at the
Powerhouse Museum New South Wales' railways date from 10 December 1831 when the
Australian Agricultural Company officially opened Australia's first railway, located at the intersection of Brown and Church Streets,
Newcastle. Privately owned and operated to service the
A Pit coal mine, it was a
cast-iron fishbelly rail on an inclined plane as a
gravitational railway. Many proposals for routing the proposed lines were put forth, researched, surveyed and reported on. Three main routes for the
Main Southern line were reported on by Mr Woore. There were three main routes researched for crossing the
Blue Mountains requiring much effort just for the surveys. The first public line was built from Sydney to Parramatta Junction (actually in
Granville) and opened in 1855. The first six stations were;
Sydney,
Newtown,
Ashfield,
Burwood,
Homebush, and
Parramatta. The first
common-carrier railway to operate in Australia, however, was the
Melbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway Company, in
Victoria, which opened on 12 September 1854, over a year before the
Sydney–Parramatta Railway in NSW, which opened on 26 September 1855. After two decisions to change the
rail gauge, problems in raising capital and difficulties in construction, the line was opened in 1854, and lines have been built to standard gauge ever since. The
Main Southern line was built in stages from Parramatta Junction to the Victorian border at
Albury between 1855 and 1881 and connected to the
Victorian Railways at a
break-of-gauge in 1883. The standard gauge connection from Albury to Melbourne was opened in 1962, completing the
Sydney–Melbourne railway. The
Main North line was built from Newcastle to
Wallangarra on the
Queensland border and connecting with
Queensland Railway's line to
Brisbane at a break of gauge between 1857 and 1888. Sydney and Newcastle were connected in 1889. Much of the construction of the Main Western, Main Southern, and Main North lines were completed under the supervision of
John Whitton, considered the Father of New South Wales railways, Engineer-in-Charge for the New South Wales Railways, serving between 1856 and 1899. Construction of the shorter and single-gauge
North Coast railway line between Sydney and Brisbane commenced in 1905 and was completed with the opening of the
Grafton Bridge in 1932. The last main line was completed to
Broken Hill in 1927, connecting with the
South Australian Railways at a break of gauge. In 1970, the South Australian section was standardised, completing the
Sydney–Perth standard gauge link. In 1926 work began on electrifying
Sydney's urban railways and connecting them together via new lines.
Sydney suburban network The first company to start rail transport in New South Wales was the
Sydney Railway Company which was incorporated on 10 October 1849 with the aim of building a railway from Sydney to
Parramatta. Capital was raised,
shares were sold, and a route was surveyed. The first sod was turned by Mrs Keith Stewart (daughter of the Governor) at Cleveland Paddocks (an area between the southern end of the current
Sydney station and
Cleveland Street) on 3 July 1850. The original engineer appointed was
Francis Webb Sheilds, an Irishman. He persuaded the New South Wales legislature to pass an Act on 27 July 1852 requiring all railways in the colony to be of gauge. This was the gauge in use in Ireland and is now referred to as
broad gauge. After Sheilds resigned because of the difficulties, a Scot named
James Wallace was appointed. Wallace persuaded the legislature to repeal the previous act and replace it, on 4 August 1853, with one requiring a gauge of – the current
standard gauge of . (Unfortunately for Australia, the legislation requiring the
broad gauge had been noted in the colonies of
Victoria and
South Australia and some rolling stock ordered.) The Sydney Railway Company encountered many troubles: engineers came and went; real estate required became expensive and difficult to acquire; money, supplies and manpower ran short, partly because of a gold rush. Eventually the property of the Sydney Railway Company was transferred to the government of New South Wales on 3 September 1855. The line opened on 26 September 1855, from Sydney to Parramatta Junction (near
Granville station), with stations at
Newtown,
Ashfield,
Burwood and
Homebush. The Sydney terminal station was on the south side of Devonshire Street, just south of the current Central station. Although the vicinity was sometimes referred to as
Redfern, it was not near the current
Redfern station. This line is still the core line of the Sydney suburban rail system. Sydney's suburban rail network further developed from main line railways constructed in the 19th century, together with branches built in the late 19th and early 20th century. The existing network was electrified from 1926 at
1500 V DC under a plan by
John Bradfield (in the 1920s and 1930s) and later modifications to his plan. In 1932, the
Sydney Harbour Bridge was completed and the key inner city line from Central to
Town Hall,
Wynyard,
Milsons Point and
North Sydney was opened. In 1956, the
Circular Quay station opened, completing the
City Circle. The underground
Eastern Suburbs railway was completed to
Bondi Junction in 1979. In 2000, the line to
Sydney Airport and
Wolli Creek was opened, with the
Epping to Chatswood Rail Link being opened in 2009. The most recent addition to the suburban network is the
South West Rail Link, opened in 2015. A branch line was built from
Clyde to
Camellia in 1888 and extended to
Carlingford in 1896 by private companies. The line went bankrupt in 1896 and the Government purchased and reopened it in 1900. This line was Sydney Trains'
Carlingford line which was closed for conversion to light rail. Another branch was built from
Lidcombe to
Regents Park in 1912 and extended to join the Main Southern Line at
Cabramatta in 1924, creating an alternative route to
Liverpool.
