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Eastern Suburbs railway line
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Eastern Suburbs railway line
The Eastern Suburbs Railway (ESR) is a commuter railway line in Sydney constructed in the 1970s. It is operated by Sydney Trains and has stations at Martin Place, Kings Cross, Edgecliff and Bondi Junction. In addition, it has dedicated platforms at Town Hall, Central and Redfern stations. All of these stations are underground. The Eastern Suburbs railway connects with the Illawarra line at Erskineville, forming the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line. The line features turnbacks at Central, Martin Place and Bondi Junction. There was also previously a rarely used cross-over at Edgecliff. It operates a service every 3 to 5 minutes during weekday peak hours and 8 to 10 minutes at all other times.
The twin-track Eastern Suburbs line consists of eight stations connected mainly by viaduct and tunnel. The stations are finished in terrazzo and colourful tiles.
From a tunnel portal north of Erskineville, the Eastern Suburbs line runs north to Redfern, then Central. The line then heads north-west to Town Hall, then east to Martin Place before emerging near the Art Gallery of New South Wales onto a viaduct across the suburb of Woolloomooloo. The line goes back underground at Kings Cross, before emerging onto a viaduct across Rushcutters Bay. The line goes back underground at Edgecliff, then heads south-east through tunnel to emerge at a cutting in Woollahra, the site of a vestigial station. The lines go back underground at Bondi Junction.
Proposals for a line to the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney had first been associated with demands in the 1860s that the railway be extended into Sydney's city, rather than terminating at the original Sydney station on the south of city. However, priorities in connecting country areas, and the high cost of a city railway meant that such plans were put aside. In the 1880s, the population of the Eastern Suburbs was small, and a railway would not have been viable. Successive Royal Commissions in 1890 & 1896 recommended a railway be built into the city, with the provision for an Eastern Suburbs extension, but both requests were ignored. Preference at the time, however, was for tramway construction: The Tramways Extension Bill 1880 was passed in 1880 and the tramway network in the Eastern Suburbs spread rapidly, reaching Bondi Beach in 1894, Rose Bay in 1898 and Watsons Bay in 1909. Two other tram lines were also built to Randwick.
The Eastern Suburbs Railway was a part of engineer Dr John Bradfield's scheme for Sydney's railways (the Bradfield Scheme). The alignment and profile for the line was set in 1926 and construction on the railway was started by the NSW Department of Railways. Construction commenced with the building of stub tunnels at St James station. These tunnels ran southward from St James rising to clear the City Circle lines and turned east towards the Eastern Suburbs. They then halted pending further construction after the completion of the railway from Central to St James and Wynyard.
The railway was planned to continue approximately parallel to Oxford Street to Bondi Junction. However, the intervention of the Great Depression and World War II halted construction on all Bradfield's plans including the Eastern Suburbs Railway causing its abandonment.
Post War, the construction of the railway returned to government agenda. Two lines would be built: one proceeding on a viaduct out to Kings Cross, then eventually to Bondi Beach. Another line would head from St James via Taylor Square and the Sydney Cricket Ground, extending to Kingsford, with a proposal to extend from Taylor Square to Coogee.
The City and Suburban Electric Railways (Amendment) Act, Act No. 13 of 1947, made provision for the construction of further electric railways in the City of Sydney, serving the eastern, southern and south eastern suburbs. This Act amended the earlier scheme proposed by Bradfield in 1916, which had provided for the previous construction work. The City and Suburban Electric Railways (Amendment) Act of 1947 made provision for the construction of 44 miles (71 km) of new suburban electric railways. New construction was carried out including the construction of four underground platforms beside Central Station at Chalmers Street (only two would be used for the Eastern Suburbs line, the other two would be used for the Southern Suburbs line). These works were a diversion from Bradfield's plan which had trains emanating from St James not Central. Further, instead of running parallel to Oxford Street, the line would run via Kings Cross to Bondi Junction. The second stage of works would extend the line through North Bondi (Muriverie Road Station) and Rose Bay (Dover Road Station).
