# South Coast Line

SCO South Coast Line :
Legend :
This diagram: viewtalkedit :
The South Coast Line (SCO) is an intercity rail service that services the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The service runs from Central, and runs the entire length of the eponymous South Coast railway line to Bomaderry. The service also runs along the Eastern Suburbs railway line at peak hours and weekends and the Port Kembla railway line to Port Kembla. It is operated with Sydney Trains H sets and T sets, with Endeavour railcars operating the service on the non-electrified line between Kiama and Bomaderry.
Passenger trains first operated on the South Coast railway line in 1887, and is one of five routes on the NSW TrainLink Intercity network. The South Coast Line routes span 40 stations, across 159 km (99 mi) of railway. An additional 5 stations and 7 km (4.3 mi) of railway are travelled by South Coast Line trains at peak hour on the Eastern Suburbs railway line.

## History
### Stations

The first passenger train services on the Illawarra commenced on 21 June 1887, after the line was completed from Clifton to Wollongong, and later, North Kiama on 9 November 1887. The line was later connected to Waterfall via Helensburgh, Otford, Stanwell Park and Coalcliff the following year between July and October 1888, after delays on construction between Waterfall and Clifton. The line was further extended to Bomaderry through Kiama, opening on 2 June 1893.
Throughout its long history, the South Coast Line's roster of stations has changed significantly. Many stations in the Upper Illawarra had closed and new ones opened towards the first half of the 20th century. Stations such as the ones serving Clifton were closed, along with a majority of the original railway between Waterfall and Coalcliff between 1915 and 1920, replaced with a new alignment that made use of a flatter gradient and made the infamous Otford Tunnel defunct. New stations along the line that opened throughout this period included Coledale in 1902, North Wollongong in 1915, Coniston in 1916, Wombarra in 1917, and Towradgi in 1948. Further removals of stations from the line in the latter half of the 20th century included the station serving Yallah in 1974, the majority of the stations on the line between Kiama and Bomaderry, and Lilyvale in 1983. Dunmore was also closed in November 2014, replaced by Shellharbour Junction, after rising commercial and residential development in Flinders and Shell Cove and their distance from Dunmore station, prompted the Government of New South Wales to build a replacement station closer to the area of urban growth.
While the railway network at Port Kembla was built in 1916, stations and passenger trains servicing the surrounding suburbs did not operate until 5 January 1920, when the Port Kembla railway station was opened. A station at Cringila was added to the Port Kembla commuter branch in 1926, along with one at Port Kembla North, a decade later, in 1936. A railway station for workers at Port Kembla, named Lysaghts, after the nearby Lysaght steel plant, was also opened in 1938.
Some platforms on the line (e.g. Scarborough) are only 4 or 6 cars long, so not all doors may open on 8-car trains.

### Services and rolling stock

Services were originally operated with locomotive-hauled trains, and later, diesel railcars, prior to the electrification of the South Coast railway line. The line was electrified to Helensburgh in 1984, with the suburban Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line service occasionally extending its service past the terminus at Waterfall to Helensburgh during peak hours, a practice that the current Sydney Trains' Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line service still follows today. Electrification extended to Wollongong the following year. Despite the newly installed electrification, diesel sets and locomotive-hauled trains still operated along the line from Kiama all the way past Wollongong to Sydney, including the South Coast Daylight Express, until 1991. Electrification of the South Coast railway line was further extended to Dapto in 1993 and, finally, to Kiama in 2001. The railway between Kiama and Bomaderry is the only part of the line that remains non-electrified, operated by New South Wales Endeavour railcars since their introduction in 1994.
The electrified rolling stock of the South Coast Line began with V set intercity trains. There were later accompanied by Tangaras when they were introduced into the CityRail network in 1988. Originally, the Tangaras that ran on the South Coast Line were different variations of T sets known as G sets. G sets differed from T sets in that they had reversible seats, toilets, fresh water dispensers and luggage racks. In late 2005, it was discovered that a majority of the V set rolling stock operating on the South Coast Line were suffering from corrosion in their underframes. More G sets were introduced onto the South Coast Line to compensate, and eventually became the standard rolling stock on the South Coast Line after V sets ceased operating on the service. From January 2012, V sets ceased operating South Coast services. In 2009, however, after the introduction of OSCARs onto the intercity CityRail network, All G sets were recalled for conversion into T sets. The OSCAR fleet effectively replaced the G set rolling stock and, since 2010, standard Sydney Trains T sets, owned by NSW TrainLink, have been operating services to Port Kembla.
In 2017, it was revealed that the Liberal state government had reviewed a 3.6 billion dollar tunnel between Thirroul and Waterfall that could reduce travel time between Sydney and Wollongong by 22 minutes, but that rail improvements were being sidetracked in favour of improving and extending the nearby Princes Motorway.

