CityRail: История пригородных железных дорог Сиднея

Former Sydney passenger rail network operator

a former rail operator in Australia
CityRail was a passenger railway brand operated by the State Rail Authority from 1989 to 2003 and by RailCorp from 2003 to 2013 with services in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities in New South Wales, Australia. It was established in January 1989 and abolished in June 2013 when it was superseded by Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink. In June 2013, it operated 307 stations and over 2,060 kilometres of track, extending north to the upper Hunter Valley, south to the Shoalhaven and Southern Highlands regions and west to Bathurst. In the year ended 30 June 2012, 306 million journeys were made on the network.

CityRail was established pursuant to the , and was first mentioned as an entity distinct from the State Rail Authority in the Parliament of New South Wales by then governor James Rowland on 21 February 1990. CityRail adopted a blue and yellow version of the State Rail Authority L7 logo, to fit into its new blue and yellow colour scheme. This logo continued to be in use until 2010, when it was replaced by the Waratah logo of the NSW Government. This resulted in CityRail becoming a subsidiary of RailCorp, along with CountryLink.

When the CityRail brand was introduced the State Rail Authority was part way through taking delivery of 450 Tangara carriages. With these new carriages in service, the last single deck suburban sets were withdrawn in 1992, and the last U set interurban sets were withdrawn in 1996. In February 1994, the first of 15 two carriage Endeavour railcars was delivered. These replaced Class 620/720 railcars, Class 900 railcars and locomotive hauled stock. In May 2000, the Airport & East Hills Line opened. In July 2002, the first of 141 M set carriages entered service. In November 2006, the first of seven two carriage Hunter railcar trains entered service. In December 2006, the first of 221 Oscar carriages entered service on the South Coast Line. In February 2009, the Epping to Chatswood railway line opened with shuttle services and was integrated into the Northern Line service later that year. In July 2011, the first Waratah trains entered service to replace the S sets, although it was announced in 2013 that some S sets would stay. In October 2012, a new service from Bathurst to Sydney commenced.

For most of the brand's life CityRail's ticketing system was the Automated Fare Collection System (AFC). Dating from 1992, it was based on magnetic stripe technology and was interoperable with the Sydney Buses and Sydney Ferries systems. In later years the network was incorporated into the MyZone ticketing system, which retained the AFC technology but extended the validity of multi modal tickets to private buses and light rail. Unlike the ticketing systems of other cities in Australia, most of CityRail's ticket prices were calculated on the distance travelled, and were proven to be the most expensive tickets of any major city public transport system.

CityRail operated eleven suburban lines, four intercity services, one regional service, and five connecting bus services, plus a late night bus service across metropolitan Sydney.

To provide a passenger service between midnight and 05:00 while leaving the tracks clear of trains for maintenance work, parallel bus services were established in 1989. NightRide services operated typically at hourly intervals (some routes depart more frequently on weekends). NightRide services were run by private bus operators, and identified by route numbers beginning with "N". All valid CityRail tickets for a destination (apart from single tickets) were accepted on NightRide services.

Most Intercity trains terminated at Central while most suburban (except Carlingford line) services proceeded through the city. CityRail also operated several Intercity services that terminate at Central station (though some services operated in the metro style portions of the system in the peak hours). These lines stretched over 200 kilometres from Sydney, as far north as Newcastle, as far west as Bathurst, as far south west as Goulburn and as far south as Kiama and Port Kembla. Southern Highlands trains required a connection at Campbelltown as they ran into the city during peak hours only. Regional services operated from the terminus station at Newcastle, with local electric services to the Central Coast and diesel services to Telarah with some extending to Dungog and Scone. Diesel services also operated on the Illawarra line between Kiama and Bomaderry. The hub of the CityRail system was Central station, where most lines started and ended. Trains coming from the Airport & East Hills Line and Bankstown Line, after travelling anti clockwise on the City Circle sometimes terminated upon arrival at Central and proceeded to the Macdonaldtown Turnback. However, most trains continued on and become respective outward bound Inner West trains and South Line trains. The reverse applied for trains coming from the Inner West and South Lines, which, if not terminating, became outward bound trains on the Airport & East Hills and Bankstown lines respectively. In the same manner, all trains from the Western Line or Northern line became North Shore line trains once they reach Central. As well as the Intercity services mentioned above, local services also ran in the Newcastle local area during off peak times, as part of the Central Coast & Newcastle Line. Local services also ran on the South Coast Line in the Wollongong local area, usually between Thirroul and Port Kembla.

Many CityRail stations were equipped with electronic passenger destination indicator boards. These provided information on the current time, next three available services, time due to arrival, destination route and the number of train carriages available. Due to the many differing types of stations that CityRail serves, their screens varied in form. In station where trains arrived at a higher frequency, 2 or more vertical LED screens were used on each platform to display the destination and arrival time whereas in low frequency areas 1 or 2 dual horizontal LED screens with a larger font were used. Manual destination indicator boards were still used at some lower patronage stations. In regional areas, a station relied on digital voice announcement for information on services. CBSM (Custom Built Sheet Metal) was responsible for the manufacture of many indicator board encasings.

The quality of the rail system was a matter of considerable political sensitivity. The performance of the State Rail Authority and RailCorp were questioned in regards to safety, training, a politically motivated focus on punctuality, management and workplace culture, with strong criticism from Justice Peter McInerny in his inquiries into the accidents at Glenbrook and Waterfall. Transport is the third largest area of public expenditure in NSW, after health and education. A newspaper distributed to commuters, mX, and the Sydney Morning Herald's "campaign for Sydney" kept transport at the top of the agenda ahead of the 2007 state election. In his 2003 interim report to the NSW Government, Tom Parry was highly critical of CityRail. "It is hard to believe that taxpayers or the state are getting the best possible value from the large amounts of money being spent each year," he wrote.

The safety of the CityRail network was called into question by two fatal accidents. The second Glenbrook train disaster in 1999 killed seven people. In 2003, the Waterfall train disaster killed seven. Inquiries were conducted into both accidents. Official findings into the latter accident also blamed an "underdeveloped safety culture." There has been criticism of the way CityRail managed safety issues that arose, resulting in what the NSW Ministry of Transport called "a reactive approach to risk management." CityRail has launched public information campaigns regarding railway trespassing, prams and strollers, and falling between the platform and the train.

Crime committed on railway property has decreased by 32.9% since 2002, which RailCorp attributes to the deployment of some 600 Transit Officers across the network. All stations, including those that are remote or unstaffed, have emergency "help points" to put passengers in immediate contact with authorities should an incident occur. All stations are covered by closed circuit television surveillance. However, a large amount of graffiti is still evident on some trains and the depots. In recent years, concerns over terrorism have played a role in the management of the network. CityRail and other public transport providers participate in an ongoing public terrorism awareness campaign, If you see something, say something, adapted from a similar campaign in New York.

In 2008, overloading of trains was found by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to be a significant cause of delays. A survey undertaken by RailCorp in September 2011 revealed that 6 of the 13 lines had a maximum load that exceeded 135% (of the seated capacity) during the peak morning commute.

One result of CityRail's increasing problems was a sharp rise in public complaints and attacks against staff, with a Boston Consulting Group report claiming staff were actively hiding from irate customers wishing to complain about the service. The highly negative public perception of transit officers acting as ticket inspection officers and charging significant on the spot fines has also led to the organisation introducing anti spitting fines and signage requesting commuters not abuse staff.