NSW TrainLink H set

Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line Town Hall to Hurstville

• Report rights infringement
• published: 02 May 2014
• views: 644

The Illawarra line carries mixed traffic of suburban, interurban and freight traffic. Freight traffic usually operates only to the junction with the Metropolitan line at Tempe, with only passenger services run on the Cronulla branch line and the Eastern Suburbs Railway. A large amount of coal and a lesser amount of other freight are transported by rail on the line daily, although freight trains are restricted from using the suburban lines during peak hours. Historically, passenger services were provided to the Sydney Central by steam locomotives. The first services to Hurstville were run by steam locomotives of the Q.158 and R.285 classes. When the City Underground opened to St James in 1926, a new electric service was provided to run there. From the time when the line to the Royal National Park was electrified, passengers received a steam train service at first, then when this became expensive, it was replaced by a rail motor service. This arrangement continued until the line was electrified to Waterfall, and the Eastern Suburbs Line was opened. In 1979 the Eastern Suburbs Line being the first line to only use S set double-decker rolling stock. The current running operations for passenger services have remained generally unchanged since 1981 with the integration of the Illawarra line and the Eastern Suburbs Railway. Suburban services utilise Erskineville Junction and proceed to Central and Bondi Junction. The last S sets were withdrawn from Mortdale Maintenance Depot in March 2013 with all services now provided by Tangara and OSCAR sets. Trains typically operate with 12 services per hour in peak, six services per hour in off-peak, and four to six services per hour on weekends and public holidays.