### Incidents

On 20 December 1994, an accident involving two empty S sets occurred during a shunting procedure at Waterfall. One of the trains jack-knifed onto the platform, demolishing the concrete pedestrian bridge. No injuries or casualties, however, were reported.
On the morning of 31 January 2003, an intercity Tangara en route to Port Kembla derailed at high speed between Waterfall and Helensburgh, resulting in the deaths of seven people and injury of forty. The accident was the third major accident resulting in fatalities on the CityRail network in 13 years, after the Cowan rail accident in 1990 and Glenbrook rail accident in 1999.
On 24 November 2011, a Pacific National coal train derailed near Clifton, causing the suspension of South Coast Line services between Waterfall and Thirroul. Services were resumed four days later, after the derailed train was removed from the tracks. The train had derailed immediately after coming out of the Clifton tunnel, with the front eight clearing the tunnel and derailing, and the rear twelve carriages remaining inside the tunnel. The Office of Transport Safety Investigations found that the cause of the derailment was a broken axle.

## Services

Peak hour and weekend services commence from Bondi Junction or Martin Place on the Eastern Suburbs railway line, and stop at Central at platform 25. At other times, services depart from Central (Sydney Terminal).
Some peak hour and weekend services are listed as pickup only at intermediate suburban stations (eg. Redfern, Hurstville, Sutherland). This restriction is to ensure the train does not fill up with suburban passengers, who have plenty of other suburban services to take. Pickup only stations are not displayed on platform screens, but will be displayed on in-train screens.
The most common Central to Kiama services are operated by 4/8 car H sets (OSCARs). All-stations services operate between Waterfall, Thirroul and Port Kembla with 4-car T sets (Tangaras). Shuttle train services between Kiama and Bomaderry are operated by 2-car diesel Endeavour railcars, due to the line not being electrified past Kiama.
From 2024, all services are to be taken over by 4 and 6 car D sets. This will free up H sets for transferral to suburban railway work. Two-car Endeavour sets will continue to operate the Kiama to Bomaderry section. These are set to be replaced by the R sets in 2027.

