North Shore railway line facts for kids

The North Shore Line is a railway line serving the North Shore in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The North Shore Line extends from Sydney Central station through the western limb of the City Circle, across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and through the North Shore area to Hornsby where it joins the Main North Line. Most services on the line are part of the T1 North Shore, Northern & Western Line, with some services to Wyong during peak hours.

History

Aerial view of construction of the northern approach to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The original railway alignment and construction work on the realignment for extension across the bridge can both be seen.

The North Shore Line was opened on 1 January 1890 as a single track between Hornsby and St Leonards. The line was extended to the Sydney Harbour foreshore at Milsons Point on 1 May 1893. Transport between this original Milsons Point station and central Sydney was by ferry boat. Most of the North Shore line was duplicated between 1900 and 1909. In 1927 the line was converted to electric operation using a 1500 volt DC, overhead supply.

The construction works for the Sydney Harbour Bridge necessitated truncation of the southern terminus from Milsons Point to Lavender Bay.

When the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened on 19 March 1932 a new Milsons Point station (on the bridge approach) came into operation and the North Shore Line was extended through it and over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to link with the underground lines of central Sydney. The result is that the two ends of the North Shore Line link to the Sydney railway system at Central and Hornsby.

After 1932 the original Lavender Bay station became a storage depot for electric trains, and the line connecting Lavender Bay to the North Shore line was reduced to single track. This line joins the current North Shore line at Waverton station.

In 2009, a second connection to the Main Northern line was added with the opening to the Epping to Chatswood railway line.

The North Shore Line is now a major commuter artery between the North Shore and central Sydney. In early years, Old Milsons Point, Bay Road, St Leonards, Chatswood, Lindfield, Gordon, Pymble, Turramurra, Wahroonga and Hornsby stations had goods yards. All but St Leonards, Chatswood and Hornsby yards had disappeared by mid-twentieth century, and the latter three did not survive into the late twentieth century.