South Coast Line

South Coast Line

A NSW TrainLink H set travelling towards Scarborough
Overview
Service type	Intercity rail
Locale	Illawarra region, New South Wales
First service	21 June 1887 (1887-06-21)
Current operator(s)	NSW TrainLink
Route
Start	Central, Bondi Junction
Stops	45
End	Bomaderry
Distance travelled	166 km (103 mi)
Line used	Eastern Suburbs South Coast Port Kembla
Technical
Rolling stock	NSW TrainLink H set and Endeavour railcar
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Track owner(s)	RailCorp
Transport for NSW rail services Sydney Trains North Shore, Northern & Western Airport, Inner West & South Bankstown Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Cumberland Carlingford Olympic Park NSW TrainLink Blue Mountains Central Coast & Newcastle Hunter South Coast Southern Highlands

The South Coast Line is an intercity rail service operated by NSW TrainLink that services the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The service runs from Central, and runs the entire length of the eponymous South Coast railway line to Bomaderry. The service also runs along the Eastern Suburbs railway line at peak hours and the Port Kembla railway line to Port Kembla. It is operated with NSW TrainLink H sets and Sydney Trains T sets, with Endeavour railcars operating the service on the non-electrified line between Kiama and Bomaderry.

Passenger trains first operated on the South Coast railway line in 1887, and is one of five routes on the NSW TrainLink Intercity network. The South Coast Line routes span 40 stations, across 159 km of railway. An additional 5 stations and 7 km of railway are travelled by South Coast Line trains at peak hour on the Eastern Suburbs railway line.

History

Stations

The first passenger train services on the Illawarra commenced on 21 June 1887, after the line was completed from Clifton to Wollongong, and later, North Kiama on 9 November 1887. The line was later connected to Waterfall via Helensburgh, Otford, Stanwell Park and Coalcliff the following year between July and October 1888, after delays on construction between Waterfall and Clifton. The line was further extended to Bomaderry through Kiama, opening on 2 June 1893.^[1][2]

An American Suburban carriage passenger train approaches Austinmer station. (photograph dated 1914)

View of Shellharbour Junction station, which opened in late 2014

While the railway network at Port Kembla was built in 1916, stations and passenger trains servicing the surrounding suburbs did not operate until 5 January 1920, when the Port Kembla railway station was opened. A station at Cringila was added to the Port Kembla commuter branch in 1926, along with one at Port Kembla North, a decade later, in 1936. A railway station for workers at Port Kembla, named Lysaghts, after the nearby Bluescope Lysaght steel plant, was also opened in 1938.^[1]

Services and rolling stock

Services were originally operated with locomotive-hauled trains and, later, Diesel railcars, prior to the electrification of the South Coast railway line. The line was electrified to Helensburgh in 1984, with the suburban Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line service occasionally extending their service past the terminus at Waterfall at Helensburgh during peak hours; a practice in which the current Sydney Trains Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line service still does today. Electrification extended to Wollongong the following year. Despite the newly installed electrification, diesel and locomotive trains still operated along the line from Kiama all the way past Wollongong to Sydney, including the South Coast Daylight Express, until 1991.^[3] Electrification of the South Coast railway line was further extended to Dapto in 1993 and, finally, to Kiama in 2001. The railway between Kiama and Bomaderry is the only part of the line that remains non-electrified, operated by New South Wales Endeavour railcars since their introduction in 1994.

The electrified rolling stock of the South Coast Line began with V set intercity trains. There were later accompanied by Tangaras when they were introduced into the CityRail network in 1988. Originally, the Tangaras that ran on the South Coast Line were different variations of T sets known as G sets. G sets differed from T sets in that they had reversible seats, toilets, fresh water dispensers and luggage racks. In late 2005, it was discovered that a majority of the V set rolling stock operating on the South Coast Line were suffering from corrosion in their underframes. More G sets were introduced onto the South Coast Line to compensate, and eventually became the standard rolling stock on the South Coast Line after V sets ceased operating on the service. From January 2012, V sets ceased operating South Coast services. In 2009, however, after the introduction of OSCARs onto the intercity CityRail network, All G sets were recalled for conversion into T sets. The OSCAR fleet effectively replaced the G set rolling stock and, since 2010, standard Sydney Trains T sets, owned by NSW TrainLink, have been operating services to Port Kembla.