### Stations

| Name | Code | Distance from Central | Travel Time | Railway | Suburbs serviced | Connecting Services |
| Bondi Junction – Waterfall (Suburban section) |||||||
| Bondi Junction | BJN | 6.7 km | dep. | Eastern Suburbs | Bondi Junction, Woollahra | T4 |
| Edgecliff | ECL | 4.8 km | 3 min | Eastern Suburbs | Edgecliff, Darling Point | T4 |
| Kings Cross | KSX | 3.4 km | 3 min | Eastern Suburbs | Kings Cross, Rushcutters Bay | T4 |
| Martin Place | MPC | 2.1 km | 2 min | Eastern Suburbs | Sydney | T4 |
| Town Hall | THL | 1.1 km | 3 min | Eastern Suburbs | Sydney | Services T1T2T3T4 Central Coast & Newcastle |
| Central | CEN | 0.0 km | 3 min | Eastern Suburbs | Sydney, Strawberry Hills, Ultimo, Surry Hills | Services T1T2T3T4T7T8 Blue MountainsCentral Coast & Newcastle North CoastNorth WesternSouthernWestern |
| Redfern | RDF | 1.3 km | 2 min | Eastern Suburbs | Redfern, Waterloo, Darlington | Services T1T2T3T4 Blue MountainsCentral Coast & Newcastle |
| Sydenham | SDN | 5.3 km | 5 min | South Coast | Sydenham, Marrickville, St Peters, Tempe | T3T4T8 |
| Wolli Creek | WOC | 7.3 km | 4 min | South Coast | Wolli Creek, Arncliffe | T4T8 |
| Hurstville | HVL | 14.8 km | 9 min | South Coast | Hurstville, Hurstville South | T4 |
| Sutherland | SLD | 24.6 km | 11 min | South Coast | Sutherland | T4 |
| Waterfall | WFL | 38.7 km | 11 min | South Coast | Waterfall | T4 |
| Waterfall – Coniston |||||||
| Helensburgh | HSB | 46.3 km | 9 min | South Coast | Helensburgh, Lilyvale | |
| Otford | OTF | 54.6 km | 6 min | South Coast | Otford, Stanwell Tops | |
| Stanwell Park | SWP | 56.0 km | 4 min | South Coast | Stanwell Park | |
| Coalcliff | CCF | 59.3 km | 6 min | South Coast | Coalcliff | |
| Scarborough | SWP | 62.5 km | 5 min | South Coast | Scarborough, Clifton | |
| Wombarra | WMJ | 64.4 km | 3 min | South Coast | Wombarra | |
| Coledale | COL | 66.2 km | 3 min | South Coast | Coledale | |
| Austinmer | AUR | 68.6 km | 3 min | South Coast | Austinmer | |
| Thirroul | TRL | 70.2 km | 2 min | South Coast | Thirroul | |
| Bulli | BUI | 72.2 km | 2 min | South Coast | Bulli | |
| Woonona | WOJ | 74.0 km | 2 min | South Coast | Woonona | |
| Bellambi | BLM | 75.6 km | 2 min | South Coast | Bellambi, Russell Vale | |
| Corrimal | CIM | 77.0 km | 1 min | South Coast | Corrimal, East Corrimal | |
| Towradgi | TOW | 78.0 km | 1 min | South Coast | Towradgi, Tarrawanna | |
| Fairy Meadow | FMW | 79.4 km | 2 min | South Coast | Fairy Meadow | |
| North Wollongong | NHW | 81.3 km | 3 min | South Coast | North Wollongong, Gwynneville, Mount Ousley | |
| Wollongong | WOL | 82.9 km | 4 min | South Coast | Wollongong | Wollongong – Bundanoon Coach |
| Coniston | CNI | 84.1 km | 2 min | South Coast | Coniston | |
| Coniston – Port Kembla (Port Kembla branch) |||||||
| Lysaghts | LYS | 86.3 km | 3 min | Port Kembla | | |
| Cringila | CRG | 87.7 km | 2 min | Port Kembla | Cringila | |
| Port Kembla North | PBN | 88.8 km | 2 min | Port Kembla | Warrawong | |
| Port Kembla | PKM | 90.2 km | 3 min | Port Kembla | Port Kembla | |
| Coniston – Kiama |||||||
| Unanderra | UDR | 88.3 km | 5 min | South Coast | Unanderra | |
| Kembla Grange | KGG | 91.6 km | 3 min | South Coast | Kembla Grange | |
| Dapto | DAP | 95.1 km | 5 min | South Coast | Dapto, Horsley | Wollongong – Bundanoon Coach |
| Albion Park | ALP | 103.3 km | ~9 min | South Coast | Albion Park Rail | Wollongong – Bundanoon Coach |
| Oak Flats | OAF | 105.5 km | 3 min | South Coast | Oak Flats, Blackbutt, Shellharbour | |
| Shellharbour Junction | | 108.9 km | 4 min | South Coast | Croom, Flinders, Shell Cove | |
| Minnamurra | MUR | 113.4 km | 5 min | South Coast | Minnamurra | |
| Bombo | BMB | 117.6 km | 5 min | South Coast | Kiama Downs | |
| Kiama | KAM | 119.2 km | 3 min | South Coast | Kiama | |
| Kiama – Bomaderry (Non-electric service) |||||||
| Gerringong | GOG | 128.6 km | 9 min | South Coast | Gerringong | |
| Berry | BRY | 140.8 km | 9 min | South Coast | Berry | |
| Bomaderry | BOM | 153.4 km | 9 min | South Coast | Bomaderry, Nowra | |
* ↑ The time taken for a train to reach the station from the previous stop. Based on the current South Coast Line timetable, effective 20 October 2013.

## Patronage

The following table shows the patronage of each line of the NSW TrainLink Intercity network for the year ending 30 June 2024, based on Opal tap on and tap off data.
2023–24 NSW TrainLink Intercity patronage by line :
| Blue Mountains Line | 7,152,563 |
| Central Coast & Newcastle Line | 13,189,811 |
| Hunter Line | 803,606 |
| South Coast Line | 7,132,670 |
| Southern Highlands Line | 755,919 |