The original concept for the City Railway was part of a report dated 1915 submitted to the government by chief railway engineer, John Bradfield, upon his return from overseas study,[1] with work commencing the following year. His concepts were largely based on the New York City Subway, which he observed during his time in New York City.[2][3]
Built in stages, the first City Circle stations to open were the heritage-listed[4] Museum and St James, which both opened in 1926 as part of the initial electrification of Sydney railways. Next was the "western limb" through Town Hall and Wynyard, which opened in 1932 in conjunction with the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This section contains four tunnels. Two connected to the Harbour Bridge, while the two City Circle tunnels terminated at Wynyard. In 1956, the dead ends at St. James and Wynyard were joined and the "missing link", Circular Quay – was opened. Central and Circular Quay stations are above-ground (Circular Quay is elevated, directly underneath the Cahill Expressway), while the remainder are underground. Several unused railway tunnels also exist. The former tram tunnels at Wynyard, and other stub tunnels at St James are well known.
The original railway network for the Sydney CBD planned by John Bradfield, (left) and the network as it is today. The City Circle was built as planned and the Eastern Suburbs railway was built to a different alignment, though the Northern Beaches and Southern Suburbs line was never built.
The City Circle is double track throughout, although it forms four tracks at Central as there are two ends of the same track. The outer track is known as the "City Outer" and is used by trains travelling clockwise around the City Circle. In the direction of travel it passes through Central platform 17, Town Hall platform 6, Wynyard platform 6, Circular Quay platform 2, St James platform 2, Museum platform 2. Trains can then either proceed to Central platform 22 or 23, depending on which line they are running on. Similarly, the inner track is known as the "City Inner" and is used by trains travelling anti-clockwise. It starts from Central platform 20 or 21, again depending on which line a train is coming from. It then passes through Museum platform 1, St James platform 1, Circular Quay platform 1, Wynyard platform 5, Town Hall platform 1 then Central platform 19.
The current service patterns generally consist of trains from the Bankstown Line and the Inner West & Leppington Line operating via the City Circle Outer. Trains from the Airport & South Line generally operate via the City Circle Inner. Some Bankstown line trains also operate via the City Circle Inner on weekdays, especially during peak hours. A set of flying junctions at Central enable this pattern to be varied.
Prior to the integration of the Eastern Suburbs line into the Illawarra Line in 1980, Illawarra line trains also operated around the City Circle.
Trains on the Western and Northern lines usually do not proceed around the City Circle but instead, proceed across the Harbour Bridge to the North Shore line and vice versa.
Speed control and reduced overlapedit
For more information about signalling, see Australian railway signalling Up until the City Circle Resignalling of the 1990s, the western stations of the line were signalling such that a following train could enter the platform while the previous train was still departing. The signal granting access to the platform would show a restrictive aspect (probably calling-on - red over red over small amber - which indicates that the train can proceed but the block is not necessarily clear) and train stops spread along the platform would control the speed of the following train. This allowed these stations to deal with 42 trains per hour in either direction provided sub 40 second dwell times. The 1990s resignalling changed the older eastern stations to follow a similar operation. At some point the system was changed again to provide additional safety. Signals on the City Circle can no longer display a calling-on aspect, but can display low-speed (red over red over small green - which means that the block is clear but to proceed slowly, not exceeding 25 kilometres per hour (16 mph)). Consequently, trains can no longer enter the platform while a previous train is departing and the system cannot handle more than 20 trains per hour.
Original 1932 operation of speed controlled trips on the City Circle.
^ abForsyth, J. H., ed. (1988–1993). "Main Suburban & Branches – Illawarra & Branches". Stations & Tracks. 1. Sydney: State Rail Authority of New South Wales: 42–44. The Eastern Suburbs Railway platforms for Town Hall and Central stations opened 23 June 1979.
^Forsyth, J. H., ed. (1988–1993). "Main Suburban & Branches – Illawarra & Branches". Stations & Tracks. 1. Sydney: State Rail Authority of New South Wales: 42–44, 101–128, 206–208, passim, except where noted.