Main Southern line at
Central station on a test run to
Moss Vale, 1937 An extension of the line from Parramatta Junction to Liverpool was opened on the first anniversary of the Sydney–Parramatta line – 26 September 1856. It was extended to
Campbelltown in 1858,
Picton in 1863,
Mittagong in 1867,
Marulan in 1868,
Goulburn in 1869,
Yass Junction in 1876,
Binalong in November 1876,
Galong,
Harden- Murrumburrah and
Cootamundra in 1877,
Junee in 1878,
Wagga Wagga in 1879,
Uranquinty,
The Rock and
Henty in 1880 and
Albury in 1881.
Victorian Railways broad gauge line from
Wodonga was extended to Albury station in 1883. The standard gauge connection from Albury to Melbourne was completed in 1962. A
branch line was opened from Goulburn to
Queanbeyan (1885) and
Cooma (1887) and an line from Queanbeyan completed the connection to
Canberra in 1914.
Main Western line '' at
Orange on the
Great Western Railway The Main Western line was extended from Granville to the current
Parramatta station and
Blacktown in 1860 and
Penrith in 1863. It was built over the difficult topography of the
Blue Mountains by using
zig zag railways at
Lapstone (opened in 1867) and
Lithgow (opened in 1869). Both of these sections were replaced by deviations, using tunnels by 1913. The line was extended to
Bathurst (1876),
Orange (1877),
Dubbo (1881), and
Bourke (1885).
Broken Hill line '' at
Broken Hill A section of the current main line from Sydney to
Broken Hill, was built from Orange to
Molong (1885),
Parkes (1893),
Condobolin (1898) and
Trida (1919). A separate section of standard gauge line was also opened from
Menindee to
Broken Hill in 1919, which met the gauge
Silverton Tramway at a
break-of-gauge opened in 1888. At
Cockburn, the
Silverton Tramway connected with the
South Australian Railways system to
Port Pirie and via a break of gauge at
Terowie to
Adelaide. The final missing link between Trida and Broken Hill was completed in 1927. In 1969 the Broken Hill – Port Pirie was standardised, completing the Sydney – Perth standard gauge link.
Illawarra line The Illawarra line was opened in stages progressively southward from Sydney starting in 1884 and reaching
Wollongong in 1887 and
Bomaderry, near
Nowra in 1893. A branch line was built from
Sydenham to
Belmore in 1895,
Bankstown in 1909 and
Regents Park in 1928, which became part of the
Bankstown Line of the Sydney Trains transport network.
Main North line at
Warabrook The first section of the Main North line was built in the
Hunter Valley by the New South Wales Government Railways in 1857. It was extended north to
Wallangarra in various stages, reaching the
Queensland border and connecting with Queensland Railway's
Southern line to
Brisbane at a break-of-gauge in 1888. The final section between
Strathfield and
Newcastle was completed by the opening of the
Hawkesbury River railway bridge in 1889.
North Coast line The North Coast railway line was built between 1905 and 1932, and when completed, bypassed the Main North line and provided a quicker route up the eastern seaboard. The first part of the North Coast line was built between
Casino and
Grafton in 1905, as an extension of a line from
Murwillumbah. It was extended from Casino to
Kyogle in 1910 and
South Brisbane in 1930. The section from
Maitland junction to South Grafton was opened progressively between 1911 and 1922. The
Clarence River at Grafton was the most difficult river to cross, and was the last section to be opened in 1932, upon completion of the
Grafton Bridge.
Light rail at
Newcastle Interchange Light rail systems operate in Sydney and Newcastle. Some metropolitan heavy rail lines have been partially or substantially converted to light rail. In Sydney, the
Inner West Light Rail incorporates much of the former
Rozelle–Darling Harbour Goods Line. Most of the
Carlingford line and a portion the
Sandown line, the latter leading to a depot, were incorporated into the
Parramatta Light Rail. Meanwhile, the
CBD and Southeast Light Rail was built anew, but much of its route mimics Sydney's historic
tram network. The
Newcastle line was truncated and part of the corridor utilised by the
Newcastle Light Rail. The
Royal National Park branch, a former heavy rail line running from
Loftus into the
Royal National Park, is now operated by the
Sydney Tramway Museum. ==Private railways==