Railways Can Cutback Sandstone Cutting Easily To Provide For 4 Tracks

Victor P Taffa

Over several decades Sydney’s Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line has needed to be widen for 4 Tracks and 4 operating Platforms.

Many sections of the line can be widened easily. Other sections require sandstone cuttings to be cut back.

Entire rail corridor is wide enough for 4 Tracks. Rail corridor is bordered by steel fencing that determines rail corridor boundaries.

 

Meadowbank Railway Station Southern End

Sandstone Rail Cutting at the southern end of Meadowbank Railway Station can be cut back easily to allow for 4 Tracks.

This work can be done on a Rail Maintenance Weekend when the line is shutdown for Track upgrade work. Buses replace trains during Track maintenance works.

Cutback blitz over the weekend can ensure that the maximum amount of equipment and crew are deployed to cutback the rail cutting and take away the sandstone and other materials.

Blocks of Home Units are set back away from the rail corridor boundary. However, the Railways would notify residents of works to be undertaken.

This type of work has been done in New South Wales before. Sydney-Newcastle Freeway North Bound at Berowra had walls of sandstone were much taller and larger than at Meadowbank that were cutback by the Roads Department.

Sandstone walls were between the 6 lanes of Freeway. Roads Department wanted to have a clear wide median so the sandstone wall was removed.

Works that the Roads Department to remove sandstone walls in the Freeway were more expensive and much larger than the scope of sandstone cutbacks for the Northern Line rail corridor.

 

West Ryde Railway Station Southern End

At the southern end of West Ryde Railway Station is a smaller sandstone cutting. Opposite the cutting is the third city bound track that re-joins the main city bound track at a set of points.

Reasons that this Track does not continue onto Meadowbank is a lack of funding and a sandstone wall on the other side of the rail corridor.

On the same weekend that the sandstone wall is cutback at Meadowbank, the same can be done at nearby West Ryde as the line will be closed to rail traffic.

This would be a much faster job to do than cutting back the sandstone and could be completed the following weekend. Rail shutdown may be required on successive weekends.

Grading of the newly widened rail corridor for the additional Tracks would also occur as sandstone is being taken away. Sleepers, Tracks and Overhead Wiring can then be completed in the same weekend.

 

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line handles Freight, Interstate, Interurban and Suburban services.

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line handles many thousands of commuters wanting 4 Tracks and 4 operating Platforms that will deliver a better service.

Northern Line Railway Stations between Strathfield and Hornsby are as follows:

• Strathfield
• North Strathfield
• Concord West
• Rhodes
• Meadowbank
• West Ryde
• Denistone
• Eastwood
• Epping
• Cheltenham
• Beecroft
• Pennant Hills
• Thornleigh
• Normanhurst
• Hornsby

 

Concord West Railway Station Platform 1

In building 4 Platforms at Concord West, no commuters currently can catch a train from Platform 1.

In building a 4 Platform Twin Island Railway Station at Concord West Railway Station, Sets of Points on the northern side of the Pomeroy Street Overpass will connect the 4th Track to Strathfield.

Sets of Points were installed between Rhodes and Concord West near the Homebush Bay Drive overpass.

Sets of Points can also be installed on the northern side of the Pomeroy Street overpass at North Strathfield and fourth city bound Track reinstated across the Parramatta Road rail overpass and connecting to Tracks that comes in/out of Strathfield Platforms 1 & 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line Track Combinations

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line has Track combinations of:

• 2 Tracks through Meadowbank
• 3 Tracks through Rhodes
• 4 Tracks through Eastwood

This combination of 2,3 and 4 Tracks plus the Rail Bottleneck across the Parramatta River is why the service is so slow.

People will try to convince us that it is not slow but this is what 70 years of not building additional Tracks has given every commuter.

Simply put, Train Tracks are to Trains as Car Lanes are to Cars.

 

Funding Formula:

Freight Trains carry dollar value of freight that can be justified to Treasury to pay for 4 Tracks on the Rail Bridge.

Largest piece of Capital Expenditure on the Hornsby-Strathfield Northern Line is to make the deck of the second John Whitton Rail Bridge for 4 Tracks.

• Transport Department needs funding equal to that of Health and Education
• 75% of the Transport Budget should go towards Planning and Construction.
• 25% of the Transport Budget should go towards Wages.

 

Photo Caption:

Sandstone Rail Cutting at southern end of Meadowbank Railway Station which can be cut back to allow 4 Tracks