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Waverley. Bondi Junction is a largely comm ...
. It is served by
Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the operator of the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid urban-suburban rail system with a central underground core that covers over of track and 170 ...
T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line services and
NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Queensland and South Austral ...
South Coast Line services.


History

As a long-standing major commercial area in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
's east, a railway line had long been considered to
Bondi Junction Bondi Junction is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Waverley. Bondi Junction is a largely comm ...
. The suburb was variously proposed to have been the intermediate or the ultimate terminus of an Eastern Suburbs Railway since 1916. In 1967, tenders were awarded for the construction of the Eastern Suburbs line as far as Bondi Junction. Construction began shortly thereafter.


Construction plans

Although a subway station, construction required the demolition of a block of mixed commercial-residential buildings to permit staging of the project, the construction of a works compound and, once the railway was completed, to be the location of the bus interchange facility. The line was to eventually be constructed to Kingsford, but the first stage would run only so far as Bondi Junction. As the planned interim terminus of the line, terminus facilities were provided at the station. These consisted of a turnback tunnel between the main running tunnels and a trailing crossover. An underground shopping complex was proposed to be constructed at the concourse level of the station (similar to that which exists at
Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.
). Additionally, an underground walkway would be provided to the then proposed (later constructed) Bondi Junction Plaza shopping centre.


Construction realities

Construction of the Eastern Suburbs Railway generally proceeded from the Erskineville tunnel portals to Bondi Junction. As such Bondi Junction was the last developed station site. In 1976, the Wran Government sought to reduce costs on the railway's construction. As a result of an
inquiry An inquiry (also spelled as enquiry in British English) is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ...
by an Eastern Suburbs Railway Board of Review, a number of recommendations were made and accepted by the government. Relevantly these included: *Eastern Suburbs Railway not be constructed beyond Bondi Junction and the route to Kingsford be abandoned *Line be fully integrated with the Illawarra line (not be run independently) *Shopping centre on the station concourse not be constructed *Tunnel to the Bondi Junction Plaza not be constructed *Level of finish at the station be reduced and only four escalators be provided from the concourse level to the platform level *Scale of the bus interchange be reduced As a result of these changes, Bondi Junction became the permanent terminus of the Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra railway lines. However no provision was made for an upgraded turnback facility.


Opening

The Eastern Suburbs Railway was opened on 23 June 1979 by the
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
, Neville Wran.Bondi Junction railway station
NSW Environment & Heritage


Rebuilding the Bus Interchange

The bus interchange facility opened in 1979 was basic. The location of the station meant the land and airspace on which it was located was highly valuable. This in turn led to various proposal throughout the 1990s to sell the airspace and redevelop the interchange. In 1998, Woollahra Council, then controlling the site of the bus interchange, finalised an agreement to sell the airspace above the site to
Meriton Meriton is an Australian property developer and construction company founded by Harry Triguboff AO, its managing director, in 1963. Meriton sells apartments and also operates serviced apartments accommodation under its Meriton Suites brand i ...
who commenced construction of a new bus interchange together with two residential apartment towers and a small shopping centre in April 1999. The new interchange was temporarily opened in September 2000 for the
Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...
but subsequently closed for further work. The new bus interchange, two apartment towers and the shopping centre opened in July 2001. The shopping centre known as Tiffany Plaza (renamed to Meriton Retail Precinct Bondi Junction in 2018) featured a
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
outlet, a gym, a child care centre and seven other retailers. Reconstruction of the bus terminal altered the locations of commuter access to the station concourse. As such, alterations were required to the station concourse. The resulting renovation of Bondi Junction station primarily involved upgrading station staff facilities, the installation of toilets and the general updating of the station, hitherto a time capsule to the 1970s. The renovation was conducted coincidentally with the Easy Access upgrade to the station and the replacement of the original
incandescent Incandescence is the emission of electromagnetic radiation (including visible light) from a hot body as a result of its high temperature. The term derives from the Latin verb ''incandescere,'' to glow white. A common use of incandescence i ...
lamp platform indicators with
plasma display A plasma display panel (PDP) is a type of flat panel display that uses small cells containing plasma: ionized gas that responds to electric fields. Plasma televisions were the first large (over 32 inches diagonal) flat panel displays to be rele ...
indicators.


Clearways Project upgrade

Constructed as a part of the Rail Clearways Program, a second turnback facility was built. The major work consisted of the construction of a new crossover tunnel on the city side of the station. This created an X shaped or
diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...
junction allowing terminating trains to arrive at either platform. The changes allowed the full line capacity of 20 trains per hour to be turned at Bondi Junction, the prior limit being 14. In addition, extra stabling facilities were provided by utilitising unused sections of tunnels beyond the station. These tunnels were constructed on anticipation of continued tunnelling towards Kingsford. They have had track laid and overhead wire installed for a length of two eight-car trains in each tunnel. This gives a total stabling capacity of five eight-car trains (two in each siding and one in the turnback tunnel). Complementing the stabling capacity at the station is the erection of a staff meal and waiting room on the platform level. Construction began on the site in October 2004 with the station was closed and trains terminated at Edgecliff. Commissioning took place in April 2006.Bondi Junction Turnback Project Profile
Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation


Platforms & services


Transport links

Bondi Junction Interchange All routes are operated by Transdev John Holland except routes 389 and 440 which are operated by
Transit Systems Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group. History ...
.


References


External links


Bondi Junction Station
at Transport for New South Wales (Archive
10 June 2019

Bondi Junction station Public Transport Map
Transport for NSW
Turnback construction
Flickr gallery {{Transport for New South Wales railway stations, Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra=y, South Coast=y, state=collapsed Easy Access railway stations in Sydney Railway stations in Australia opened in 1979 Railway stations located underground in Sydney Bondi Junction, New South Wales Eastern Suburbs railway line