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Rozelle–Darling Harbour Goods Line

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Rozelle–Darling Harbour Goods Line
Glebe railway tunnel
Overview
StatusConverted to light rail
LocaleInner West
History
Opened1922
Closed2009 (as heavy rail)
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Rozelle–Darling Harbour Goods Line is a former heavy rail goods line in Sydney, Australia, now forming the bulk of the Inner West Light Rail. It was part of the city's goods railway network; through conversion to light rail, most of the former goods line was subsumed by the Sydney Light Rail network. A section of the line became a pedestrian pathway in inner Sydney.[1]

Line description

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Jubilee Park viaduct
The former Rozelle Yard

The line terminated at the Central Goods Junction in Sydney Yard, which it connected to the former Darling Harbour Yard. Another track after the line began branched off to Regent Street station, which remains connected to Sydney Yard. The line ran under the Railway Square road overbridge and over the Ultimo Road railway underbridge to Darling Harbour. From Darling Harbour, the line runs to Dulwich Hill.[2][3][4]

The heritage-listed Pyrmont and Glebe railway tunnels, built in 1922, continue to carry the light rail on opposite sides of the Wentworth Park viaduct.[5] The railway cutting through Pyrmont goes from the commencement of Jones Bay Road, where the line deviated from the wharf sidings (now removed), through the current location of the John Street Square light rail stop. Approaching the stop, the line passes through a short tunnel under Harris Street. After the station it enters a main tunnel near John Street opposite Mount Street. The tunnel exits near Jones Street at Saunders Lane and the line continues in a cutting which progressively opens out on the western side before falling ground levels bring the line on to a viaduct – the Wentworth Park viaduct – near where Jones and Allen Streets intersected before the railway was built. This viaduct continues across Wentworth Park towards Glebe.[6] The Glebe railway tunnel runs approximately 800 metres (2,600 ft) from Lower Avon Street, Glebe (adjacent to the Glebe stop) to Jubilee Park.[7]

The Glebe and Wentworth Park railway viaducts, consisting of the aforementioned Wentworth Park viaduct and the Jubilee Park viaduct, are likewise heritage listed.[8] The Jubilee Park viaduct extends from the east of Jubilee Park at Victoria Road to The Crescent, Annandale. The viaduct stretches approximately 446.5 metres (1,465 ft), making it the largest brick viaduct on the New South Wales railways.[9]

The line featured another major yard in Rozelle, on the site of which now exists a light rail depot.[2][10][11] A branch line from Rozelle Yard served the White Bay Power Station and White Bay.[2]

The Mungo Scott Sidings served the Mungo Scott Flour Mill in Summer Hill.[2][12]

With conversion to light rail, the line was truncated at Dulwich Hill, though it previously connected there to the rest of the Sydney goods network through the Wardell Road Junction.[13]

History

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Dulwich Hill light rail station. The line used to connect here to the rest of the metropolitan goods network.

From the time when the Sydney Railway Company was formed in 1848, it had been the intention of the company to build a freight terminal at Darling Harbour. To this end, a railway line was constructed between the Sydney railway station (the predecessor to Central railway station) and Darling Harbour, which opened on 26 September 1855.[14]

By 1908, goods traffic on the line to Darling Harbour and the neighbouring suburban lines had become excessive, with 592 wagons arriving each day and 512 being dispatched.[15] It was decided to construct separate goods lines from Sefton to Darling Harbour via Enfield, Dulwich Hill and Rozelle, with extensions to Botany and the State Abattoirs at Homebush Bay. The initial scheme, approved by the Parliamentary Committee on Public Works, approved the initial line from Dulwich Hill to Darling Harbour. To avoid an opening rail bridge alongside the existing Glebe Island Bridge, a circuitous route was built around Rozelle Bay through the suburb of Pyrmont. The proposal was approved on 23 November 1914, and the line opened on 23 January 1922.[16][17] To avoid an opening rail bridge alongside the existing Glebe Island Bridge, a circuitous route was built around Rozelle Bay through Pyrmont.[18]

