The CBD Relief Line, also known as the Western Express Rail, was a proposed underground railway line through the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

. 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 The Main Suburban railway line is the technical name for the trunk railway line between Redfern railway station and Parramatta railway station in Sydney, Australia, but now generally refers to the section between Redfern and where the Old Main S ...

, which would have increased that line's capacity. The line included proposed stations or platforms at Redfern (new platforms),

Railway Square Railway Square is a plaza at the southern end of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia, formed by the confluence of Broadway, Sydney, Broadway, Lee Street, Pitt Street and George Street, Sydney, George Street. The squa ...

, City West and Wynyard (new platforms).

Earlier proposals

In 2005, the Carr Government announced the Metropolitan Rail Expansion Program which consisted of three new lines - the

North West Rail Link Sydney Metro Northwest was a rapid transit project involving the construction of a rail line through the north-western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The line included the conversion of the existing Epping to Chatswood Rail Li ...

South West Rail Link The South West Rail Link is a railway line serving the developing suburbs of south-western Sydney, Australia between Glenfield and Leppington. Services form part of the Sydney Trains commuter rail network. It opened on 8 February 2015. Descri ...

and

CBD Rail Link CBD Rail Link may refer to: *City Rail Link, a proposed rail tunnel in Auckland, New Zealand * Redfern to Chatswood railway line, a proposed rail link in Sydney, Australia *CBD Relief Line The CBD Relief Line, also known as the Western Expres ...

. These three new lines were intended to expand the capacity of the

CityRail CityRail was a passenger railway brand operated by the State Rail Authority from 1989 to 2003 and by RailCorp from 2003 to 2013 with services in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities in New South Wales, Australia ...

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 Sydney Metro was a proposed rapid transit railway network in Sydney, intended to connect the central business district (CBD) with the inner and outer city suburbs Rouse Hill, Westmead, Malabar and lower North Shore. Initially proposed in 200 ...

. 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 Sydney Metro was a proposed rapid transit railway network in Sydney, intended to connect the central business district (CBD) with the inner and outer city suburbs Rouse Hill, Westmead, Malabar and lower North Shore. Initially proposed in 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 Chatswood to Epping lines to the north and either the

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

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 Illawarra Junction is a major railway junction located near the Eveleigh Railway Workshops, in the inner western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This complex junction joins a number of different lines and yards. There are two ...

. 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 Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

lines to provide faster & more frequent travel between the

Sydney CBD The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or city centre is often refer ...

, the

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

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 Liberal–National 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 Liberal–National O'Farrell Government cancelled the project.Saulwick, J
No rail plans for Barangaroo's commuters
,

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

, 16 June 2011. The Liberal–National government later proposed the

Sydney Metro City & Southwest Sydney Metro City & Southwest is a rapid transit project currently under-construction in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The project will extend the Metro North West Line from on the North Shore, to in the city's south-west via the Sydne ...

, a

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

line that also bypasses existing stations in the CBD.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cbd Relief Line Cancelled projects in Australia Proposed railway lines in Australia Railway lines in Sydney Underground commuter rail

Earlier proposals

Concept

Cancellation

See also

References