Rozelle–Darling Harbour Goods Line

The Rozelle–Darling Harbour Goods Line is a former heavy rail goods line in Sydney's Inner West, 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.

Line description

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.

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. 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. The Glebe railway tunnel runs approximately 800 metres (2,600 ft) from Lower Avon Street, Glebe (adjacent to the Glebe stop) to Jubilee Park.

The Glebe and Wentworth Park railway viaducts, consisting of the aforementioned Wentworth Park viaduct and the Jubilee Park viaduct, are likewise heritage listed. 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.

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

The Mungo Scott Sidings served the Mungo Scott Flour Mill in Summer Hill.

As a light rail line, it now terminates at Dulwich Hill, though it previously connected there to the rest of the Sydney goods network through the Wardell Road Junction.

History

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.

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. 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. To avoid an opening rail bridge alongside the existing Glebe Island Bridge, a circuitous route was built around Rozelle Bay through Pyrmont.

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.

In January 1996, the Lilyfield to Central section of the Metropolitan Goods 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. Goods traffic on the remaining heavy rail section ceased in 2009. This section, from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill, was subsequently converted to light rail, opening as such in 2014.

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.

References