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City Circle facts for kids

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For the current metro line in Copenhagen, see City Circle Line. For the tourist tram in Melbourne, see City Circle tram.
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City Circle
Tangara T Car Set.jpg
A Tangara at Circular Quay (in July 2013), the halfway point of the City Circle.
Overview
Owner Transport Asset Holding Entity
Termini Central
Stations 6
Service
Services T2 Inner West & Leppington Line
T3 Bankstown Line
T8 Airport & South Line
Operator(s) Sydney Trains
History
Opened 20 December 1926 (1926-12-20) (first segment)
22 January 1956 (1956-01-22) (entire loop)
Technical
Line length 6 km (3.7 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
The original railway network for the Sydney CBD planned by John Bradfield, (left) and the network as it is today. The City Circle was built as planned and the Eastern Suburbs railway was built to a different alignment, though the Northern Beaches and Southern Suburbs line was never built.

The City Circle is a mostly-underground railway line located in the Sydney central business district and Haymarket, in New South Wales, Australia, that forms the core of Sydney's passenger rail network. The lines are owned by the Transport Asset Holding Entity, a State government agency, and operated under Transport for NSW's Sydney Trains brand. Despite its name, the City Circle is of a horseshoe shape, with trains operating in a U-shaped pattern. The constituent stations of the Circle are (clockwise): Central, Town Hall, Wynyard, Circular Quay, St James, Museum and back to Central.

History and description

Open cut underground railway now completed, Museum Station, Sydney, New South Wales, ca. 1925 (9781167304)
Museum station was built using the cut-and-cover technique
The original railway network for the Sydney CBD planned by John Bradfield, (left) and the network as it is today. The City Circle was built as planned and the Eastern Suburbs railway was built to a different alignment, though the Northern Beaches and Southern Suburbs line was never built.

The original concept for the City Railway was part of a report dated 1915 submitted to the government by John Bradfield upon his return from overseas study, with work commencing the following year. His concepts were largely based on the New York Subway, which he observed during his time in New York City.

The City Circle was built in stages. The first stations to open were Museum and St. James, which opened in 1926 as part of the initial electrification of Sydney railways. Next was the "western limb" through Town Hall and Wynyard, which opened in 1932 in conjunction with the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This section contains four tunnels. Two connected to the Harbour Bridge, while the two City Circle tunnels terminated at Wynyard. In 1956 the dead ends at St. James and Wynyard were joined and the "missing link", Circular Quay – was opened. Central and Circular Quay are above-ground stations (Circular Quay is elevated, directly underneath the Cahill Expressway), while the remainder are below ground. Several unused railway tunnels also exist. The former tram tunnels at Wynyard, and other stub tunnels at St James are well known.

Services and operations

Current service patterns generally consist of trains from the South and Inner West lines operating around the City Circle in a clockwise manner via Town Hall station and proceed onto the Airport & East Hills, and Bankstown lines. This track is known as the "City Outer". Trains from the Airport & East Hills and Bankstown lines generally operate around the City Circle in an anti-clockwise manner via Museum station and proceed onto the South and Inner West lines (using the "City Inner" track). A set of flying junctions at Central enable this pattern to be varied.

Prior to the integration of the Eastern Suburbs line into the Illawarra Line in 1980, Illawarra line trains also operated around the City Circle.

Trains on the Western and Northern lines usually do not proceed around the City Circle but instead proceed across the Harbour Bridge to the North Shore line and vice versa. During weekend trackwork, trains from the City Circle may go to Penrith/Richmond, Cronulla/Waterfall or Epping/Hornsby via Strathfield.

In 2005, when CityRail completed its most recent estimate of station boardings, the City Circle accounted for 221,160 weekday entries and exits, equivalent to over 55 million annual trips.

It operates a service every 3 to 5 minutes during peak hours, 6 minutes at other times and 8 to 10 minutes on weekends.

Gallery

  • Central railway station Sydney

    Platform 18 and 19 at Central station

  • TownHallStation2

    Town Hall – platform 4 (Illawarra line platform)

  • Wynyard Station entrance2

    Wynyard station entrance, Department of Railways building, York Street

  • Circular Quay

    Circular Quay station

  • St James Station Platform 1

    St James platform 1

  • SydneyMuseumStation2crop gobeirne

    Museum platforms



Images for kids

  • Sydney Trains Trip Dropping Example

    Original 1932 operation of speed controlled trips on the City Circle.

  • Wynyard railway station entrance, Wynyard Walk, April 2017

    Wynyard station entrance

  • Circular Quay railway station Sydney Entry Gate 201708

    Circular Quay station ticket gates

  • St James Station Sydney

    St James platform 2

  • Museum Station Sydney 1

    Museum platform 2

  • Circular Quay Platform 2, Looking Eastbound

    Circular Quay station

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City Circle Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.