Incidents

On 20 December 1994, an accident involving two empty S sets occurred during a shunting procedure at Waterfall. One of the trains jack-knifed onto the platform, demolishing the concrete pedestrian bridge. No injuries or casualties, however, were reported.^[4] On the morning of 31 January 2003, an intercity Tangara en route to Port Kembla derailed at high speed between Waterfall and Helensburgh, resulting in the deaths of seven people and injury of forty.^[5] The accident was the third major accident resulting in fatalities on the CityRail network in 13 years, after the Cowan rail accident in 1990 and Glenbrook rail accident in 1999.

On 24 November 2011, a Pacific National coal train derailed near Clifton, causing the suspension of South Coast Line services between Waterfall and Thirroul. Services were resumed four days later, after the derailed train was removed from the tracks.^[6] The train had derailed immediately after coming out of the Clifton tunnel, with the front eight clearing the tunnel and derailing, and the rear twelve carriages remaining inside the tunnel. The Office of Transport Safety Investigations found that the cause of the derailment was a broken axle.^[7]

Services

The rolling stock of the South Coast Line: OSCARs (left), Tangaras (center), and Endeavours (right).

NSW TrainLink South Coast Line services typically commence from Platform 14 at Central, though, peak hour services can commence from Bondi Junction and Martin Place on the Eastern Suburbs railway line, and stop at Central at Platform 25. South Coast Line trains pass through most of the stations on the suburban section of the South Coast railway line, and usually only stop at Redfern (to and from Bondi Junction only), Wolli Creek, Hurstville, Sutherland and Waterfall, though services to and from Thirroul and Port Kembla also make additional stops at Sydenham, Loftus, Engadine and Heathcote. The most common Central to Kiama services, operated by NSW TrainLink H sets (OSCARs), bypass most of the stations on the line, while all-stations services operate between Waterfall and Port Kembla and Thirroul and Port Kembla with NSW TrainLink-owned Sydney Trains T sets (Tangaras). All Central to Kiama services make stops at all stations between North Wollongong and Kiama, with the exception of the request stop Kembla Grange. Express services also exist between Bondi Junction and Wollongong, and Bondi Junction and Dapto. Shuttle train services between Kiama and Bomaderry are operated by Diesel-engined New South Wales Endeavour railcars, due to the line not being electrified past Kiama.^[8]

Stopping Patterns

Weekday Peak Hours There are no set stopping patterns for peak hours, however every 20 minutes a service operates between Bondi Junction all stations to Central (Platforms 24/25), Redfern (Platform 11/12), Wolli Creek, Hurstville and the South Coast.

Weekday Off-Peak

• Central (i), Wolli Creek, Hurstville, Sutherland, Helensburgh, Thirroul, North Wollongong, Wollongong then all stations (except Kembla Grange) to Kiama (operates every 60 minutes)
• Kiama then all stations to Bomaderry/Nowra (operates every 120 minutes - connects with every second Central-Kiama train)
• Waterfall then all stations to Port Kembla via Thirroul and Wollongong (operates every 60 minutes)

Weekends

• Bondi Junction, all to Central (Platform 24/25), then Redfern (Platform 11/12), Wolli Creek, Hurstville, Sutherland, Waterfall then all stations to Thirroul, then North Wollongong, Wollongong and then all stations to Kiama (operates every 120 minutes)
• Bondi Junction, all to Central (Platform 24/25), then Redfern (Platform 11/12), Wolli Creek, Hurstville, Sutherland, Waterfall, Helensburgh, Thirroul, North Wollongong, Wollongong and then all stations to Kiama (operates every 120 minutes - connects with Nowra train)
• Kiama then all stations to Bomaderry/Nowra (operates every 120 minutes - connects with express Bondi Junction-Kiama train)

Stations

New South Wales metropolitan rail area, with the South Coast Line highlighted in blue

References

External links

• NSW TrainLink official website