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Eastern Suburbs railway line
The Eastern Suburbs Railway (ESR) is a commuter railway line in Sydney constructed in the 1970s. It is operated by Sydney Trains and has stations at Martin Place, Kings Cross, Edgecliff and Bondi Junction. In addition, it has dedicated platforms at Town Hall, Central and Redfern stations. All of these stations are underground. The Eastern Suburbs railway connects with the Illawarra line at Erskineville, forming the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line. The line features turnbacks at Central, Martin Place and Bondi Junction. There was also previously a rarely used cross-over at Edgecliff. It operates a service every 3 to 5 minutes during weekday peak hours and 8 to 10 minutes at all other times.
The twin-track Eastern Suburbs line consists of eight stations connected mainly by viaduct and tunnel. The stations are finished in terrazzo and colourful tiles.
From a tunnel portal north of Erskineville, the Eastern Suburbs line runs north to Redfern, then Central. The line then heads north-west to Town Hall, then east to Martin Place before emerging near the Art Gallery of New South Wales onto a viaduct across the suburb of Woolloomooloo. The line goes back underground at Kings Cross, before emerging onto a viaduct across Rushcutters Bay. The line goes back underground at Edgecliff, then heads south-east through tunnel to emerge at a cutting in Woollahra, the site of a vestigial station. The lines go back underground at Bondi Junction.
Proposals for a line to the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney had first been associated with demands in the 1860s that the railway be extended into Sydney's city, rather than terminating at the original Sydney station on the south of city. However, priorities in connecting country areas, and the high cost of a city railway meant that such plans were put aside. In the 1880s, the population of the Eastern Suburbs was small, and a railway would not have been viable. Successive Royal Commissions in 1890 & 1896 recommended a railway be built into the city, with the provision for an Eastern Suburbs extension, but both requests were ignored. Preference at the time, however, was for tramway construction: The Tramways Extension Bill 1880 was passed in 1880 and the tramway network in the Eastern Suburbs spread rapidly, reaching Bondi Beach in 1894, Rose Bay in 1898 and Watsons Bay in 1909. Two other tram lines were also built to Randwick.
The Eastern Suburbs Railway was a part of engineer Dr John Bradfield's scheme for Sydney's railways (the Bradfield Scheme). The alignment and profile for the line was set in 1926 and construction on the railway was started by the NSW Department of Railways. Construction commenced with the building of stub tunnels at St James station. These tunnels ran southward from St James rising to clear the City Circle lines and turned east towards the Eastern Suburbs. They then halted pending further construction after the completion of the railway from Central to St James and Wynyard.
The railway was planned to continue approximately parallel to Oxford Street to Bondi Junction. However, the intervention of the Great Depression and World War II halted construction on all Bradfield's plans including the Eastern Suburbs Railway causing its abandonment.
Post War, the construction of the railway returned to government agenda. Two lines would be built: one proceeding on a viaduct out to Kings Cross, then eventually to Bondi Beach. Another line would head from St James via Taylor Square and the Sydney Cricket Ground, extending to Kingsford, with a proposal to extend from Taylor Square to Coogee.
The City and Suburban Electric Railways (Amendment) Act, Act No. 13 of 1947, made provision for the construction of further electric railways in the City of Sydney, serving the eastern, southern and south eastern suburbs. This Act amended the earlier scheme proposed by Bradfield in 1916, which had provided for the previous construction work. The City and Suburban Electric Railways (Amendment) Act of 1947 made provision for the construction of 44 miles (71 km) of new suburban electric railways. New construction was carried out including the construction of four underground platforms beside Central Station at Chalmers Street (only two would be used for the Eastern Suburbs line, the other two would be used for the Southern Suburbs line). These works were a diversion from Bradfield's plan which had trains emanating from St James not Central. Further, instead of running parallel to Oxford Street, the line would run via Kings Cross to Bondi Junction. The second stage of works would extend the line through North Bondi (Muriverie Road Station) and Rose Bay (Dover Road Station).
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