Commuters using the T1 North Shore Line are used to buses replacing trains on weekends and dealing with nightly maintenance work.
Since 9 May 2023, Sydney Trains has been undertaking nightly maintenance works between Central and North Sydney.
The construction and maintenance works include:
- Civil track maintenance
- Routine signal and electrical maintenance
- Station maintenance works, to improve safety on stations
- Sydney Harbour Bridge maintenance works
- Track defect removal to improve network reliability
- Track inspection and preventative maintenance
- Track resurfacing and rail grinding activities
- Vegetation maintenance, litter, and graffiti removal.
This work is scheduled to finish on 9 June 2023.
This week Transport Minister Jo Haylen told commuters that there will be a monumental network upgrade for Sydney’s trains, causing disruptions set to last at least a year.
In its ‘biggest ever’ fix, approximately 4000 repairs, upgrades, and restorations to equipment will be carried out.
The work will be carried out from midnight Friday to midnight Sunday over the course of a year, costing roughly $97 million and impacting about 600,000 passengers.
“I want to be totally honest with everyone – for the next year or so we are going to massively disrupt the network on weekends while our crews get in and fix it,” Minister for Transport, Jo Haylen said.
The decision to begin this work comes after a review of the rail network.
Last month the Sydney Trains Review Panel released its interim report noting that the introduction of a new timetable in 2017, alongside extreme weather events and industrial action, has delayed these repairs.
Back in March, railway disruptions hit their peak, with three events leaving thousands of Sydney commuters stranded for hours.
Approximately 450 kilometres of rail are expected to be repaired under this plan.
How to Check For Track Work On Weekends
Plan ahead using tools such the Trip Planner, travel apps and check travel alerts or subscribe to the trackwork alert email to keep up-to-date with the latest changes. The future track work calendar is here.
The T1, T2, T4 and City Circle lines have been identified as some of the worst and will be the first to see work begin.
The Trackwork list issued for the period 19 June 2023 to September 10 2023, only has weekend work scheduled for one weekend on the T1 North Shore Line (most of the work is scheduled for night). However, if you are changing to other parts of the rail network, you will need to check out each line to find out how other parts of the network are impacted.
The following warning is on the Sydney Trains website:
“Replacement buses may be impacted by driver shortages. We are doing all we can to minimise the impact on your journey and provide a safe service, however cancellations or delays may occur.”
Some Dates To Be Aware Of (Note this Could Change, So Always Check Travel Alerts)
T1 North Shore Line: Buses replace trains between Hornsby and Central
Monday 19 to Thursday 22 June 2023, nightly from 9.50 pm to 1.30 am.
The last train towards the City leaves Hornsby at 21:42, arriving at Central at 22:35.
The last train towards Hornsby leaves Central at 21:40, arriving at Hornsby at 22:30.
Trains run between Berowra and Hornsby, some to a changed timetable.
T1 Western and T9 Northern Line trains start and end at Central, platforms 1-12.
Bus routes
12T1 Chatswood, then all stations to Central and return
16T1 Hornsby, then all stations to Chatswood, then Wynyard, Town Hall, Central and return
T1 North Shore Line: Buses replace trains between Hornsby and Central
Monday 17 to Wednesday 19 July 2023 (evening) T1 North Shore & Western Line Buses replace T1 North Shore Line trains between Hornsby and Central.
T1 North Shore Line: Buses replace trains between Hornsby and Wynard
Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August 2023 (weekend) T1 North Shore & Western Line Buses replace T1 North Shore Line trains between Hornsby and Wynyard. T1 Western Line Penrith trains start and end at Central. Richmond trains run to and from Olympic Park.
T1 North Shore Line: Buses replace trains between Hornsby and Central
Monday 28 to Thursday 31 August 2023 (evening) T1 North Shore & Western Line Buses replace T1 North Shore Line trains between Hornsby and Central.
What Does a Travel Alert Look Like?
Source: https://transportnsw.info/alerts#/metro-train
Cover Photo Source: Transport For NSW Twitter
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