The Rail Clearways Programme was conceived in 2004 with the aim of easing congestion of Sydney's suburban railway network, by reducing the amount of infrastructure shared by multiple services. The disparate projects at pinch points throughout the network were designed to increase passenger capacity and improve reliability. All projects were delivered by the

Transport Construction Authority The Transport Construction Authority (TCA), formerly Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (TIDC) prior to July 2010, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that was responsible for new railway projects in the city of Sydney ...

until it was subsumed in November 2011 by

Transport for New South Wales Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...

. A new timetable was introduced in October 2013 that realised the benefit of many of the projects, and by January 2014—the programme was complete.

Conception

In the mid-2000s, the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party o ...

suffered heavy criticism for its perceived mishandling of the Sydney rail network, which had very poor on-time performance following the January 2003

Waterfall train disaster The Waterfall rail accident was a train accident that occurred on 31 January 2003 near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia. The train derailed, killing seven people aboard, including the train driver. The accident is famously remembered by s ...

. The safety regime introduced after this crash required drivers to stick to the speed limit, which often caused delays due to the expectations of the timetable for higher speeds. A slower timetable was introduced in September 2005, which significantly improving on-time running of services. The Clearways Programme was intended as the next step in improving the network.

Clearways routes

The Clearways Programme aimed to divide fourteen rail lines into five independent "clearways", reducing the heavily interwoven nature of the Sydney system. This was intended to isolate incidents to one part of the network so other lines would still run as scheduled. The "clearways" feed the existing lines through the

Sydney Central Business District 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 referr ...

. As the

Carlingford Line The Carlingford railway line was a railway line in Sydney, Australia. It was opened from Clyde to Subiaco (later renamed Camellia) in January 1885, then by means of the construction of a bridge across the Parramatta River, to Carlingford in ...

does not run through the CBD, it was not included in a "clearway". Track upgrades to the Carlingford Line were still included in the programme, but this was cancelled in the November 2008 Mini-Budget.Mini-Budget 2008/09 page 25
New South Wales Treasury November 2008 The Carlingford Line has since closed for Light Rail conversion. The five clearways routes are:

Clearway 1: Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra

This route did not change from the pre-Clearways Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line. The projects undertaken on this route have increased passenger capacity.

Clearway 2: Bankstown

After the Airport Line opened in May 2000, most trains from the

East Hills line The East Hills railway line serves the southern and south-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The line opened to East Hills in 1931 and was extended to connect to the Main South line in 1987. Most services along the line form part of the Air ...

used the new line to approach the city, easing congestion on the older line between Sydenham and Erskineville, where tracks are shared with

Bankstown Line The Bankstown Line (numbered T3, coloured orange) is a commuter rail line operated by Sydney Trains in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It serves Canterbury-Bankstown and parts of the Inner West and Western Sydney. The Bankstown railway ...

services. Under the programme, new dedicated tracks for the Bankstown Line between Sydenham and Erskineville were to be constructed to the west of the existing four tracks to allow express East Hills Line trains from Clearway 3 to again run via Sydenham. The Airport Line would be served by all-stops East Hills Line trains from Clearway 4. St. Peters and Erskineville railway stations were expected to continue to be served by the Bankstown Line. This would have required platforms—partially completed in the 1970s from the Eastern Suburbs Line construction—to have been activated at these two stations. The works were cancelled in November 2008, and the plan for frequent operation of express East Hills Line services via Sydenham was abandoned. A second Bankstown Line project involved the construction of a new turn-back platform at

Lidcombe Lidcombe is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lidcombe is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Cumberland Council, with a small industrial part in the north ...

, separating the Bankstown Line's operations from the former Inner West Line (later part of the Airport, Inner West & South Line). This works in concert with the Homebush turn-back project, which provides a terminating point for all stations trains on the Airport, Inner West & South Line. This separation was enacted in the October 2013 timetable. The turn-back platform at Lidcombe was also marked in 2012 as a terminal for Sydney Metro Southwest, with original plans to convert the

through to

and

Cabramatta Cabramatta ('Cabra') is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Cabramatta is located south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. Cabramatta ...

into

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...

. This plan has since been altered to have

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...

as the terminus of the Metro line.

