Carlingford Railway Line - Line Description

Line Description

The Carlingford Line consists of a double track branch line off the Western Line, between Clyde and Carlingford. The line has its own platform at Clyde station, where it crosses over Parramatta Road on a level crossing, before heading under the M4 Western Motorway to a station opposite Rosehill Gardens Racecourse. Immediately south of Rosehill, the two tracks join, before dividing into two bidirectional tracks- the Sandown Line and the Carlingford line. At Rosehill, two platforms are provided- one four-car long platform on the Carlingford Line track and one platform which is approximately sixteen-cars long on the Sandown line track which is used for special events at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse.

The line then heads in a north-easterly direction over the Parramatta River up to Carlingford. There are no crossing loops or any further sections of double track on the line, and thus no capacity for trains to pass each other. The average 12 minute travel time between Clyde and Carlingford allows a theoretical maximum capacity of approximately two trains per hour on this line. CityRail timetabling and low patronage mean that this is never required. It is Sydney's least-used suburban railway line.

The stations between Carlingford and Camellia consist of a single platform of a sufficient length to accommodate four-car suburban trains (most CityRail services consist of eight cars). Eight car trains are not used on the Carlingford Line due to the short platforms and low patronage. However, during initial testing for the Waratah train, an eight-car set was run for evaluation purposes on the line. Prior to 2005, Clyde station was an interchange station of the Western, South and Carlingford lines, although under the September 2005 timetable, South line trains no longer stop at Clyde.