Olympic Park railway line

Olympic Park Line
Mode	Commuter rail loop
Owner	CityRail
Operator(s)	CityRail
Connects	Olympic Park Lidcombe Central (special events) Blacktown (special events)
Length	5 km
Stations	2
Fleet	L, R, S, C, T, G & M sets
Depot(s)	Flemington
Line colour	White/Grey
Key dates
1998	Line opened

The Olympic Park Line (or the Olympic Park Sprint) is a train line in Sydney, Australia that connects the Sydney Olympic Park precinct to the rest of the CityRail metropolitan train network. It has one station, Olympic Park, which is located on a balloon loop. The original purpose of the line to Olympic Park was to convey passengers to and from venues at Sydney Olympic Park and the Sydney CBD during the 2000 Summer Olympics. Today, its main purpose is to do likewise for major events occurring within the Sydney Olympic Park precinct, particularly Sydney Royal Easter Show and events at the Stadium Australia, the former Olympic stadium now rebranded as ANZ Stadium.

History

Olympic Park station, with a train stopped at one of the platforms.

The line was conceived in the early 1990s to serve the site of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. A balloon-loop style branch line was chosen over other options, such as a connecting line between Rhodes on the Northern Line and Flemington Junctions, where the chosen design joins the Western line.^[1] The chosen route follows the former goods lines which branched from the Main West line between Flemington and Homebush, to the Abattoirs and Brickworks site at the Homebush Bay industrial precinct.^[2][3][4] The line crosses over Parramatta Road and the M4 motorway using the former goods alignment. The first test train operated over the line on 24 November 1997, and the line's first major event was the Royal Easter Show in April 1998.^[5]

Services

The Olympic Park Sprint platform at Lidcombe; notice the crowd control fencing in the centre of the platform

Outside of special events, trains to Olympic Park depart from a special platform at Lidcombe (technically platform 0, but referred to as the 'Olympic Park Sprint Platform' rather than its number). Originally operating with a frequency of one train every 10 minutes, it currently runs one train every 20 minutes on weekdays and every 10 minutes on weekends.^[6] The trip between Lidcombe and Olympic Park takes about 5 minutes each way.

During major events at Sydney Olympic Park, train services to Olympic run direct from the intercity platforms of Central, also stopping at Redfern (sometimes) and Strathfield. A limited number of direct services also run during the weekday inter-peak period. After larger events, west-bound trains from Olympic Park are also extended beyond Lidcombe to Blacktown via the Western Line and to Campbelltown via the South Line.

References

1. ^ Date, K, Rogers D. Can CityRail win the Olympics? Railway Digest, September 2000.
2. ^ The Story of the Abattoirs Line Pollard, N.J. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, April:May, 1985 pp75-93;99-113
3. ^ Memories of the Abattoirs Branch Groves, K.T. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, January, 1987 pp15-19
4. ^ Forgotten Railways to the Olympic Site Oakes, John Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, March, 1999 pp87-97
5. ^ Hoyle, J. Preparing for the Games- the first train to Olympic Park. Railway Digest, January 1998.
6. ^ CityRail timetables Rail Corporation of NSW

Coordinates: 33°50′47″S 151°04′12″E / 33.84647°S 151.07008°E / -33.84647; 151.07008