Template:CityRailSydney The Sydney subway system of Sydney, Australia, is run by CityRail, part of the State Rail Authority. Sydney's underground railways do not form a true metro, because they are extensions of suburban main line services and do not form a completely segregated system. However, the underground sections, especially the City Circle, show many of the characteristics of a true metro, such as very frequent services. In this way Sydney's railways can be considered a hybrid system.
Underground lines
Sydney has at present three main underground lines; a fourth is currently under construction. The oldest is the main city loop, the City Circle, which runs between Central, Town Hall, Wynyard, Circular Quay, St. James station and Museum stations. Central and Circular Quay are above-ground stations (Circular Quay is in fact elevated, directly underneath the Cahill Expressway), while the remainder are below-ground. This line was originally opened in the 1920s, though Circular Quay station was not completed until 1956. (Until then, the tunnel leading from St. James station to Circular Quay was used for a number of purposes, including as a mushroom farm and as a bunker for US General Douglas Macarthur during World War II, before he moved from Sydney to Townsville: see discussion of disused tunnels below.)
The second, known as the Eastern Suburbs line was constructed in the 1970s. It runs between Redfern, Central, Town Hall, Martin Place, Kings Cross, Edgecliff and Bondi Junction stations. All these stations are underground, but there are three above-ground sections, two on viaducts and one in a cutting.
Note that most of the platforms at Redfern and Central stations are above ground, including the platforms for the City Circle, but the Eastern Suburbs line is underground. There have been plans for decades to extend the Eastern Suburbs line from Bondi Junction to Bondi Beach, but the plans were opposed by Bondi local residents, who feared large crowds flocking to Bondi Beach.
The third underground line is the Airport Line, which opened in the year 2000, prior to the Sydney Olympics. This runs between Central, Green Square, Domestic (underneath the Domestic terminal), International (underneath International terminal at Sydney Airport), and Wolli Creek. After Wolli Creek it joins the above ground East Hills line at Turrella.
Currently under construction is the Parramatta Rail Link, which will travel mostly underground. This will link Parramatta to Chatswood via Epping, partially via the pre-existing Carlingford line, incorporating six new stations (new underground platforms at Parramatta, Epping and Chatswood, underground stations at Macquarie University, Macquarie Park and Delhi Road, plus new surface platforms on the Carlingford line.) The line was originally expected to open in 2006; delays and budget overruns have meant that now only the Epping to Chatswood section will be open by then, with the Parramatta to Epping section possibly not opening until after 2010, if at all.
There are also plans by the State Government for a new underground line to extend from Epping to Castle Hill, and possibly later to the new development underway at Rouse Hill, though that lies in the more distant future.
Disused subway tunnels
Sydney has several disused subway tunnels. The most well-known of these are those leading out of St. James station. As well as these, there are several disused tunnels and platforms on the Eastern Suburbs line, which like St. James station provided for the possibility four tunnels even though only two were ever built. Most of the stations have these disused platforms adjacent (but walled off from) the platforms currently in use. At Redfern station instead of platforms there is a big open pit in the ground, running from surface to subway level, which in 2000 construction personnel were busy building something in (possibly a car park). The abandoned platforms at Central are used to store the Archives of the State Rail Authority. Like St. James station, these stations have stub tunnels, although they are much shorter.
It is possible to access the Redfern pit in the ground and disused tunnels by two ways -- there is a hole in the wall opposite the used platforms you can climb through (the one through which you can see sunlight and weeds). It is also reportedly possible to enter the Redfern station stub tunnels from the Everleigh rail yards.
Even though they never were intended to be part of the subway system, one can also mention here the tunnels for the old Pyrmont goods line. One of these runs underneath Railway Square, between the Central station railway yards and the Powerhouse Museum; the other tunnel runs underneath Glebe. The first tunnel is not used anymore. The old railway from the Powerhouse Museum to Lilyfield has been converted to form part of the light rail line from Central station. The Glebe tunnel is on this section.
Also of interest is a tunnel connecting the Eveleigh rail yards on the southern side of the main line to the northern side of the main line, just past Redfern.