Olympic Park railway station is located on the Olympic Park line, serving the Sydney suburb of

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council. It i ...

. It is served by

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...

' T7 Olympic Park Line services. The station is also frequently used to terminate trains from other lines during periods of trackwork.

History

Olympic Park station is now the only station functioning on the Olympic Park railway line, originally built as the Abattoirs Branch line to serve the state abattoirs and associated sale yards located in the area that is now Sydney Olympic Park. The line closed in stages in 1984 and 1995 when these facilities moved out of the area. After the last passenger service on the line was withdrawn in 1995, the line was rebuilt and realigned in places to serve the new stadiums and sports grounds that were being built for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Olympic Park station opened in 1998 at the same time as the new Sydney Showground nearby, which is used each year for the

Sydney Royal Easter Show The Sydney Royal Easter Show, commonly shortened to The Easter Show or The Show, is an annual show held in Sydney, Australia over two weeks around the Easter period. First held in 1823, it comprises an agricultural show, an amusement park and a ...

. As well as Easter Show attendees, the station was designed to support large crowds travelling to and from the stadiums and sports grounds in Olympic Park. After the 2000 Olympic Games, most of the sporting facilities were retained and adapted to recreational, entertainment and domestic competition uses. The Easter Show also continues to draw large crowds each year. In addition, the Sydney Olympic Park area has seen high density residential developments, as well as the development of hotels, offices and shops. As a result, in addition to transporting crowds attending sporting and other events, Olympic Park station now also fulfils a workday commuter role.

Design and construction

The station is located on a single track

balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

spur line, but the station itself has 2 tracks and 4 platform faces. Ordinarily, the centre island platform is used for both boarding and alighting, but this changes when the station is operating in major event mode. In this mode, the centre island platform is used by alighting passengers and the two side platforms are brought into use for boarding passengers. It was built by

Leighton Contractors CIMIC Group Limited (formerly Leighton Holdings) is an engineering-led construction, mining, services and public private partnerships leader working across the lifecycle of assets, infrastructure and resources projects. History Founded in 194 ...

. It was opened by

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the New South Wales Labor Party, New South Wales branch of the A ...

on 8 March 1998. The design of the station by

Hassell Hassell is a multidisciplinary architecture, design and urban planning practice with offices in Australia, China, Singapore, USA and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1937/8 in Adelaide, South Australia, the firm's former names include Claridge, Ha ...

has been critically acclaimed by many. It won the 1998 BHP Colorbond Award for innovative use of steel architecture, and the 1998

Sir John Sulman Medal The Sir John Sulman Medal for Public Architecture is an architectural award presented by the New South Wales chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects since 1932. The medal is sometimes referred to as the Sulman Award and now recognise ...

, from the

Royal Australian Institute of Architects The Australian Institute of Architects, officially the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (abbreviated as RAIA), is Australia's professional body for architects. Its members use the post-nominals FRAIA (Fellow), ARAIA (Associate Member) an ...

. In 2023 the station was awarded the New South Wales Enduring Architecture Award in recognition of its design, innovation and longevity, a significant work of public architecture used regularly and enjoyed by millions of visitors to Sydney Olympic Park over 25 years.

Platforms and services

During special events such as the

, special services to/from Lidcombe,

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in New South Wales, Australia, west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Sydney, Greater Sydney. History Before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the area of ...

, Schofields & Penrith on the T1

North Shore & Western Line The North Shore & Western Line (numbered T1, coloured orange) is a commuter rail service operated by Sydney Trains, serving the North Shore, parts of the Inner West and Western Suburbs of Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the State ...

and

Leppington Leppington is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Leppington is located 52 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government areas of the City of Li ...

on the T2

Inner West & Leppington Line The Leppington & Inner West Line (numbered T2, coloured light blue) is a commuter rail service operated by Sydney Trains, serving the inner west and south-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The service commences from the City Circle, headi ...

, may operate to/from any of the four platforms.

Transport links

Busways Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney, and in the Central Coast, Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales and Adelaide. It is the largest privately owned bus operator in Australia. History The origins of Busw ...

operates two bus routes via Olympic Park station, under

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

: *525: Strathfield station to Parramatta station *533: to Chatswood station

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 ...

operates one bus route via Olympic Park station, under contract to Transport for NSW: *526: Strathfield station to Olympic Park wharf and

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

Sydney Olympic Park metro station will be located to the north of the current station and is planned to open in 2032.

References

External links

Olympic Park station details
Transport for New South Wales {{Transport for New South Wales railway stations, Olympic Park=y, state=collapsed Easy Access railway stations in Sydney Railway stations in Australia opened in 1998 2000 Summer Olympics Sydney Olympic Park Buildings and structures awarded the Sir John Sulman Medal Olympic Park railway line