Clearway 3: Campbelltown Express and Clearway 4: Airport & South

The Campbelltown Express Clearway would have separated the section of the

East Hills Line The East Hills railway line serves the southern and south-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The line opened to East Hills in 1931 and was extended to connect to the Main South line in 1987. Most services along the line form part of the Air ...

west of Revesby by quadruplicating between Kingsgrove and Revesby and sending express trains to the

City Circle The City Circle is a mostly-underground railway line located in the Sydney central business district and Haymarket, in New South Wales, Australia, that forms the core of Sydney's passenger rail network. The lines are owned by the Transport A ...

via Sydenham. This was to allow more frequent express services to the city, relieve pressure on other parts of the network and improve the distribution of passengers. On the Airport & South Clearway, express services would have begun at Glenfield and made their way through

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, Granville,

and

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A smal ...

stations to the

, while all-stations services to the City started at Homebush.Planned major Clearway routes
CityRail After passing through the City Circle, trains would have headed south-west via the Airport Line to Revesby (running parallel with the Campbelltown Express line from

Wolli Creek Wolli Creek () is an urban watercourse of the Cooks River catchment located in the southern suburbs of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Wolli Creek rises south of Narwee, within Beverly Hills Park, Beverly Hills, and fl ...

to Revesby). In the October 2013 timetable, these two clearways were merged to create the Airport, Inner West & South Line. Differences from the original plan include via-Revesby and via-Granville trains sharing tracks between Glenfield and Macarthur, and all-stations and express trains via-Revesby sharing tracks between Revesby and Central. Most trains from Macarthur via Revesby use the local (pre-existing) tracks between Revesby and Wolli Creek, and make a number of stops along the route. These trains approach the City via the Airport. The route via-Sydenham and the express tracks between Wolli Creek and Revesby are only used by a limited number of peak-hour services as well as NSW Trains services to

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Griffith and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

. In the November 2017 timetable, in addition to peak-hour trains from Macarthur via Sydenham utilising the express tracks between Wolli Creek and Revesby, most Macarthur via Airport services throughout the day now operate via the express tracks, resulting in the full separation of Macarthur express trains from Revesby all-stations trains which continue to use the local tracks. This has resulted in the removal of express trains for

Padstow Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately northwest of Wadebridge, northwest of Bodmin and ...

and

Riverwood Riverwood may refer to: Places ;Australia *Riverwood, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia **Riverwood railway station ;United States * Riverwood, Indiana * Riverwood, Kentucky * Riverwood, Oregon * Riverwoods, Illinois * Riverwood (Nash ...

as the express tracks are unable to serve those stations where there are no platforms.

Clearway 5: North West

The North West Clearway provides an independent corridor for the

North Shore & Western Line The North Shore & Western Line (numbered T1, coloured orange) is a commuter rail line operated by Sydney Trains in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It serves the North Shore, parts of the Inner West and Western Suburbs. It was previo ...

and

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, t ...

to improve reliability and capacity. Trains from the west start from the

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, Californi ...

, Penrith or Epping branches, meet up at Strathfield and travel through the city to Chatswood. Here trains used to split, either continuing up the North Shore Line to Berowra, or via the Chatswood to Epping Line to Hornsby, prior to its conversion to

Sydney Metro Northwest 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 Ra ...

in 2018.

Projects

Many infrastructure upgrades needed to be completed in order to implement the Clearways plan. These projects included upgrading stations, adding extra tracks, stabling facilities, or upgrading junctions. The projects were:

Non-clearways projects

Other projects of the era which were not part of the Rail Clearways programme: *

Epping to Chatswood railway line The Epping to Chatswood rail link (ECRL) (originally a part of the Parramatta Rail Link (PRL) proposal) is a railway line in the northern suburbs of Sydney, Australia, which connects Epping station on the Northern line with Chatswood on the N ...

– opened February 2009 *

Southern Sydney Freight Line The Southern Sydney Freight Line (SSFL) is a freight only railway line in the south-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The line was built to segregate freight trains from the Sydney Trains network. It forms part of a dedicated freight only c ...

by the

Australian Rail Track Corporation The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation spanning 8,500km across five states, 39 worksites and more than 50 First Nations. ...

– gives freight services their own dedicated line through southern Sydney – opened January 2013 *

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. Descr ...

– includes an additional platform at Glenfield and a flyover at Glenfield North Junction – opened February 2015 * Northern Sydney Freight Corridor – a series of projects to increase capacity for freight services – completed June 2016 Resignalling: * Sefton – completed January 2006 * Oatley –

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydne ...

– completed April 2010 * North Sydney –

St Leonards St Leonards may refer to: Places Australia *St Leonards, New South Wales **St Leonards railway station *St Leonards, Tasmania, suburb of Launceston *St Leonards, Victoria Canada *St. Leonard's, Newfoundland and Labrador New Zealand * St L ...

Cancelled projects included: * Redfern to Chatswood line – announced in 2005, cancelled in 2008 *

CBD Relief Line The CBD Relief Line, also known as the Western Express Rail, 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 s ...

– announced in 2010, cancelled in 2011

References

{{Reflist

External links

Flickr gallery showing construction of Rail Clearways projects
Rail infrastructure in New South Wales Railway lines in Sydney Sydney Trains