Initial traffic was spoil for the construction of the Main Suburban line between Sydney and Parramatta, then for the carriage of departmental coke for steam engines, and a small amount of timber from 1860. Initial reports of the traffic on the line suggested that freight revenue amounted to only £20 a year, and there was only 60 tonnes of coke carriage a week.[19]

The Sydney Light Rail Company was established in 1994 and, in January 1996, the Lilyfield to Central section of the line closed. Much of the alignment was reutilised for light rail which opened from Central to Wentworth Park in August 1997 and was extended to Lilyfield in August 2000.[20][21][22] Goods traffic on the remaining heavy rail section ceased in 2009.[23] This section, from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill, was subsequently converted to light rail, opening as such in 2014.[24] When the light rail was initially conceived, grain was still be transported along the line to Pyrmont, and so planning was undertaken with the presumption that this would continue.[25]

A section of the corridor from the northern end of the Devonshire Street Tunnel to Ultimo Road was developed into a pedestrian pathway and was originally called the Ultimo Pedestrian Network until it was renamed The Goods Line in 2012. Plans were then announced to expand the pathway through to Hay Street; this second section opened on 30 August 2015.[26][27]

References

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  1. ^ "Rozelle - Darling Harbour Goods Line". The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  2. ^ a b c d Bozier, Rolfe. "Rozelle – Darling Harbour Goods Line". NSWrail. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Ultimo (Railway Square) Railway Overbridge". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Ultimo Road Railway Underbridge". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01062. Retrieved 27 June 2024. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  5. ^ "Pyrmont and Glebe Railway Tunnels". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01225. Retrieved 13 October 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  6. ^ "Pyrmont Railway Cuttings, Tunnel & Weighbridge". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Glebe Railway Tunnel". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  8. ^ "Glebe and Wentworth Park railway viaducts". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01034. Retrieved 13 October 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  9. ^ "Glebe and Wentworth Park railway viaducts". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01034. Retrieved 13 October 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  10. ^ "Inner West Light Rail Extension – Light rail stabling within the former Rozelle Goods Yard" (PDF). John Holland. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Lilyfield Maintenance Depot". Fernandes Constructions. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  12. ^ "Mungo Scott Flour Mill, Summer Hill". NSW Government. September 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Wardell Road Junction". The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  14. ^ Forsyth, J.H. (ed.) (1988–93), Stations & Tracks; Vol. 1: "Main Suburban & Branches – Illawarra & Branches". State Rail Authority of New South Wales: Sydney, p. 97.
  15. ^ Forsyth, J.H. (ed.) (1988–93), Stations & Tracks; Vol. 1: "Main Suburban & Branches -- Illawarra & Branches". State Rail Authority: Sydney, p. 97.
  16. ^ Rozelle-Darling Harbour Goods Line nswrail.net
  17. ^ The Direct & Scenic Routes to Darling Harbour Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 741 July 1999 pages 265-271
  18. ^ The Direct & Scenic Routes to Darling Harbour Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 741 July 1999 pages 265-271
  19. ^ Forsyth, J.H. (ed.) (1988–93), Stations & Tracks; Vol. 1: "Main Suburban & Branches -- Illawarra & Branches". State Rail Authority: Sydney, p. 97.
  20. ^ Last Freight Finishes on Darling Harbour Line Railway Digest March 1996 Page 15
  21. ^ Sydney's Tram Extension Opens Railway Digest September 2000 page 4
  22. ^ Sydney Metro Light Rail, Australia railway-technology.com
  23. ^ "Lost Railways: Rozelle-Darling Harbour Goods Line". PocketOz Sydney. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  24. ^ "Inner West Light rail extension now complete". Transport for NSW. 27 March 2014. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014.
  25. ^ "2107 – Wheel re-profile project". Sydney Tramway Museum. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  26. ^ McKenny, Leesha (14 November 2012). "New York-style elevated park plan for Ultimo". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  27. ^ Robertson, James (28 August 2015). "Sydney version of New York High Line to open between Central and Darling Harbour". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
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