North Sydney railway station

North Sydney railway station is located on the North Shore line, serving the Sydney suburb of North Sydney. It is served by Sydney Trains T1 North Shore Line and T9 Northern Line services.

North Sydney
Station front in October 2011
General information
Location	Blue Street, North Sydney
Coordinates	33°50′28″S 151°12′26″E / 33.8411°S 151.2072°E / -33.8411; 151.2072
Elevation	70 metres (230 ft)
Owned by	Transport Asset Holding Entity
Operated by	Sydney Trains
Line(s)	North Shore
Distance	4.8 kilometres from Central
Platforms	4 (2 island)
Tracks	4
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Built over
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Staffed
Station code	NSY
Website	Transport for NSW
History
Opened	20 March 1932
Electrified	Yes
Passengers
2023^[2]	10,813,110 (year) 29,625 (daily)^[1] (Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink)
Services
Preceding station Sydney Trains Following station Milsons Point towards Emu Plains or Richmond North Shore & Western Line Waverton towards Berowra Milsons Point via Strathfield towards Hornsby Northern Line Waverton towards Gordon Preceding station NSW TrainLink Following station Milsons Point towards Central Central Coast & Newcastle Line (peak hour services) Waverton towards Gosford or Wyong

History

North Sydney station opened on 20 March 1932 at the same time as the North Shore line over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.^[3] Prior to the bridge's opening, North Shore line trains had diverged from the current line at Waverton to the original Milsons Point station at Lavender Bay.

The station was built in a rock cutting with a street level overhead concourse above the platforms. The station has four platforms which correspond with the four railway tracks that were designed to cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge. At the Waverton end of the station there are four tunnels which have been cut into the rock. Unused tunnel stubs of 260 metres for proposed lines to Newport and Northbridge were cut at the same time with Chief Design Engineer John Bradfield calculating that without these, later construction of these lines would interfere with the North Shore line.^[4]

From 1932 until 1958, two of the rail tracks designed for the bridge were used by trams, the latter being diverted onto Blue Street just before they would have entered North Sydney Station. After 1958 the tram tracks were removed from the Sydney Harbour Bridge and replaced by the Cahill Expressway.

Beginning in 1968 when the North Sydney Travelodge was built, the air rights over the station have progressively been redeveloped.^[5] In December 1972, the awning over platforms 3 and 4 was demolished.^[6] The station became totally enclosed with the opening of Zurich Insurance House in 1984.^[7]

Upgrade

Between April 2006 and December 2008, the station was upgraded to handle extra traffic expected with the opening of the Epping to Chatswood line in 2009. The work included an expanded concourse and the installation of escalators and lifts.^[8]

Platforms and services

The four platforms at North Sydney can have different usages, but the outer platforms are generally the only ones used in off-peak; the middle platforms generally serve terminating trains arriving from the city. Because the four platforms at North Sydney serve a double track railway to the north and south of the station, it has significant capacity for terminating traffic.

The line north through the tunnel from Platform 3 was not laid until 1992 and commissioned in August 1993.^[9][10] The tunnel roads serving platforms 2 and 3 both have a 10km/h speed limit and are occasionally used by passenger services.

Trackplan
Tunnel and middle tracks end just before Waverton station
Legend
N↑ To Waverton                                                                       S↓ To Milsons Point

Platform	Line	Stopping pattern	Notes
1	T1	services to Penrith, Emu Plains & Richmond via Central & Strathfield	weekday services to Richmond and 6 CCN services to Blacktown
	T9	services to Epping & Hornsby via Central & Strathfield	^[11]
	CCN	6 Weekday Morning peak NSW TrainLink services to Blacktown via Central	^[12]
2	T1	terminating services, returning to Richmond and Penrith	^[13]
3	T1	peak hour services and weekend terminating services, returning to Penrith	Occasionally used by terminating T4 line services during service disruptions between Central and Bondi Junction
4	T1	services to Lindfield, Gordon, Hornsby & Berowra	6 Evening peak NSW TrainLink services to Wyong^[14]^[15]
	T9	services to Gordon	^[11]
	CCN	3 Weekday Evening peak NSW TrainLink services to Gosford 3 Weekday Evening peak NSW TrainLink services to Wyong	^[12]

Bus Services

External image
North Sydney station Public Transport Map by Transport for NSW

Historic photos

•  
  View of the entrances to the tunnels at the Waverton end of the station, photographed in 1931
•  
  The two pairs of platforms on either side of the roadway at Milsons Point were intended to join up at North Sydney
•  
  Concourse
•  
  Platforms 1 & 2

References

1. This figure is the number of entries and exits of a year combined averaged to a day.
2. "Train Station Monthly Usage". Open Data. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
3. North Sydney Station NSWrail.net
4. "Peninsula Railway Dead-End" Railway Digest January 1986 page 15
5. "20 Years Ago" Railway Digest April 1988 page 150
6. "20 Years Ago" Railway Digest December 1992 page 282
7. "North Sydney Underground" Railway Digest February 1985 page 43
8. Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation
9. "North Sydney" Railway Digest November 1992 page 434
10. "Milsons Point – Waverton" Railway Digest November 1993 page 495
11. "T9: Northern line timetable". Transport for NSW.
12. "Central Coast & Newcastle line timetable". Transport for NSW.
13. "T1: Western line timetable". Transport for NSW.
14. "T1: North Shore line timetable". Transport for NSW.
15. "Central Coast & Newcastle line timetable". Transport for NSW.

External links

•   Media related to North Sydney railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• North Sydney station details Transport for New South Wales
• North Sydney Station Public Transport Map Transport for NSW
• Upgrade works Flickr gallery