Australia

Operating Lines

Adelaide
Ballarat
Bendigo
Melbourne
Perisher Valley
Sydney

Planned Systems

Brisbane
Gold Coast (Broadbeach)
Hobart City
Perth

Honourable Mention

Canberra
Pemberton

Sydney
Light Rail,  underground commuter railway, unplanned metro


Photos Courtesy David Johnson
Underground Railway

Sydney has 25 kilometers of double track underground railway consisting of 4 lines.  It extends from Erskineville to Bondi Junction, Central to the Harbour Bridge, and Central to Central via the City Circle. The city has also constructed an underground metro to the airport which uses commuter rail cars. And, there is a 1.8 km museum line.



According to Matthew Doyle, "the only underground sections of the CityRail network are the city and eastern suburbs lines. The city underground was specifically built for the introduction of electric train services in Sydney. The section Central - Museum - St. James was the first opened on 20th December 1926, about nine months after the first electric train service in Sydney. Central - Town Hall - Wynyard opened on 28th February 1932. The loop was created with the opening of Circular Quay between Wynyard and St. James on 22nd January 1956."

Homebush Station




Metro Project

In 2007, an ambitious 38 km 17 station automated  metro project was announced. It was not an extension of the existing commuter rail system, but a true underground metro, whose 32 km tunnel would have been the longest in the world. Changes in Oz's government in early 2009 curtailed the project, morphing it to a 7 km, 5 station downtown metro, with the future option for north and northwest expansion. In 2010, budget curtailments killed the metro project and a less expensive expansion of the light rail network is now in the late planning stages. For up to the minute details, see Sydney Metro's home page.

Sydney also plans to continue it's commuter style subway with a new 23 km suburban extension, 15 km of which will be in subway., However, the efficiency of instaling a metro is in good question.


Waratah double deck EMU on Sydney's CityRail

Where is the Sydney subway?
Wikipedia Sydney Metro Page
A Ride on the Sydney Airport Train



Light Rail
 
Sydney's 7.2 km light rail line runs mostly on private right fo way. It has 14 stations, including two which are billed as underground, but which in fact are surface stations with buildings built over them.  Metro Light Rail is run by Metrotransport, which also ran the soon to be dismantled 3.8 km monorail.

In 2010, a nearly 10km extension to the light rail line as part of a city "Green" initiative, was announced. The first 5.6 km of what is known as the Inner West Extension was expected to open in 2012, but construction has yet to begin. There are also plans to extend the light rail system through the central business district and to the University of NSW.

Approved and about to begin construction is a nine station extension from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill. The extension is scheduled to open in 2014.  Also in the early approval stages is a line connecting the University of NSW with the central business district.