| Olympic Park railway line | |
|---|---|
 The single trackballoon loop towardsLidcombe as it passes under the Olympic Boulevard. | |
| Overview | |
| Owner | Transport Asset Manager of New South Wales |
| Locale | Sydney,New South Wales,Australia |
| Stations | 1 |
| Service | |
| Operator(s) | Sydney Trains |
| History | |
| Opened | 13 July 1911 (1911-07-13) (Abattoirs) |
| Closed | 1995 |
| Reopened | 8 March 1998 (1998-03-08) (Olympic Park) |
| Technical | |
| Track length | 7 km (4.3 mi) |
| Number of tracks | 3 |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge |
| Electrification | 1,500 V DC fromoverhead catenary[1] |
TheOlympic Park railway line is a railway line linking theSydney Olympic Park precinct to theMain Suburban railway line atFlemington andLidcombe. Originally opened as the Abattoirs branch in 1911, it was rebuilt and reopened as the Olympic Park railway line in 1998. Passenger services have since been running on it as theOlympic Park Line (numberedT7, grey).
The line opened on 31 July 1911 as the Abattoirs branch off theMain Suburban railway line to the abattoirs andState Brickworks at Homebush Bay (nowSydney Olympic Park).[2] It branched off via atriangular junction behindFlemington Maintenance Depot making it accessible from theMetropolitan Goods line.[3]
Two bridges carried the line over theGreat Western Highway. On 11 January 1915, the Metropolitan Meat Platforms opened.[4] Further platforms opened at Abattoirs in December 1926, Brickworks in December 1939 andPippita in October 1940 to serve aCommonwealth Aircraft Corporation factory.[5][6][7] Sidings on the line servedDairy Farmers andFord.[3]
On 27 February 1968, the three kilometre Homebush Saleyards Yard opened to service new cattle and sheep pens built to replace facilities atFlemington just beyond the Great Western Highway crossing. The loop was electrified to allow46 class locomotives to operate services from the Main Western andMain Northern lines to the saleyards.[2][3]
Passenger services were operated byCPH railmotors operating fromSandown viaLidcombe until November 1984. On 9 November 1984, the line beyond the Homebush Saleyards closed. After this the line (now only going toPippita) would be served by Single Deck Suburbansingle deck stock.[8]The Saleyards Loop closed on 22 June 1991.[3]Pippita continued to be served by a sole daily service toCentral until 20 October 1995, operated in its later days by aV set.[2] Only traces of the line remain beyondPippita. The Dairy Farmers siding is still connected to the present-day Up Homebush Bay West Fork track, complete with catch points and a shunt signal.[9] Remnants of the track can also be seen between the siding and the western bridge across the Great Western Highway. There is no trace of the line past here.[10]
As part of Sydney's successful bid to hold the2000 Olympic Games, a new Sydney Olympic Park precinct was built. Included was a railway that traversed a similar route to the former Abattoirs branch. The line was built with aballoon loop and the two track, four platformOlympic Park station. The line utilised the existing eastern bridge over the Great Western Highway which had previously only carried one track, but was wide enough to accommodate the two laid. The new line opened on 8 March 1998.[3][11][12]
Today, the line continues to transport people to and from major events occurring within the Sydney Olympic Park precinct, but also carries workers and residents of Olympic Park to and from the rest of the Sydney Trains network.
| Olympic Park Line | |
|---|---|
 | |
 AT set atOlympic Park station | |
| Overview | |
| Service type | Commuter rail |
| First service | 8 March 1998 |
| Current operator | Sydney Trains |
| Route | |
| Termini | Lidcombe Olympic Park |
| Average journey time | 6 minutes |
| Line used | Olympic Park railway line |
| Technical | |
| Rolling stock | Lidcombe shuttle:M sets (weekdays),A sets (weekends and public holidays) Special events:A, B,T sets |
Outside of special events, trains on the Olympic Park Line (T7) depart from a special platform atLidcombe (platform 0, previously referred to as the Olympic Park Sprint Platform). Services operate with a frequency of one train every 10 minutes in each direction, dropping to 20 minutes at night.[13] The trip between Lidcombe and Olympic Park takes about five minutes each way. As of Friday 23 October 2020, 4-carM sets are scheduled for these trips on weekdays, while 8-carA sets are scheduled on weekends and public holidays.K sets were rostered until then, and until theS sets were retired, they were also rostered.
During major events at Sydney Olympic Park, train services run direct from the intercity platforms ofCentral, also sometimes stopping atRedfern andStrathfield. The Lidcombe shuttle trains are also built up to 8 cars. After larger events, west-bound trains from Olympic Park are sometimes extended beyond Lidcombe toBlacktown via theWestern line, and toGlenfield andCampbelltown via theMain South line, using platforms 2 and 4 at Lidcombe instead. These services are normally run by 8-carA, B orT sets.
T7 Olympic Park Line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending on 30 June 2024. Because these figures are based on Opal tap on and tap off data, passengers are not counted when travelling to major events where the event ticket also allows travel on public transport services.
| 86,736,689 | ||
| 47,048,199 | ||
| 20,178,194 | [n.b. 2] | |
| 54,802,802 | ||
| 8,028,853 | ||
| – | [n.b. 3] | |
| 1,345,017 | ||
| 37,691,564 | ||
| 22,303,028 |
In 2022, NSW Government funding was made available for the planning of a proposed 2-km-long Pippitarail trail—a shared cycling and walking path—following the partially-disused Abbatoirs branch rail corridor betweenLidcombe station and Sydney Olympic Park.[15] The proposal has received the support ofCumberland Council, and active transport groups such as Bicycle NSW[16] and EcoTransit Sydney.[17]
The proposed Pippita Rail Trail will reuse two now disused rail bridges to crossParramatta Road and theM4. It will run generally parallel to the Olympic Park railway line over much of its route. The objective of the rail trail is to provide a safeactive transport route into Olympic Park, expanding the existing cycling and walking options available there.[18][19]
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