city, circle, other, uses, disambiguation, mostly, underground, railway, line, located, sydney, central, business, district, haymarket, south, wales, australia, that, forms, core, sydney, passenger, rail, network, lines, owned, transport, asset, holding, entit. For other uses see City Circle disambiguation 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 Asset Holding Entity a State government agency and operated under Transport for NSW s Sydney Trains brand Despite its name the City Circle is of a horseshoe shape with trains operating in a U shaped pattern The constituent stations of the Circle are clockwise Central Town Hall Wynyard Circular Quay St James Museum and back to Central City CircleTown Hall station a major interchange and one of the busiest stations on the City CircleOverviewOwnerTransport Asset Holding EntityTerminiCentralStations6ServiceServicesT2 Inner West amp Leppington LineT3 Bankstown LineT8 Airport amp South LineOperator s Sydney TrainsHistoryOpened20 December 1926 1926 12 20 first segment 22 January 1956 1956 01 22 entire loop TechnicalLine length6 km 3 7 mi Track gauge1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in standard gaugeRoute map Contents 1 History and description 2 Services and operations 2 1 Speed control and reduced overlap 2 2 Stations 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory and description editThe original concept for the City Railway was part of a report dated 1915 submitted to the government by chief railway engineer John Bradfield upon his return from overseas study 1 with work commencing the following year His concepts were largely based on the New York City Subway which he observed during his time in New York City 2 3 nbsp Construction of Museum station in 1925 using a cut and cover method Built in stages the first City Circle stations to open were the heritage listed 4 Museum and St James which both opened in 1926 as part of the initial electrification of Sydney railways Next was the western limb through Town Hall and Wynyard which opened in 1932 in conjunction with the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge This section contains four tunnels Two connected to the Harbour Bridge while the two City Circle tunnels terminated at Wynyard In 1956 the dead ends at St James and Wynyard were joined and the missing link Circular Quay was opened Central and Circular Quay stations are above ground Circular Quay is elevated directly underneath the Cahill Expressway while the remainder are underground Several unused railway tunnels also exist The former tram tunnels at Wynyard and other stub tunnels at St James are well known nbsp nbsp The original railway network for the Sydney CBD planned by John Bradfield left and the network as it is today The City Circle was built as planned and the Eastern Suburbs railway was built to a different alignment though the Northern Beaches and Southern Suburbs line was never built The City Circle is double track throughout although it forms four tracks at Central as there are two ends of the same track The outer track is known as the City Outer and is used by trains travelling clockwise around the City Circle In the direction of travel it passes through Central platform 17 Town Hall platform 6 Wynyard platform 6 Circular Quay platform 2 St James platform 2 Museum platform 2 Trains can then either proceed to Central platform 22 or 23 depending on which line they are running on Similarly the inner track is known as the City Inner and is used by trains travelling anti clockwise It starts from Central platform 20 or 21 again depending on which line a train is coming from It then passes through Museum platform 1 St James platform 1 Circular Quay platform 1 Wynyard platform 5 Town Hall platform 1 then Central platform 19 Services and operations editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources City Circle news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2020 Learn how and when to remove this message vteCity Circle nbsp All City Circle stations have wheelchair access Legend T1 North Shore amp Western Line T9 Northern Line nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Circular Quay Barangaroo nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Wynyard nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Martin Place nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp St James Town Hall nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Museum nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Central nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp T4 Eastern Suburbs amp Illawarra Line NSW TrainLink nbsp nbsp nbsp T8 Airport amp South Line T3 Bankstown Line nbsp T2 Inner West amp Leppington Line The current service patterns generally consist of trains from the Bankstown Line and the Inner West amp Leppington Line operating via the City Circle Outer Trains from the Airport amp South Line generally operate via the City Circle Inner Some Bankstown line trains also operate via the City Circle Inner on weekdays especially during peak hours A set of flying junctions at Central enable this pattern to be varied Prior to the integration of the Eastern Suburbs line into the Illawarra Line in 1980 Illawarra line trains also operated around the City Circle Trains on the Western and Northern lines usually do not proceed around the City Circle but instead proceed across the Harbour Bridge to the North Shore line and vice versa Speed control and reduced overlap edit For more information about signalling see Australian railway signalling Up until the City Circle Resignalling of the 1990s the western stations of the line were signalling such that a following train could enter the platform while the previous train was still departing The signal granting access to the platform would show a restrictive aspect probably calling on red over red over small amber which indicates that the train can proceed but the block is not necessarily clear and train stops spread along the platform would control the speed of the following train This allowed these stations to deal with 42 trains per hour in either direction provided sub 40 second dwell times The 1990s resignalling changed the older eastern stations to follow a similar operation At some point the system was changed again to provide additional safety Signals on the City Circle can no longer display a calling on aspect but can display low speed red over red over small green which means that the block is clear but to proceed slowly not exceeding 25 kilometres per hour 16 mph Consequently trains can no longer enter the platform while a previous train is departing and the system cannot handle more than 20 trains per hour nbsp Original 1932 operation of speed controlled trips on the City Circle Stations edit The line has six stations Name Code Distance fromCentral km Opened Notes km mi Central CEN 0 0 28 February 1855 5 6 7 Town Hall THL 1 21 0 75 28 February 1932 6 Wynyard WYD 2 05 1 27 28 February 1932 8 Circular Quay CQY 2 97 1 85 22 January 1956 9 St James SAJ 4 4 2 7 20 December 1926 10 11 Museum MSM 4 99 3 10 20 December 1926 11 12 4 After Museum the line loops back to Central nbsp Central concourse of City Circle platforms nbsp Town Hall platforms 5 amp 6 nbsp Wynyard platforms 5 amp 6 nbsp St James platform 1 nbsp Museum platforms 1 amp 2 nbsp Circular Quay stationSee also edit nbsp Trains portal List of Sydney railway stations Railways in Sydney Rail transport in New South Wales Sydney underground railwaysReferences edit Wylie R F June 1971 50 Years A Long Time Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin 140 143 Housing can deliver John Bradfield s vision The Daily Telegraph 4 November 2014 Retrieved 29 December 2017 A once visionary rail plan for Sydney lost in time The Daily Telegraph 29 October 2014 Retrieved 29 December 2017 a b Museum railway station New South Wales State Heritage Register Department of Planning amp Environment nbsp Text is licensed by State of New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment under CC BY 4 0 licence Bozier Rolfe New South Wales Railways NSW Station Codes Retrieved 19 June 2002 a b Forsyth J H ed 1988 1993 Main Suburban amp Branches Illawarra amp Branches Stations amp Tracks 1 Sydney State Rail Authority of New South Wales 42 44 The Eastern Suburbs Railway platforms for Town Hall and Central stations opened 23 June 1979 Forsyth J H ed 1988 1993 Main Suburban amp Branches Illawarra amp Branches Stations amp Tracks 1 Sydney State Rail Authority of New South Wales 42 44 101 128 206 208 passim except where noted Wynyard Station NSWrail net Circular Quay Station NSWrail net Sydney Morning Herald 21 December 1926 pp 11 12 a b 60 Years Ago Railway Digest 398 December 1986 Museum Station NSWrail netExternal links editTransport for NSW trains NSW rail City Circle Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title City Circle amp oldid 1207655866, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
